If you’ve ever wanted to own a little bit of paradise right on the ocean in Florida for under $200K, have I got a deal for you? No, I haven’t gone into the real estate biz. This is just info I picked up while doing some location research ( I love doing location research ) for Book 3. This time, my research took me to Briny Breezes, a small mobile home community lying between Manalapan and Delray Beach in Palm Beach County.
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In The Book
This is what I wrote in my first draft of Chapter 40 where Jenna, a former cut-throat tabloid reporter makes her first trip to Briny Breezes in an attempt to find the man whose life she ruined with one of her exposes: “Jenna was shocked to see that, yes, indeed there really was a trailer park right on the ocean less than 20 miles South of that richest of rich enclaves, Palm Beach. Not only that, but its 43 acres straddled A1A taking up the entire space between the ocean and the Intracoastal. Some of the mobile homes sat just steps from the golden sandy beach. Some even had docks for boats and jet skis.”
For reasons I don’t feel compelled to explain right now, I needed to know a couple of specific facts about the community. For example, is there a public shower either on the beach, or in the clubhouse which Jenna can use? (There is. On the beach, see below.) Are residents allowed to use outside grills on their tiny porches/patios? (They are.) And, does the “corner” deli sell wine? (It does.)
Homes For Sale
Even though my female protagonist, Jenna calls it a trailer park, Briny Breezes is, more accurately speaking, a mobile home community because virtually all the homes there are permanent fixtures (that’s right, trailer park is apparently the correct description only when homes can be moved from one location to another on trailers. Go figure!) It’s one of only two such mobile home communities on Florida’s Atlantic Coast.You may not have heard of it because it’s a long time since anyone had reason to write about it. However, back in 2005, Briny had its moment in the spotlight. Because of the scarcity of land on the ocean for development, a big-shot developer swooped in and offered $500 million (a half-billion) dollars to the 460+ owner-residents of the 43-acre town.
That worked out to about $1 million each. The deal eventually fell through mainly because, as local lore has it, residents didn’t believe they could get comparable views, location or amenities anywhere else nearby even with that kind of compensation. Community residents, many of whom are snowbirds, have access to 600 feet of private ocean frontage, 1,200 feet of frontage on the Intracoastal and a clubhouse with shaded porch and rocking chairs. And, indeed, as Jenna observes in my novel, some of the homes come with their own private docks.
But Not Too Many
On the day I was there, this realtor had just three homes for sale ranging from $150,000 for 320 square feet to $179,000 for 420 square feet . Most of the homes are 1 bedroom, 1 bath. Taxes come in at around $2,000 a year (just the thing given the new tax law’s limits on property tax deductions!) and association dues include cable TV, trash removal and communal pool maintenance. You’re welcome!
How Enlightening!!!
Happy you found it so, John !!!