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Iam interested in buying or building in either North Port or Charlotte County area, not including PG. Would like to know the pros & cons of each place such as taxes, govt. services,cost of living etc. Not i nterested in school systems and I know where most medical facilities are. I have read on this forum that Charlotte County can be dificult when trying to make improvments on a home, and also when building a new home. It seems like NP/Sarasota county is mostly on wells and septic which I am not that familar with, and Charlotte is progressing to sewers which I understand could be costly to the homeowner.
Charlotte County, encompasses a lot of differing areas..
PG has its own city to run things
Port Charlotte varies, some homes have city water some don't, some have sewer, some don't, some are getting it. It has some good areas some not.............
then you have Gulf Cove, South Gulf Cove, the various Rotondas, and Englewood.
North port is in Sarasota County but has its own city ordinances etc. Again some home shave city some don't
Its a wide ranging area .
from experience CC isn't that difficult to build in, if you know the rules and regs . North Port -I cant comment
North Port prices are generally higher than PC. Yes, Charlotte Co is a PITA for permits but this is due to a lack of contractors in the county, and all the state, county regulations. Very hard to get contractors to call you back and get work done. See the other posts about this issue.
Cheaper to buy than build. Impact fees etc all drive up costs, whereas a 10 year old home is quite affordable, already with the pool, etc.
Yes, much of North Port is on wells and septic. But much of PC is on septic as well. I am in the Spring Lake sewer expansion, in the first batch to be converted. Cost is $500 a year plus the to-be-determined monthly sewer fee. Septic works fine, just a push by the county to convert to sewer. Wells require softeners, etc, but all wells already have these, but it is an ongoing expense nd the water is hard, thus the softeners.
As to schools, there is an argument as to how good the schools systems are, mainly because of how the schools are rated. CC has a new superintendent who is committed to raising standards. NP is in Sarasota Schools. Good schools.
Look for my Florida homes as a search and that will tie you into the regional MLS system. Ignore Zillow Zestimates as they are very inaccurate as a rule.
Taxes consist of two parts ad valorum taxes and separate fees. Districts are set up and Municipal Service Units created to avoid putting taxes under ad valorum restrictions. However, our overall tax rate is still lower than where we moved from. Gas is higher since all is trucked in, as is food, but still lower than the northeast, west coast. Electric is much lower than we paid in Texas.
As to upcoming costs for sewers, the next area is estimated to have a charge of approximately $15,000 per home.
North Port has younger families, while PC is older, average above 50.
Don't know what your price range is, but you can research from PC to Sarasota/Bradenton on the MLS search. Commute from PC to Sarasota is about 45 minutes, as is the distance from PC to Fort Myers, so about everything you would want is within about an hour's drive.
Check with SoFlGal on this forum, she is a reputable real estate agent for the PC/NP area.
Taxes? .. will it be P/T or F/T residence? As previously stated, if you can find what you want that is 5 10 15 even 20 years old, dollar wise you will be way ahead buying versus building and you wont be waiting a year to occupy. Then again building allows you to have what you really want as long as its in your budget. Depending on how long you hold your home Insurance Savings on a New Home can be Very Substantial!!!! Off Water or On Water? Gov Services? Not sure what you mean there?
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Originally Posted by orhs66
Iam interested in buying or building in either North Port or Charlotte County area, not including PG. Would like to know the pros & cons of each place such as taxes, govt. services,cost of living etc. Not i nterested in school systems and I know where most medical facilities are. I have read on this forum that Charlotte County can be dificult when trying to make improvments on a home, and also when building a new home. It seems like NP/Sarasota county is mostly on wells and septic which I am not that familar with, and Charlotte is progressing to sewers which I understand could be costly to the homeowner.
