What's It Like Living In Palm Beach Shores? (West Palm Beach, Homestead: for sale, insurance)

[Tujuleez1]

We will be moving from the Chicago area to some place in West Palm Beach, due to a job change. My dad retired to North Palm Beach in 1983 and we visited him about a dozen times until he passed in 1997. I thought I had a fairly good idea of what the area is like but now that we're actually looking to move there, I'm finding I have a lot to learn.

My SO started the new job about a month ago and has been looking at houses in different areas. Areas we are leaning toward are Flamingo Park and Southland Park (east of Olive). Recently, Palm Beach Shores came into our sights. I'm a bit leery about living on a barrier island in an area frequented by hurricanes. One woman my SO met said she's been living on Singer Island for 42 years and loves it.

If anyone here has lived there or on any of the barrier islands in SE Florida, what are your thoughts about it? How many times have you had to evacuate? Where do you stay until the storm blows over? How much damage has your house incurred? And what does all that mean when it comes to your insurance premiums?

[haywood16]

I have family on Singer Island and they love it. Taxes have doubled though in the last 15 years. There is very little commercial stores and restaurants (which is a good thing). Very dangerous if you use the Blue Herin exit off 95 to get there. Rivera Beach is a GHETTO. Take PGA Blvd instead!

Palm Beach Shores is very small but low lying. They have there own police department and fire. The only problems I ever hear are people parking all over from Sailfish Marina and sometimes people getting out of hand and drunk. Otherwise its a nice quiet neighborhood.

[Tujuleez1]

As for the taxes, there seems to be a system in place where anyone presently owning a home won't be as dramatically affected by tax hikes as those who buy a new home. By going to the Palm Beach County appraisers website, you can enter in an address, see what the present taxes are and calculate what your taxes will be by using their tax calculator and entering the approximate price you expect to pay for that home. I've seen present taxes more than double using that calculator.

I've been through Riviera Beach many times in the past. When visiting, we used to go to the Crab Pot (at Blue Heron and the Intracoastal) all the time and we took the kids to Sea Shell City at least once each visit. I know the area can be a little rough. From my dad's house, we used to drive onto Singer from PGA and exit at Blue Heron, but only once ventured down to Palm Beach Shores, when we stopped at Sailfish Marina. But my memory of that has faded.

My SO has described Palm Beach Shores as a little paradise. I'll be headed down later this week for a 10 day stay so I'll see for myself. What I probably won't see is what happens when a serious storm blows through. My SO said one house in PBS had been raised about 5 feet and now sits on its own little hill. The first thing I thought was storm surge.

I know many houses have been there for 50 or more years but I don't know what they have been through in that time. Maybe I can do some investigating when I visit.

Julie

[gailmarcarelli]

As for the taxes, there seems to be a system in place where anyone presently owning a home won't be as dramatically affected by tax hikes as those who buy a new home. By going to the Palm Beach County appraisers website, you can enter in an address, see what the present taxes are and calculate what your taxes will be by using their tax calculator and entering the approximate price you expect to pay for that home. I've seen present taxes more than double using that calculator.

You are seeing the effects of the Homestead Exemption. Follow this link:
Property Appraiser, Palm Beach County, Florida, USA

[Tujuleez1]

Originally Posted by gailmarcarelli

You are seeing the effects of the Homestead Exemption. Follow this link:
Property Appraiser, Palm Beach County, Florida, USA

I'm aware the Homestead Exemption affects property taxes but what I was referring to is the dramatic increase in property taxes the Tax Calculator (found on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser website) generates by inserting a new sale price for a given property.

Take two similar homes presently for sale. Both are on the same street and only a few doors away from each other. Millage rates are identical:

One home last sold for $110K in 1993 and taxes are $2,759. It's now listed for $429K. Using the Tax Calculator and entering the asking price, the new tax estimate is $8,064, a 292% increase. Both figures include the Homestead Exemption (HE).

The other home last sold for $545K in 2006 and now pays $6,822 in taxes, w/o the HE. Asking price is $425K. Again using the Tax Calculator and the asking price, the new estimate is $8,733 w/o the HE, a 28% increase.

Either the Tax Calculator is faulty or the County reassesses the taxable value of a home once it sells and your taxes could rise substantially, compared to what the previous owner paid.

[gailmarcarelli]

Homestead Exemption includes Save Our Homes:

"Save Our Homes" limits any increase in assessed value of properties with the Homestead Exemption to 3%, or the Consumer Price Index change, whichever is less, in the second consecutive year the exemption is received. Exceptions to that limitation include new additions or construction. Another exception occurs when ownership of a homestead property is changed in any way, affecting the homestead. Assessed value then returns to fair market (just) value in the year following the change.

Adds up over time. The home that was last sold in 1993 assessed value is probably a lot lower than the one that last sold in 2006.

When a home that is homesteaded is sold the assessed value resets to current value. The Save Our Home tax cap is not lost. Essentially, a homeowner may “port” their Save Our Homes tax benefits to their new home as long as they establish their new homestead within 2 years.

[FiveDime]

Storm surge is not usually that big on the east Coast of Florida. Because of the underwater topography surges just don't get that high.

Of course another part of the equation is that I don't believe the area has been hit with anything stronger than a Cat 2 or 3 since it's been developed.

[Tujuleez1]

Originally Posted by gailmarcarelli

When a home that is homesteaded is sold the assessed value resets to current value. The Save Our Home tax cap is not lost. Essentially, a homeowner may “port” their Save Our Homes tax benefits to their new home as long as they establish their new homestead within 2 years.

Thank you, Gail, for that information. From what I read, portability only applies to Florida residents moving within the state. We're coming from Illinois. So the figures I've been seeing generated by the Tax Calculator would be fairly accurate for us.

[Tujuleez1]

Originally Posted by FiveDime

Storm surge is not usually that big on the east Coast of Florida. Because of the underwater topography surges just don't get that high.

Of course another part of the equation is that I don't believe the area has been hit with anything stronger than a Cat 2 or 3 since it's been developed.

From what I've read, the elevation of Palm Beach Shores is about 10 feet. Not a problem for major hurricane's storm surge to cover.

We're moving at a time when Florida hasn't seen a hurricane in what? Nine years? It's not if but when. Of course up here, there's the New Madrid Fault that's been expected to let loose any time. If it was a big one, we'd certainly feel it here in Chicago. You can't escape Mother Nature but it's nice to minimize the odds of taking her head on.

[FiveDime]

You'd be pushing what a Cat 4 or 5 storm, moving slowly, can do to get a 10-foot surge on the East Coast. Obviously in other areas it can be much higher (Gulf Coast being a prime example). Add waves on top, yeah, there will be water in, if not over, the house. But one of the most basic reasons to evacuate barrier islands is that you might get cut off from the mainland for a very long time...plus the ever-present possibility of rapid intensification as a storm comes ashore...