Need info on Non HOA Communities/neighborhoods (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: real estate, renting)

[yasadora]

hello

My husband and I moved to Florida, from Long Island NY 3 months ago, to Fort Myers, West Coast, Without going into details...
We Hate it.....

Our daughter got married and is moving from Dade to a large starter community in East DelRay...
luckily we are renting and only made a commitment at the jobs for one year....(the job was the draw...the area is our downfall)
We are now plotting our exit...

What We have Learned....

I hate gated communities....
I need to be near "stuff"
I hate chain restaurants...
I think I am that person a lot of folks on these boards make fun of...but here it is..I am not a good ol' gal type.... I need more than where I am... We are not interested in moving back "home"

We are considering the DelRay area... closer to the daughter .....and closer to what I perceive as civilization..
any opinions on communities/neighborhoods within a half hour to 45 minutes of GL Tuscany that has non hoas, individuality, near shops and food...preferably not mall food....

any help on where to start exploring would be helpful...We are remaining in Florida...we need to find the right place for us and we have 7 months to figure it out.

Yasadora

[need4speed2012]

Call a realtor and have them do your research for you with what your looking for.

[skylinet]

Do you have a price range you want to stay in?

[yasadora]

thanks...yes we will find a realtor...
We are thinking 500,000 to 600,000

[skylinet]

non hoa in Delray is tough to find but it is available if you are ok with a smaller older home.
The Lake Ida area, kingsland and a few other communities might work and seem to match a lot of your requirements.

Tuscany is in West Delray by the way.

[GolfMomTN]

I think it is too early for the poster to find a realtor. Sometimes people like to look on their own and they come to this board to find assistance from those who live in the communities and might have an interest in sharing their experiences. And the poster has yet to narrow down their geographical choices so they may find that they want a house in Juno Beach and a realtor from Miami won't be that helpful.

I too hate HOAs (I have lived in one), and I don't want to live in a country club community with outrageous HOA, equity/initiation upfront costs (lucky if you find one that gives you anything back) and with $1,000/mo membership, $200/mo tip expense and $$ minimum month food purchases.

So, for the poster, you should consider East Delray (lots going on near the Pineapple) as the closest community to GL Tuscany. As Skylinet mentioned, Lake Ida (boy, have those prices gone skyhigh), Kingland might work -- I also like the smaller communities such as Highland Beach, Hypoluxo and Manapalan along the Intercoastal. You can find a smaller house in the interior areas.

As far as WPB, what you are describing is on the Palm Beach Island but it is just way too expensive and I am reading that you work for a living.

Juno Beach and Jupiter on their east side have some of the quaint areas that you are looking for.

Anywhere west of these communities you will find gated HOAs, country clubs and the "burbs". 45 minutes from West Delray would put you up as far north as Jupiter/Juno Beach and as far south as Miami if you take the turnpike. If you are willing to go south to Miami, then you would love Coral Gables/Coconut Grove - beautiful old 20's style of homes close to nice eateries, etc. But you had better practice your Spanish if you choose Miami.

For Fort Lauderdale area, you would love Wilton Manors, Tarpon River, and Victoria Park (areas just north and east of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Wilton Manors is known for its LGBT community and has lots of lovely smaller redone homes and unique businesses.

For Boca Raton, FL, the best location you are describing is near downtown/Mizner Park area having non-chain eateries and music venues. It is an easy drive from either I-95 or Turnpike to get up to West Delray.

Hope this helps -- just keep looking and reading the City-Data forum. You will find your answers and then you can find your agent in the areas that you have narrowed down. It is best to find an agent that is based in the area that you are looking since they will know houses that might be coming on the market and it is easier for them to show you around rather than go 90 miles out of their way and not know what is happening locally.

[yasadora]

Thank you so much Golfmomtn that was extremely helpful!
You nailed it for me... Eventually we will get a real estate person but we need to do some looking around ourselves.... We have 9 months left on our contracted commitment.... But we don't want to make another poor choice... Lol I can only pack and move this stuff so many times!
Again, thanks

[GolfMomTN]

You are most welcomed. While you are looking, set up Realtor or Zillow (or other search engines) for various searches to send you listings that come up in these geographical locations.

Although you are not ready to buy, you can see the type of homes that come available and you can narrow down according to your price range. A $600,000 in East Delray maybe perfect for you, but a $600,000 in Boca Mizner Park may buy you a lesser house that needs work. So, my advice is to set up some searches in your price range in the various communities and you may narrow down your choices even more.

[FL_Watch]

East Boca is quite vibrant with some decent folks amidst the sea of 'pretentiousness' (believe it or not, the pretentiousness is far worse in the suburbs). I would NOT venture west of the Turnpike as West Boca is a cesspool of over-privileged white kids (think Affluenza), snobbiness galore, cookie-cutter gated developments and chain restaurants from intersection to intersection. It is like the west coast, but with horrid drivers and unpleasant people. The closer to Mizner Park, the better.
And, yes, there are plenty of cute historic neighborhoods in East Delray, Deerfield and Lake Worth that might fit the bill just fine (conveniently close to nightlife, culture, etc).