They met two years ago on a blind date. Both had moved to South Florida about a decade earlier — Ms. Weiss, 58, from southern New Jersey, and Mr. Judge, 66, from the Detroit area — and then divorced.
Their relationship blossomed quickly. Three months after they met, Ms. Weiss’s lease expired and she moved into Mr. Judge’s two-bedroom townhouse, which he had purchased the year before. It was in Boca West, a sprawling gated community in Boca Raton, Florida, about an hour’s drive north of Miami, with about 3,500 homes built around a golf course and country club.
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“I wanted to see if I liked Boca West, and then I would look for my own place,” Ms. Weiss said. “But soon I knew I wanted to live with Mitch and he knew he wanted to live with me.”
Mr. Judge’s 4,000-square-foot home was “a meeting place where everyone comes,” he said. The couple hosted friends to watch their favorite football teams (Philadelphia Eagles for her, Detroit Lions for him). Mrs. Weiss’s adult son often visited, as did Mr. Judge’s adult nieces and nephews and their children.
With all the activity, “it felt a little cramped,” he said. “I thought it was time to upgrade.”
The couple joined Hailey Desser, a real estate agent with eXp Realty, and committed to their search during the summer, when many seasonal residents in Boca Raton return north. “It was the time to strike because there is less competition,” Ms. Desser said.
The goal was to stay in Boca West, where they had built a vibrant social life. “All parts of my life end here,” Ms. Weiss said. “I see people from my hometown, people I met in college.”
The 1,400-acre community consists of several subdivisions that have been developed with different house styles, essentially creating different neighborhoods. They aimed for a three-bedroom home of approximately 2,000 square feet with an airy, open layout. Mr. Judge wanted a two-car garage.
While they were open to a joint renovation, Mr. Judge would purchase the property himself, with a budget of approximately $800,000.
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