Moving to Wellington? (Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jupiter: foreclosure, crime, townhouses)

[bman]

HI,

I am moving my family down to Florida and had heard that Wellington was a nice area that had good schools. This is the biggest priority for me as I have 2 young children. Can anyone confirm that Wellington is a nice area with youg families, or give me an alternative?

[bamboosmom]

Never heard of it. If you change your direction, I live in SW Florida and we have great schools, young families and lots of homes at great prices with nice property sizes too!

[Racelady88]

Wellington is VERY expensive. I used to go there every winter to horse show. A lot of the polo people are relocating because it is so expensive.

If money is no object it is a great area, but nearby areas are not so very nice. I wouldn't live there.

[MrTudo]

I owned a house in the Paddock Park I section in Wellington. There's essentially 3 sections "in that neighborhood" with acreage. Paddock park I which is minimum 1 acre and wooded. Then Paddock park II which is 2 acres and most of the trees cut down. Then there's Aero Club where a lot of people have their own private planes and private hangers.

It's a very nice area. I sold my house on Squire Dr for 450K back in 2001. I understand it's a million bucks now. I would not pay half that to live there. Sorry.

[rkumar3]

I live in Southern part of Palm Beach county and have been to Wellington several times... It is certainly a nice family area with good schools, shopping, restaurants etc. As far as the housing prices are concerned, it all depends upon your needs but I would say budget around 400K for a nice 3 - 4 bedroom house. One of my friends just sold her 4bed/3bed + Den house. They initially listed it for 529K but after several months got a contract for 430K, so there are cetainly bargains to be found.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to do my best.

[MrTudo]

I forgot to add, when I bought my house in paddock park, it was in foreclosure and suffered thru a brutal divorce, the previous owners were a plastic surgeon in west palm and the wife was a "shopper".

The house was listed for a year starting at 595K and seeing a number of price changes downward to 499K. I bought it for 350K and spent nearly 200K renovating it. FINALLY when an offer came in, it was 459K. It took a year to get an offer. I took it and took a bath.

The same realtors would probably now tell you how good of an investment that house would be for a million dollars. HA!

[wheretomove]

you will not find anything under 300k (in a good neighborhood) from palm beach on south, for a house that is. even townhouses are over 200k.

[snowflakes46]

Wellington area is expensive and pretends to be nice. But there is crime there and the schools are no better there than anywhere else. I would re think and check northern florida, south florida is going down hill fast, I moved out 4 years ago .

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by snowflakes46

Wellington area is expensive and pretends to be nice. But there is crime there and the schools are no better there than anywhere else. I would re think and check northern florida, south florida is going down hill fast, I moved out 4 years ago .

Come on, there is some crime in Wellington but compared to most parts of the county, Boynton Beach, WPB, Lantana, Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Belle Glade, Riviera Beach, etc. it is incredibly safe.

[5FLgirls]

Wellington is a nice family town but there are always areas that aren't so great. Why don't you go on Realtor.com and type in your price range. Then you can just check out local realtors accordingly. There is usually stuff in every price range in Wellington. Try greatschool.net to check out the local schools, too. Some of the schools in that area are As, I think. The traffic to get to and from downtown WPB is a bit annoying because Wellington is so far west. Lots of people who buy out there love it. Yes, a lot of polo people move there and there's a ton of equestrian activities but there's something for everyone. I would agree that NFL is a better place to raise kids but I had three kids during my time in Palm Beach County. I lived in Jupiter. I preferred being north versus west.