Upscale gated communities (Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Davie: houses, landscaping, buying)

[spindoc932]

Hey,

My wife and I are moving to Florida from NYC...No kids yet. We are in our early 30's....Both of us work from home. We are looking for a dream home and are looking to spend between $700,000 and $1,200,000 for a home.

We love dramatic mediterranean style homes and definetly want to be in a gated community. Would love to live in a community with a clubhouse, and all the amenities you can ask for. I am big into golf and could play everyday if I could. My wife just goes with the flow and enjoys shopping(of course) and being around similiar young professionals with similiar interests. We are moving to Florida b/c we are looking for a slower pace than NYC, but nothing too slow b/c, of course we are New Yorkers at heart.

Thru much hard work, we have narrowed down our search to these 4 upscale gated communities. Which of these do you think fit our lifestyle, age and interests the best??

HERON BAY - Parkland
WESTON HILLS CC - Weston
HAWK's LANDING- Plantation
LONG LAKE RANCHES- Davie

THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE! This is my 2nd thread about Florida and you have already helped me out alot with the first

[trekker954]

Are you sure you'll have kids and are you buying in those areas because you plan to have kids, if so that is perfect? But if you don't have kids, and you guys work from home, I believe you'll find those areas quite boring. I'm from NYC and DC, moved to a western suburb 2 years ago. That is some pricetag you are willing to pay. Florida was hard hit with the housing slump, there is so much to chose from especially in your pricetag....tons of mansions for 700K. So wait till you get down here to see whats around. But seriously, without kids, you may want to look closer east, closer to the beach and intercoastal where you will find more to do. Theater, resturants, clubs and such. There is no dance clubs at all out west. There are gated communites further east as well. Just know most everyone who lives out west are families, occupied with kids, school activities, and tennis. I haven't found any golf courses out here that can compare to the ones I played in Northern Virginia. Without kids I'm just concerned you won't have enough to keep you happy living out west.

[StilltheSame]

I think Hawks has nicer homes on nicer lots - but I would select Weston CC - based on location and amenities.

[fauve]

I love both Weston CC and Hawk's but you know that already I would look at both Weston's golf course and the Jacaranda Country Club golf course (across from Hawks Landing), play each if you have time, compare amenities of each community's club house and choose it based on which one you like more. Plus, you can always look at houses in both and choose it based on which house you guys decide you like the most.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by trekker954

....tons of mansions for 700K. So wait till you get down here to see whats around.

I guess it depends on what you consider a mansion, but the OP will not find a mansion in the development he lists for $700K-$1.2 million.

For around $1 million the OP can expect a house around 5,000 square feet under air on a lot just smaller than an acre. In that price range there should be a nice pool/spa and decent landscaping.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by spindoc932

Hey,

My wife and I are moving to Florida from NYC...No kids yet. We are in our early 30's....Both of us work from home. We are looking for a dream home and are looking to spend between $700,000 and $1,200,000 for a home.

We love dramatic mediterranean style homes and definetly want to be in a gated community. Would love to live in a community with a clubhouse, and all the amenities you can ask for. I am big into golf and could play everyday if I could. My wife just goes with the flow and enjoys shopping(of course) and being around similiar young professionals with similiar interests. We are moving to Florida b/c we are looking for a slower pace than NYC, but nothing too slow b/c, of course we are New Yorkers at heart.

Thru much hard work, we have narrowed down our search to these 4 upscale gated communities. Which of these do you think fit our lifestyle, age and interests the best??

HERON BAY - Parkland
WESTON HILLS CC - Weston
HAWK's LANDING- Plantation
LONG LAKE RANCHES- Davie

THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE! This is my 2nd thread about Florida and you have already helped me out alot with the first

I don't know much about Heron Bay. Parkland is lovely but I don't live up there so I am just not as familiar with Parkland.

The other communities are all nice. The planes in Long Lake Ranches would drive me insane. I don't know if it will bother you. My kids play lacrosse in Davie in the summer and the planes are constantly going overhead in that area (the park is Pine Island just north of Griffin) drive me insane and I am only there for 2 hours at a time.

However, if the planes don't bother you Long Lake Ranches is very nice (as is Westridge, which is nearby). Houses will be on one acre lots.

The homes in Hawks Landing are the nicest of the group. The homes in there are spectacular. I don't love that location because I like quiet. It is surrounded by I-595 on the south, Nob Hill Road on the east, and Broward Blvd on the north. If you can find a quiet lot in there, where there is not audible road noise the houses are just beautiful. You should be able to find lots around half an acre in Hawks Landing in your price range.

Weston Hills Country Club is also nice. You won't get much land in your price range in WHCC but the homes are lovely and the community is very pretty.

All these communities will have lots of kids in them. Will that bother you?

[ruski]

If Weston Hills is not fancy enough, check out the Landings in Weston.

Or step up to Windmill Ranch Estates.

[spindoc932]

Momma, I was told in West Davie, where Long Lake Ranches is located, you dont hear or see many(if any) planes flying ahead and that was only an East Davie issue, but who knows. I will have to see for myself

Trekker- We looked more east, and you just cant get the type of home we are looking for. We don't mind driving a little bit to be where the action is, but we feel there will be enough things going on from day to day in the community to keep us busy. And being in a beautiful dream home is most important

[fauve]

I actually have planes flying right over me here in Plantation (right by Hawks Landing) and never did in East Davie. The planes follow 595 for landing, but there is a flight path of airplanes on take off headed east over the ocean and then turning north and west and than fly west or southwest right over the house. For some reason or another this is a flight path usually used in the evenings and on the weekends.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by spindoc932

Momma, I was told in West Davie, where Long Lake Ranches is located, you dont hear or see many(if any) planes flying ahead and that was only an East Davie issue, but who knows. I will have to see for myself

Trekker- We looked more east, and you just cant get the type of home we are looking for. We don't mind driving a little bit to be where the action is, but we feel there will be enough things going on from day to day in the community to keep us busy. And being in a beautiful dream home is most important

It really really really depends on where you are in Davie. Half a mile can make a huge difference. When we are in the park (Pine Island just north of Griffen) the planes are loud enough that we have to stop our conversation and wait for the planes to pass. Plus they pass frequently.

I am not saying you should cross Long Lakes out, but make sure you get access to the community at different times of day AND that you spend time outdoors. We have friends that live off Hiatus in Davie in a non gated community and their house is just gorgeous but I could not spend my entire life there because of the planes.

The thing about the planes is that what bothers one person, does not bother the next person so you really just have to spend some time outdoors, at different times of day in these areas and see if it will bother YOU. It really doesn't matter if it would drive me nuts. The important thing is whether it drives YOU nuts right?

Anyway the houses are nice there.

I had the east/west discussion yesterday. My cousin was in town spending time with a friend of hers in Lighthouse Point. The friend doesn't live in FL full time, this is a second home for them (they are from PA).

The friends took us all out on their 70 foot boat (nice) and the husband asked us why we didn't live east since we can probably afford it. My answer to him is that we can't really get the type of house we want further east (prices are higher, lots smaller) and we don't really care about owning a boat so we would rather live west. We don't mind driving to Fort Lauderdale for some action.

As you can probably tell from my posts, I like QUIET at home. Of course when all the kids are home I don't always get quiet, but at least when they are gone it's quiet.