Trying to decide between Delray and Deerfield to Buy a Home (Pompano Beach: foreclosures, condos)

[Mattr82]

Canyons off Lyons and Boynton Beach Blvd are a great option. Lake Charleston is also an area worth looking into.

[Camerali]

Thanks! Looking not to be too far out west and with low, under 200 per month HOA.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by Camerali

Too bad you aren't a realtor! I could use your help. I'm going to look in Boynton. Boca is getting too much crime coming from the south not north. Any areas you suggest? I know Chapel Hill is good but don't know anything west of there. Thank you!

You are slightly off base on your "crime analysis." Boynton has plenty of crime issues in the city and surrounding. Lake Worth, Greenacres and Boynton all have issues with immigrant gangs from MS13 to Haitian gangs. A guy was resentenced last month for a shooting/murder at the Boynton Mall on Christmas Eve. Judge threw 5 more years on his sentence.

Boca gets crime from the south because it is the first town over the county line, criminals can easily cross the county line but the police agencies can't do it as freely (they need help from other local agencies/warrants).

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by Camerali

Too bad you aren't a realtor! I could use your help. I'm going to look in Boynton. Boca is getting too much crime coming from the south not north. Any areas you suggest? I know Chapel Hill is good but don't know anything west of there. Thank you!

I'm not a fan of Boynton at all, but if you like it, stay west of Jog, and as far south as you can.
Stay away from the mall, or east. They've been trying to clean it up for years, but east Boynton is bad.
I suggest you rethink Boca.

I agree with Cityguys' post.
Gangster wanna-be's think everyone in Boca's walking around with $100K cash in their pockets.... so that attracts loser thugs.

[Camerali]

Thanks! I'm thinking Deerfield Beach, The Cove area. Love all the beach has to offer there for walking etc. Also, love that the Cove is close to the beach and established. I agree about Boca, not good and Boynton may not be either. What do you think of Deerfield? I had originally been thinking of Sebastian or Brevard but never spent time there.

[Camerali]

Thanks City Guy 997S!!! Wow, Ms13! No thanks. I'm liking Deerfield more and more! Lighthouse point maybe?

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by Camerali

Thanks City Guy 997S!!! Wow, Ms13! No thanks. I'm liking Deerfield more and more! Lighthouse point maybe?

Lighthouse Point is great, but stay away from major roads

[Libertad06]

Originally Posted by Camerali

Thanks! I'm thinking Deerfield Beach, The Cove area. Love all the beach has to offer there for walking etc. Also, love that the Cove is close to the beach and established. I agree about Boca, not good and Boynton may not be either. What do you think of Deerfield? I had originally been thinking of Sebastian or Brevard but never spent time there.

Brevard is going to be more quiet and you will get more bang for your buck in real estate. Deerfield will be close to a lot more dining/shopping/activities. It will also bring dealing with a healthy amount of traffic/heavy crowds at times. Really depends on if you want more quiet or easier access to entertainment. If the beach is important, personally I think Deerfield's is nicer than any of Brevards.

[FloridaKelly]

Thanks Libertad06. I'm liking what I'm hearing about Deerfield's beach. Quiet may be more important than crowds and beaches. Good air quality is also very important. Brevard has it's crime as well but may be a slower pace and friendly people in general which might suit very well. No Trader Joe's though...
Thank you CFBS91. I will stay away from major roads in LHP. I'll be looking into these 3 areas.

[City Guy997S]

The biggest misconception I see regularly on CD is that Boca is a Beverly Hills type area. It's not. Sure there are some 10mm homes, plenty of flashy cars but not 1/10th of a Beverly Hills or even Palm Beach.

Boca has trailer parks, low income government housing, crappy condos. Plenty of regular blue collar/middle income people live there also! Lots of NY/NJ types like to promote it as swanky/wealthy area to try to impress their friends/family up north but I'd say that it is probably 35% of the area and 65% regular people.

Just to prove the point, you can buy a regular 1/1 condo in Century Village for 29K. The cheapest place in Beverly Hills (1/2) was 799K. Both found today on Realtor.com.

So East Boca (east of US1) is million dollar+ stuff, the country clubs can be big money but the rest is just regular houses at inflated prices. You literally can buy the identical house in Pompano Beach that you can buy in Boca. Sure the house will be 100K more in Boca but its not like it will be a mansion! Both houses will be 1/5 acre lot, 1300 sq ft ranch house built in the 60s.

One interesting thing, the country clubs can have a huge negative effect on values. In Boca West there are dozens of condos listed for $500-10,000 as full price. Why? You have to join the country club for $70,000 and pay the annual dues of 10-12K. So people looking for a 2/2 condo don't want to pay 100-200K for the condo then pay the club fees so the sellers are forced to give the condos away. The cheaper they sell it, the faster they themselves can stop paying the dues! Boca Greens/Woods have had similar issues but not to the extreme of Boca West. Boca West is beautiful, like 5 golf courses, top notch place but expensive.

I lived in Boca for 16 years. Biggest employer in the town for years was IBM, guys making 50-100K as white collar IBMr's living in 200K houses driving Fords/Chevys.