buying land on lake okeechobee (Pembroke Pines, Plantation: crime, house, schools)

[bobcatt]

what are readers opinion of buying 20 acres of land near the st lucie canal on the east side of lake okeechobee. the purpose would be to build a house nothing too big but to also have horses. i am a native new yorker. i have lived other places, miami, las vegas. and i have these rural fantasies. I would also continue to work as a RN and as a college professor. when i work as a rn i work in psychiatric nursing and drug detox. are there any of these around. when i teach i teach nursing thanks for your input

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by bobcatt

what are readers opinion of buying 20 acres of land near the st lucie canal on the east side of lake okeechobee. the purpose would be to build a house nothing too big but to also have horses. i am a native new yorker. i have lived other places, miami, las vegas. and i have these rural fantasies. I would also continue to work as a RN and as a college professor. when i work as a rn i work in psychiatric nursing and drug detox. are there any of these around. when i teach i teach nursing thanks for your input

Belle Glade, Pahokee and Okeechobee are all very economically depressed areas. Crime and poverty are both high due to the lack of jobs outside the farming/sugar industries which tend to be low paying. The big fear about that area is if the d!ke around the lake fails it is going to be "underwater" like New Orleans was a few years back. Google the d!ke and see what the Army Corp of Engineers is rating it (as far as probability of failure).

Colleges/Hospitals are within an hour but certainly not close by. Not sure of your budget but you can buy 20 acre ranches in Hobe Sound, Stuart and other places in Martin Cty reasonably.

[bobcatt]

do you think 190,000 is reasonable for 20 acres.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by bobcatt

do you think 190,000 is reasonable for 20 acres.

Sounds like a deal but 1st question should be why so cheap? Swampy lot? Rural, surrounded by farmland? Too far from town, highways? Zoning? Can your neighbor put a trailer on his property after you finish your 3K sq ft home?

20 acres in Ranch Colony would be 600K, in that Pathways community in Stuart it would be 250-350K but both of those are less than 10 miles from I95/Indiantown Road in Jupiter. You could get 5-8 acres in Jupiter Farms for 200-250K.

[gregm]

Bobcatt first question. Is this Lake O waterfront, or on the other side of the Levey? If it is waterfront them the worst that can happen is that you get more front yard if the levy breaks. Also there isn't as much water in that lake as it appears. Heck it is only 17 feet deep on average.

CG9975 has just about made all the points pro and con for the area. Sure wish I knew the motivation for wanting to buy it though. Would help answer your question better.

[bobcatt]

I went to see the land. It is undeveloped. it is between stuart and indiantown. the ochkeebee canal runs in front. i would have to find out where i could teach at and also work as a RN (psychiatric) The element that is missing for me is a community. It would cost money to built the house of course but also clear some of the land. Does anyone know about davies. I hear that is horse zoned also. would that be more of a community thanks everyone for your input.

[bobcatt]

my motivation to buy is to live there. that is why i am looking into nursing schools and hospitals to work in. I like florida and I want to have horses.

[bobcatt]

also i dont intend to have a mcmansion.i was on their mailing list and that is how i found out about this i do like land but i dont require that much however in that area they only sell lot sizes of 20 acres some of it is for land preserve which is a good thing.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by bobcatt

I went to see the land. It is undeveloped. it is between stuart and indiantown. the ochkeebee canal runs in front. i would have to find out where i could teach at and also work as a RN (psychiatric) The element that is missing for me is a community. It would cost money to built the house of course but also clear some of the land. Does anyone know about davies. I hear that is horse zoned also. would that be more of a community thanks everyone for your input.

I live near Davie, and yes, certain sections of town allow horses. Downtown Davie actually is built to resemble a western town and it even has a rodeo that hosts dog and cat shows, the circus and other events.

Another area that allows horses is Southwest Ranches which is just west of Davie (both are in Broward County). Any town with "ranches" in its name is open to horses, cattle, chicken, etc. There is a section of Plantation, called Plantation Acres, that also may still have some vacant land. Plantation is just east of Davie and Southwest Ranches.

I would strongly suspect that the cost for an acre or so in each of these three cities will be more expensive than what you are considering in Okeechobee. All 3 cities are close to hospitals -- Cleveland Clinic, Memorial West, Memorial Miramar and Memorial Pembroke Pines, and Westside Regional. Hope this helps.

PS: If you are interested in Palm Beach County then I would look at Jupiter Farms and Palm Beach Country Estates. There is also Loxahatchee which might provide you the most bang for the buck, but there is some controversy surrounding that area due to "cancer clusters" that got a lot of press and people were concerned they were linked to the water supply. I believe that theory was not proven, but the cluster certainly hurt property values to some degree.

[gregm]

wizrap is spot on if you wish to live in Broward County.

Here in Palm Beach county your choices are Jupiter Farms, Indiantown, and a little more south central are The Acreage and Loxahatchee(up to 5 acres). All are unincorporated county and are zoned AG which allows animals. I live in the Acreage on 1-1/3 acre and a few folks on my street have horses. We like it. We have privacy and once you get to know your neighbors they will look out for your stuff. Not like the nose'y folks who inhabit 'gated community's'. Plus we are real close to all the Western Community's local DR's and two large hospitals which would probably open up many job opportunities for you.