Restarin did an excellent job of explaining the differences. Not sure I can top him! He covered many of your questions about cost of living, which would be similar in both areas. He also went over taxes and government. I'll try to throw out a few things to fill in some of the gaps
There were 1063 sales in North Port in the last 6 months. The average list price was $152,727 and the average sale price was $146,201. The median list price was $139,900 and the median sales price was $137K. Now, if we look at Port Charlotte (only including Port Charlotte) there were 1435 homes sold. The average list price was $155,307 and the average sales price is $148,889. The median list price was $129,900 and the median sales price was $125,900. This is including all properties-condos, mobiles, single family, etc. I can break this down to a specific area, type of home or whatever but you asked about each town.
The homes in North Port are generally newer than in Port Charlotte. As well as the commercial construction-the North Port area has gone through a huge change in the last ten years. Benderson, one of the largest commercial builders, has brought in Panera Bread, TJ Maxx, Ross, Starbucks and many other retail stores.
Port Charlotte has more waterfront property and the access is quicker to the harbor then what North Port has. Many of the properties in the O'Hara area in Port Charlotte have excellent water access, where as North Port has Duck Key and a few small pockets but really doesn't have the water access that Port Charlotte does.
I own a home in North Port and I moved from Port Charlotte, so I've lived in both cities at one point. My father-in-law still lives in Port Charlotte off of Midway Blvd. I currently own a home in North Port and Charlotte County but not Port Charlotte. I just sold three of my rentals in Port Charlotte but still own 5 units in Port Charlotte and 2 units in Englewood (Charlotte county side).
On your question about making changes to your home in either county, what I can say to you about that is that I flip homes in North Port and will not even attempt to flip in Port Charlotte. Every time I've done work in Charlotte county, it's been a big hassle. North Port, no problem. Here's a link to the building dept for NP: City of North Port, FL : Permitting and here's the link for PC: https://www.charlottecountyfl.gov/de...s-Listing.aspx
Most of North Port is on well and septic and much of Port Charlotte is also. North Port doesn't have plans for a change over in most of the city right now, where PC does. I know many like city water and sewer better, personally I prefer well and septic. I own a home in Charlotte county (not Port Charlotte) on city water and sewer and one in NP on well and septic. Well is very easy to maintain. You can do it yourself or hire someone to do it. We keep salt in the brine tank and every six months we scrub out the main vat with bleach and drain it. On the inside we have a reverse osmosis system for drinking the water and we change the filters every six months. We have a water softener system on the well that keeps the water conditioned and prevents the water from smelling bad. People say that there is a chance that your well may run dry. We have never had this happen in 15 years of being in North Port. Not to say that it cant happen but it hasn't happened to us or anyone we know who lives in North Port. With the septic we pay to have it pumped out every five years or so. The charge is $250-$350 depending on who you get. That's pretty much it. Obviously if you are not hooked up to city water and sewer you do not have the monthly charge. You would just have the salt charge, which is cheap. There's always the risk of some of the equipment going out. We had this happen one time in 15 years and replaced a part for $500. I just got a quote of $2395 for an entire new well system to be installed for a builder I'm working with. The new systems don't even have a vat that needs to be cleaned and they are much more efficient then the older systems.
I know you mentioned that you are not personally concerned with the school system but I always look at resale value. Even though you are not concerned with the schools, when/if you decide to sell, there's a good chance your buyers will be. I'd pay attention to it, even thought it doesn't pertain to you.
Port Charlotte is a good 45 minutes, if not longer to the closest beach where North Port is around 30 minutes. That is if you don't include the Port Charlotte Beach Complex, which I don't really consider a beach since it's on the bay.
Now on to medical facilities. I have not had good experiences with the medical facilities in the Charlotte county area. I had two babies in St Joe's Hospital in Port Charlotte and my mother-in-law spent years in and out of St. Joes (I think they are calling it Bayfront Health) now. She was also in and out of Fawcett Hospital before she passed away of Crohn's Disease a few years ago. Neither gave good care, IMO. I have been to the new North Port ER, Venice Hospital and Sarasota Hospital (was just at Sarasota a few weeks ago with a sick kid-22 year old). The service and facility was excellent. You can go here and research various Dr's and hospitals in the area: Healthgrades > Find a Doctor | Doctor Reviews | Hospital Ratings All of my Dr's are in Sarasota county. Of course, this is just my personal opinion.
