Closeout Special: Florida community offering $45,000 off initiation fee

        I was listening to Masters coverage on XM Satellite radio the other day and heard an ad for the Mirasol Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  They were offering a whopping $45,000 off the price of a membership at the club “just for mentioning the ad.”  I could not resist calling and mentioning the ad.

        I learned that the 2,300-acre Mirasol, which features two golf courses -– the Sunrise by Tom Fazio and the Sunset by Arthur Hills -– is almost completely sold out.  A total of 1,132 homes have been sold of the 1,170 plotted; since purchasers were required to build right away, you won’t find many patches of dirt at Mirasol.

        Membership is also mandatory when you purchase a home at

Mirasol, although you can opt for a $90,000 “sports” membership rather than the full-boat country club membership at $130,000 (the $45K discount applies to both).  The sports membership provides 12 rounds of golf “in season” (essentially the winter months) and unlimited golf during the summer.  The initiation fees put Mirasol squarely in the middle of the local market, even after the $45,000 discount which, by the way, is open to anyone who purchases one of those remaining home packages, whether they mention the ad or not.  PGA National, across the street from Mirasol, offers a less expensive package for its four courses, which are available for resort play; but the ultra-private nearby Old Palm is priced at $250,000, according to Mirasol on-site agent Nancy White.  Mirasol, which is just 10 miles from the ocean, boasts 775 golf members for its two clubs, all residents; outside memberships are unavailable.

        Dues are not cheap at Mirasol; full golf membership runs $15,000 annually, and that is before the 6.5% county tax.  The remaining 38 new home packages are priced from $600,000 to $3.5 million, but the lower end provides a nice 3 bedroom, 3 bath home with almost 3,000 square feet of “air-conditioned space” (a Florida designation that means the same as “heated space” elsewhere).  Each one features a 2 1/2-car garage -– the half for the golf cart – as well as a 12 x 24 foot in-ground pool.

         If you are interested in one of the remaining properties at MIrasol, contact Nancy White at Taylor/Morrison, the developers.  She can be reached at (561) 624-7555.  The Mirasol web site is MirasolClub.com.