Advice on Wellington vs West Boca (West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach: real estate, to rent, HOA)

[Suburbatopia]

Hi All!!

We are a couple (55) looking to purchase a home in Wellington or West Boca or somewhere else in West Palm Beach.Our price range is $600-700K,we dont wish to live in a 55+community(we will have a grandchild living with us) or one with a mandatory golf membership( a clubhouse would be nice)We are an interfaith couple and diversity in a community is very important to us.Also we have heard that gated communities tend to hold their value "better" is this true?

Any advice/comments on communities most suitable for us is very much appreciated!!

[wizrap]

By interfaith couple do you mean Jewish-Christian? If so, your family should feel very comfortable in Palm Beach County, which has a very large Jewish population. My husband and I used to live in Broward County, and he is Jewish and I’m Catholic and we never felt our religion was ever a problem amongst our neighbors.

If you’re looking at West Boca, generally look north of Palmetto Park Road which has the more well-kept neighborhoods. I had friends that lived in Boca Winds (non-gated) and if you want gated, Boca Falls is just across the street. But there’s so many other developments in West Boca that are nice too.

I wouldn’t necessarily say that gated communities hold their value better than non-gated, as South Florida real estate is on fire right now so everything is pricey. I would say that generally speaking, homes in gated communities have more of a price premium than non-gated communities, but like anything else in real estate, location trumps all.

Wellington is also nice and hopefully someone will chime in on the nice developments there.

[wrat]

Boca has the "name" and is sorta more established then wellington, not to long ago wellington was nothing, very few if ANY 55+ in wellington , if you are a horse person at all wellington would be the place, any of the "newer" developments along Forest Hill west of the TP would be something to look into, also even further BUT brand new are Arden on Southern west of Lion Country and West Lake in Lox

[Suburbatopia]

Thanks for your feedback.

[MattSellsPBC]

I live and work in Wellington as a full time real estate agent. West Boca and Wellington were our top choices when we moved here from New Jersey. Wellington is not as crowded and built up as Boca, but also is quite populated. Wellington is also putting up new shopping/restaurants to be more competitive with other areas.

Best communities in Wellington at your budget, gated+HOA (non-55/equity). Isles at Wellington and Grand Isles I do live in an HOA and it has its plusses and minuses. Overall living in an HOA keeps more consistency in the community appearance and how things are run, which is a good thing. The other plus about Wellington is you'll always have the option to rent your house out during Equestrian season for top dollar.

Best communities in West Boca at your budget: Boca Falls (pushing it); Boca Winds (not gated); Boca Chase; Some of the Boca Pointe subdivisions.

I would highly consider any of the Canyon properties off Lyons and Boynton Beach Blvd.