The values are reviewed each year and will change with market conditions, the assessed value may be more or less than the actual value of the property. The tax rolls will also show "just market value" and "taxable value." An owner who has owned homesteaded property for a number of years will have a taxable value that can be much less than the "just market value." For this purpose I will use Sarasota county as an example. The tax will also vary by location of the property, the millage rate on a property in the city limits of Sarasota will be higher than a property located outside the city limits. The actual city limits of the city of Sarasota are quite small, and many properties with Sarasota mailing addresses are actually in unincorporated parts of the county. A Buyer takes over the taxes on the property and will get a new evaluation the next year. The tax rate has been somewhere between 1.5% and 1.8% of the purchase price of the home. The greatest advantage of a homestead exemption is the cap - when you have your home homesteaded, you have a 3% cap on the tax. If you have a second home or an investment property, the tax goes up or down depending on what the market value is.
Property tax is based on the assessed value of the property and the millage rate. The millage rate for Sarasota county is around 13 mills. The millage rate is the rate of tax per thousand dollars of taxable value. To determine the ad Valorem taxes divide the taxable value by 1,000 and multiply the millage rate. For example, $100,000 in taxable value with a millage rate of 13 would generate $1300 in taxes. (100,000/1000 X 13)
There is non advalorem taxes which are based on just having a lot-everybody pays for example- for fire dept, solid waste, road and drainage is all included in that. The ad valorem taxes are based on the homes assessed value. You can't necessarily go on what the previous owner paid for taxes because if they had the home homesteaded, for example, for 10 years, they would get a substantial discount. Keep in mind that the state of FL does not have an income tax but the sales tax is 7%.
There are also many more issues and things to consider when buying a home in Florida. Home owners insurance and flood zones are two of them. Here's a blog I wrote about the various flood zones: http://www.city-data.com/blogs/blog3...s-what-do.html
A few things that insurance agents take into consideration-the age of the home, style of roof(hip roof is best), how close the home is to a natural body of water or fire hydrant, how the roof is tied on, if the home has hurricane shutters or impact resistant glass, if the home has a Miami-Dade rated garage door, if the home is frame or block. These are just a few of the criteria they use to give an insurance quote. There are more but these are some of the biggies.
It's also important to get a wind mitigation report done when you are having the home inspected. In general, it will be at a discounted rate because the inspector is already out at the home. They will look at many of the features that I mentioned above. I'll give you an example of how this can effect your insurance. I have a home in North Port (southern Sarasota county). My home was built in 2003, has hurricane shutters, 2127 under air, hip roof, concrete block, close to a fire hydrant, no pool. Before the inspection my insurance was $1987 per year and after the inspection it was $727. Big difference.
Then you have flood insurance. 80% of North Port is not in a flood zone. There is a very specific area that is. The other areas of Sarasota and Charlotte county would be hit or miss. Generally west of US 41 and on the islands would be more likely to require flood insurance. The only way to determine the amount of the insurance is to have an elevation certificate. This would show the elevation of the home and what flood zone the home is in (if any). If the previous owner had home owners insurance and had a mortgage they probably have an elevation certificate. I always recommend getting flood insurance even if your home is not in a flood zone. If it's not, the price would be much cheaper for the insurance. In Sarasota county you can go here and look up a specific home to see if it's in a flood zone: https://ags2.scgov.net/sarcoflood/ I usually do a general analysis of homes as I pull them for a client and then once we've narrowed then down to the top three homes we analyze them even more carefully and I'll send them over to my insurance gal to get quotes.
