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First off...this has been a very useful site in gathering opinions. I am born and raised in Jupiter so I know a lot but have still managed to learn a lot with this forum. So...I do thank everyone who contributes.
Now...my dilemma which I would enjoy hearing anybody's thoughts or opinions. The wife and I are early 30s. Although we have no kids at the moment, we plan to start and wanted to get a home now for the future while interest rates are still low. Our price range is about $700k to $800k.
Our first choice at the moment is Jupiter CC. We were able to drive through there this weekend and there is a lot of construction going on (relatively speaking). Rialto has a lot more activity for sure but its a different product in my opinion. I decided against new construction in Rialto because all that is left is stuff that is close to 95 and was loud enough to penetrate the impact windows. I'll keep an eye out for a resale in the older section which is further away from the noise and ball field lights.
Jupiter CC was much more quiet even though the turnpike was nearby. There is the concern that it will take many years to complete that project and eventually they will increase the club dues whether it be for social or golf. Right now, Jupiter CC is giving $20,000 incentive for the Heritage homes. Not sure if you can negotiate more of an incentive if it goes towards upgrades. Can anyone who actually lives in Jupiter CC give me an updated pro/con on the community? I read the long thread on Jupiter CC but most of that conversation is a few years old. I have done the summer golf memberships there and like the community as a guest but hesitant to pull the trigger on an $800k+ house.
For what it is worth, we've looked at Evergrene and think that will be a mistake due to the WCI construction and high HOA. We like pools in our home and dont see the need for a high HOA for a gigantic community pool, giant chess board and a clubhouse that is really only meant to keep staff on site. It's a good location but that's about it.
Paloma seems to be expensive for what you get amenity wise. Mirabella is getting older by the minute. Mirasol is the typical equity country club with high membership equity fees and dues. Botanica is near the train tracks and that would drive me bonkers even though its only like 5 times a day.
We live in abacoa now and nothing really catches our eye other than the Island. Homes on top of homes with streets in front and back don't excite us. Even in Valencia they are on top of each other.
I love the Jupiter area and don't want to leave but we just can't seem to find a good spot in the north county.
Anyways...any opinions out there for something in our price range?
I'm in the same age group/situation and I'd probably go with Paloma based on location to restaurants/shopping/freeway/tp. There's some nice resales in there right now.
You have mentioned pretty much every option in your price point that is newer construction.
JCC is nice if you don't mind all the construction for years and are using the amenities and golf. It's a little isolated as well.
Thanks for the replies. Yeah...we prefer Gardens as well since Wife works downtown WPB but we have lived in Abacoa for years and dont mind it at all. The location of Evergrene is great but just didnt get the good feeling the times we have been in there looking at homes. We have heard some love it and some hate it. I keep an eye on homes and if the right lake view home comes up, we'll keep an open mind to it.
Yeah...I'm keeping an eye on Paloma. I do golf so I prefer JCC for the golf (although I probably would only do the social and just use summer memberships since I dont play much golf in winter as the cost goes up, gets dark early and courses packed). But you did mention my main concern with JCC and that is the time frame to finish up the community.
We're open to an older community or home but then the property (lot) better be nice to overcome the age of the home.
Anyways...thanks for the replies and will keep everyone updated on what we end up doing eventually.
We live in Rialto and no matter what part of the development you are in - Estate or Executive Sections - you hear 95...the noise is worse in the early AM and late evening. As far as Jupiter Park....why anyone would consider spending money on a home that backs up to Island Way, across the street from the park, is beyond me. There have been times when they are holding tournament games where you can hear the yelling and screaming way after 9PM.
As far as the product, you are right again! The structure itself seems solid, but as far as quality...they used the cheapest parts and skimped on every fixture, appliance, etc... There are all sorts of electrical and plumbing problems and repair times run into weeks not days....
Wow, you are almost an exact copy of my wife and me. We are a tad older (mid 30's) and we already have 2 kids with a third on the way. Same price point though and we looked at the same communities. We DESPERATELY wanted to live in Jupiter due to the abundance of families and good schools. However, in the end we could not find what we wanted.
JCC was my wife's favorite. I felt for what you get it is overpriced. I wasn't happy with the wood 2nd floors either. After you price it out with options, it was either over our budget or right at the top. Plus the square footage of the homes was less than other options. However, I will concede that the community is beautiful and although close to the turnpike you could not hear it.
Rialto was my favorite at first. We even put down a deposit on one of the lots. Then we paid a visit to it at night. The combination of those lights and the I-95 noise was too much for us. They laid out that community completely wrong. The expensive houses have the worst lots. If that community was reversed, we would have moved there in a second. I know several people who bought in the older section and love it, but even they agreed that the prices they want for the new section is ridiculous for what you get. Unfortunately we walked away.
Paloma was okay, but I believe it is almost done. In my opinion they have the best location, as it's between PGA and Jupiter. But killed it for us was the lot fees for those tiny lots. We want a pool eventually, and that would take your entire yard. If a big yard is not a necessity, then Paloma is pretty nice.
Obviously you can probably tell by my post that we wanted a decent to big yard. Well that killed Windsor park and Botanica pretty much right away. I know a lot of nice families in Abacoa, but I could not deal with the zero lot line stuff. To each his own.
I have even kept up with Kolter's plans on the new Briger Tract off Donald Ross. Who knows what will ultimately get approved, but there first draft of plans shows a layout almost identical to Abaco now. Zero lot lines with houses on top of one another.