Just by your initial post I'm thinking you might want to include Venice in your search or possibly Punta Gorda. It's hard to recommend areas without getting to know your needs a little more. It seems as though you are retired and won't be seeking employment when you move here. Is this correct? What kind of things do you enjoy doing-golf, boating, tennis, beaches? Do you want to be in a gated community or does it not matter? Do you have any pets?-some communities don't allow pets or have restrictions on size or breed. What size home are you looking for, age, pool or no pool, price range? If you can give us a little more info on you wants and needs, I'm sure there are many communities we can recommend
I have also lived in both North Port and Port Charlotte. We had a home built in North Port in 2004 and lived there 5 years then moved to Port Charlotte where we live now.
You have been given quite a bit of information already, here is some additional information. North Port has newer homes and a lot of businesses have come in since I moved here in 2004. It used to be all woods along US 41 and now there are strip malls, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, grocery stores, gas stations and more. North Port to me has a better look to the community with brick paver cross overs and sidewalks for walking and biking and gazebos along Toledo Blade and Sumter. Port Charlotte is an older town and many of the commercial buildings are old, even though many were renovated after hurricane Charley, they still look old.
You absolutely have to come here yourself and take a ride through the communities, neighborhoods, etc. There are so many differences from one street to the next in both areas. Some people love North Port and others just say, it is not for me. Same with Port Charlotte. It is an individual preference for neighborhood and lifestyle.
Anything related to building, construction, zoning you deal with the City of North Port and not Sarasota County for North Port and you deal with Charlotte County offices for Port Charlotte. If you decide to build meet with a couple of different builders and find out the costs involved and ask about impact fees. A great resource for new construction is Charlotte DeSoto Building Industry Association. Here is their web page: Charlotte Desoto Building Industry Association - CDBIA
Port Charlotte has sewer expansion projects in several locations: Here is the link: Utilities
Depending on where you want to live, there are some ready to move into new construction homes available in some of the local communities. I am not sure if you want deed restricted or non-deed restricted. You can weigh the costs of buying an existing home versus new.
When I lived in NY my property taxes were extremely high compared to here. There is no state income tax in Florida. I don't know if you are retired or will be working. Pay in general is less down here. I took a pay cut to come down here to teach, but paying less property taxes and no state income tax almost made up the difference. In addition, I pay for my own health insurance and the costs are much higher down here. So, you really have to look at the entire picture which is what you are trying to get a feel for.
I knew the real estate pros would have the info!!!!! SoFlGal we love Venice, but have 3 dogs so we need a decent yard and the ability to fence. don't mind HOA but again the dogs & fence. I am a RN and still working at age 66, and will probably work part-time if and when we move. My wife is retired. Not boating people, but we do love he beach, so the canals in PG aren't a option. Would love to find a place in Englewood but everything we see is older with a small yard or a HOA that doesn't allow multiply dogs, hence the NP/Charlotte search. Out options are build new ,or buy something not older than "06"with a pool. thanks for all the great information, I will put it to good use.
In the deed restricted communities you have to check for number of pets and if they allow fences and what, sytle, size and height of fence you can have. Some of the ones you could do are Deep Creek and Rotonda West.
If you want to read the rules and regulations you can go to their site.
A lot of the others only allow 2 pets. You may be better off in a non-deed restricted area where you can install whatever type of fence you want and don't have to worry about the association with your dogs. What type of dogs do you have? Do you walk them? There are dog parks and the dog beach. But if you live in a non-deed restricted area you can walk your dogs around your own neighborhood. I have two beagles and I walk them every morning and evening. I also volunteer with the Gulf Coast Golden Retriever Rescue. So I know lots of dog hang outs.
The location of the home will also depend on your price range. If you want to build there are hundreds of lots to choose from where you buy the lot and find a builder to work with or you can work with a builder who has their own lots choose from. If you decide to buy a lot, make sure you have a builder and floor plan picked out to determine it fits your needs. The builder can do a feasibility study for you.
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