All these reasons have left us looking at The preserve at BayHill Estates on Northlake. I know it is far west, and I know nothing is out there (I have already heard it from family and friends). But in the grand scheme of things it comes closest to giving us what we want. Big yard, nice golf community, nice house, no road noise. We are trying to make a final decision soon. I think part of me still wants to be in Jupiter, but unless something new pops up overnight we just could not find something that suits us. To each his own, somethings important to me are not important to others, but those were my thoughts on each one of those communities. Hope it helps in your decision. For what it's worth, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
I'm actually 34 but the Wife is 30 so we're not too far off from you guys.
JCC will definitely top out our budget. As you said, the new lots at Rialto are ridiculous...and they almost have 6 figure lot premiums on the lake lots. Just stupid.
The briger tract and Divosta's future Lakewood I envision being a cluster like Abacoa.
You do get a good bang for your buck out west but I personally can't live out there. Just too far from family and friends. It was nice that PGA bought the golf course which should bring it some stability. We actually have a buddy who lives just west of Bayhill off Northlake and we hardly see each other because of the commute. He mentioned the other day that they want to move as well and were looking at Jupiter Farms.
One thing to mention is that everyone harps on the wood 2nd floors for Toll Brothers. I own a high end custom construction company and most of my clients don't care. As long as its Miami-Dade approved and trusses strapped propertly, they don't care. In fact, on additions, you usually have to do it so as to not add too much weight to the existing slab...and we're talking homes worth multi-millions. It is a cheaper way to build for sure....but it certainly isn't as big a deal as some on here tend to make it out to be.
So we are just as confused as when we started looking 6 months ago. We've even started to look for an older home with good curb appeal and maybe put a little money into it. But that has not yielded any results either.
Keep me updated on what you guys decide and thanks for the feedback. I always enjoy hearing other people's pros and cons.
Wow, you are almost an exact copy of my wife and me. We are a tad older (mid 30's) and we already have 2 kids with a third on the way. Same price point though and we looked at the same communities. We DESPERATELY wanted to live in Jupiter due to the abundance of families and good schools. However, in the end we could not find what we wanted.
JCC was my wife's favorite. I felt for what you get it is overpriced. I wasn't happy with the wood 2nd floors either. After you price it out with options, it was either over our budget or right at the top. Plus the square footage of the homes was less than other options. However, I will concede that the community is beautiful and although close to the turnpike you could not hear it.
Rialto was my favorite at first. We even put down a deposit on one of the lots. Then we paid a visit to it at night. The combination of those lights and the I-95 noise was too much for us. They laid out that community completely wrong. The expensive houses have the worst lots. If that community was reversed, we would have moved there in a second. I know several people who bought in the older section and love it, but even they agreed that the prices they want for the new section is ridiculous for what you get. Unfortunately we walked away.
Paloma was okay, but I believe it is almost done. In my opinion they have the best location, as it's between PGA and Jupiter. But killed it for us was the lot fees for those tiny lots. We want a pool eventually, and that would take your entire yard. If a big yard is not a necessity, then Paloma is pretty nice.
Obviously you can probably tell by my post that we wanted a decent to big yard. Well that killed Windsor park and Botanica pretty much right away. I know a lot of nice families in Abacoa, but I could not deal with the zero lot line stuff. To each his own.
I have even kept up with Kolter's plans on the new Briger Tract off Donald Ross. Who knows what will ultimately get approved, but there first draft of plans shows a layout almost identical to Abaco now. Zero lot lines with houses on top of one another.
All these reasons have left us looking at The preserve at BayHill Estates on Northlake. I know it is far west, and I know nothing is out there (I have already heard it from family and friends). But in the grand scheme of things it comes closest to giving us what we want. Big yard, nice golf community, nice house, no road noise. We are trying to make a final decision soon. I think part of me still wants to be in Jupiter, but unless something new pops up overnight we just could not find something that suits us. To each his own, somethings important to me are not important to others, but those were my thoughts on each one of those communities. Hope it helps in your decision. For what it's worth, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
Do you have to be in a community? Did you check out Palm Beach Country Estates? there are some really nice homes in there and everything is 1.15 acres or more...
One thing to mention is that everyone harps on the wood 2nd floors for Toll Brothers. I own a high end custom construction company and most of my clients don't care. As long as its Miami-Dade approved and trusses strapped propertly, they don't care. In fact, on additions, you usually have to do it so as to not add too much weight to the existing slab...and we're talking homes worth multi-millions. It is a cheaper way to build for sure....but it certainly isn't as big a deal as some on here tend to make it out to be.
The other 3 considerations for wood frame are windstorm rates, bugs and mold/water damage.
Valencia at Abacoa and Toll Frenchman's Reserve both are struggling with wood rot/water damage/mold on 10 year old houses. Valencia has the issue on the apartments over the garages and Toll has the issue in the bathrooms over the garages. Stucco/wood/sheetrock need to be removed, replaced and then deal with the mold as well.
If you own a high end construction company why not build a home for yourself? I have never heard of a builder that buys production homes for inflated rates........ Buy land, build and sell your own personal home for a profit every few years!
Hey City......If properly done, you should not have issues with wood rot, mold, etc. Obviously concrete is better...no one can argue that. But I just don't see it as the huge detraction that some do.
Anyways...I would love nothing more than to build my own home but land in north county ain't cheap. Tough to find land for under $200k where I believe a home will appreciate. Heck...wet slips go for about that in the area. I don't want to just build anywhere and be the only new home on the block. I've thought about land in ranch colony or tailwinds but the commute for the Wife would be just that much more. Not much decent land in town.
While you say inflated rates, production homes are about as cheap as they come. The home at JCC would be like $220 per A/C sq ft with the land. Rialto is much less than that. Custom building costs much more....
So we figured we would get a home now from a production builder as we start our family. Then we will look to land bank a lot and then custom build our next one.
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Buy land, build and sell your own personal home for a profit every few years!
