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Hi SoFLGal!
DH is retiring and we want to relocate... Visited friends on LBK and looked at houses all over Sarasota thinking this would be the place for us... Then we saw a place in the Sleepy Lagoon section of LBK. Paradise! Small house but canal front...
You are from LBK, right? Any thoughts on growing up there? My kids are 7, 11 and 12. Met a family w/young kids and they RAVED about Anna Marie Elementary, like King Middle and suggested we drive to Manatee High rather than take the bus to BayShore (I think I have that right.)
Back to the small house... (a ranch.) I assumed we could just throw a second floor on it but there is some rule that we can only renovate up to 50% of the home's worth? Do you happen to know if that is JUST the home's value or the house + property value? I imagine the house itself is not too valuable, but the land...
Of course it is not ours yet- we have not even bid on it yet-- about to list our home here in NY.
I am very excited but nervous, naturally. I was happy with a few things we saw in Sarasota, but DH has a good point that if we uproot our family and make such a big move, it should be to a place that we absolutely love with as much of our wish list that we can swing. Canal front would really be a dream come true!
We drove through Anna Maria which was nice and probably a bit more family friendly, but definitely not LBK. And Siesta was nice too, but more a vacation spot?
Anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts!!!
Thanks so much!
Yes, I lived on LBK from 1972 (when I was born) until around 1980. I'll have to say it was the best time of my life. I lived in the village on the corner of Poinsettia and Hughes St. Many of the same people still live in the village as when I was a kid and I go back often to visit my friends there. The owners of the recently closed Carmen's Shoe store on St. Armand's Circle, The owners of Euphemia Haye Restaurant, the owners of Harry's Kitchen and many others still live in the village. It's a place where people move to and usually never leave. If I had my choice I would have never left.
I used to ride my bike down to the town dock and play in the water with my friends. We had a saltwater fish tank and we'd all take dip nets and scoop the bay for all kinds of critters. Then we'd head over to the Mar Vista Restaurant, next door and grab lunch. Back then it was called "The Pub" and was only a tiny bait shop. These days it's a fancy restaurant.
I spent a lot of time at Conrad Beach as a kid across GMD.
To continue my story a bit, when I turned 17 the first thing on my list was to move back to LBK. The closest I could find a place that I could afford was on Bradenton Beach on 6th St right across the street from the beach. I lived there about a year or so and when I was 19 I had my oldest daughter. I wanted her to be raised on LBK and so I found a house on the corner of GMD and Gulfside Dr. It was nearly on the beach on LBK and right across from Sleepy Lagoon. The rent was cheap, only $500 per month but the only catch was that the house had termites and the landlord didn't want to take care of them. I put up with the termites to live on LBK with my daughter. Sadly, when she turned four I ran into family issues and had to relocate to Port Charlotte.
Ahhhh...those were the days. So, to answer your question I love LBK and still have fond memories of living there.
My father started the Islander Newspaper out on AMI. He sold it to the NY Times in 1980. Interestingly enough he later returned to AMI to start the Anna Maria Sun many years later and has since sold that paper. My parents both graduated from Manatee High School.
I also went to Anna Maria Elementary and absolutely loved it. I moved before ever attending King or Manatee. Yes, you have it right. I would prefer Manatee over Bayshore, IMO.
For the 50% rule Manatee county defines substantial improvement as any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 of the market value of a structure before the start of construction of the improvement.
If the building is substantially improved, it must be brought into compliance with the Manatee County flood damage prevention regulations. Including elevating the building to or above the 100 year flood elevation.
If you can grab a place on water with kids, my suggestion is to do it. There's nothing like dipping a kayak in the water and going exploring for the afternoon with the kids. Great fun!
Yes, you're right on with your assessments. Anna Maria is probably a bit more "family friendly" then the other islands but I still have a fondness for the village of LBK. Siesta being as well known as it is is much more "touristy". It comes with the territory of being the #1 beach in America.
I'm sure there's plenty of people who will say that LBK is filled with "old people". The population is probably a bit older then some other areas but there were plenty of families living out there year round and the "old people" ended up being like additional grandparents to me and later to my daughter. It didn't bother me a bit.
If you have any other questions I'd be glad to answer them
Sorry for derailing the thread but I have to say that everytime I read one of SoFLGal's recollection's of her past I am taken back to my childhood in Cincinnati. We grew up as weekend boating kids on the Ohio River but that was around the time that "Flipper" the TV show was around and I can remember wanting to be those kids and living the Florida 'water life' everyday. When I read SFG's stories, it feels like she was pretty close and I'm jealous even now! I don't know about LBK anymore but I can't imagine a better life than living where your kids can get in and on the water everyday, whether it's in a boat, a kayak, or some fins and a mask!
Sorry for derailing the thread but I have to say that everytime I read one of SoFLGal's recollection's of her past I am taken back to my childhood in Cincinnati. We grew up as weekend boating kids on the Ohio River but that was around the time that "Flipper" the TV show was around and I can remember wanting to be those kids and living the Florida 'water life' everyday. When I read SFG's stories, it feels like she was pretty close and I'm jealous even now! I don't know about LBK anymore but I can't imagine a better life than living where your kids can get in and on the water everyday, whether it's in a boat, a kayak, or some fins and a mask!
I couldn't rep you B! So I thought I'd just comment. That's so true and LBK has changed some since I lived out there. There are a few more condos and it's a bit more Disneyesque.
I didn't mention the place I lived at right before I got the place out on Bradenton Beach. A few girlfriends and I pitched in a got a house in the village of LBK. I had just turned 17 and the only job I could find was at the Island Sandwich Shop, about mid key. They both worked at the Mar Vista and made a bit more money then I did. Well, since I paid the least amount of rent I ended up living out on the lanai/porch for a while. I didn't really care much as long as I was on LBK. The only issue was trying to sleep in. The village has hoards of peacocks that roam around and every morning around 5:30am they'd come by my porch door and make this awful screeching sound. My roommates though it was hilarious and would feed them every morning. It's funny now but I wasn't amused at the time.
Then when I lived over on Gulfside when my oldest daughter was little her dad decided to get me a pig for mothers day. We named her Truffles. That darn thing was like Houdini and would escape from our house almost daily. Well, everyone knows nothing really goes on in the way of crime, etc on LBK. If you read the police blotter it's filled with burglar alarms going off by accident and reports of barking dogs. The pig was the most exciting thing going on out there in years and we'd make it in the news paper at least once or twice a month.
Speaking of dolphins...Moore's Restaurant in the village of LBK used to have a dolphin named Jackie that would come into this pen/dock area every evening and they would feed her. Well, in the evenings after the restaurants closed, all of the village kids would jump in the pen with her, swim with her and feed her pinfish. These days you'd get arrested if you did something like that.
On the water subject, I couldn't agree more about getting your kids close to water and nature. I think they just blossom
One of my Sarasota vacations was on Longboat Key. Beautiful! I stayed very close to Bradenton Beach, but that was a long, long time ago.
Living on the water has its downside too. I'm not being negative, but often people who visit places for vacation are unaware of the very high insurance rates, mandatory evacuations, and the effects of saltwater on your home, furniture and cars. Although we've had a quiet summer, people living on the barrier islands are usually told to evacuate and often aren't allowed back to their homes until local authorities determine if the roads are safe.
I don't have the expertise that someone like SoFLGal has when it comes to LBK, but I've lived on islands and close to the beach. Yes, it's often idyllic, and it's a very safe place to live, but people need to be aware of this stuff.
Also, although I'm sure you'll get more information before beginning your project, I'd be more concerned about the integrity of the structure, not whether the 50% rule applies. Before adding a floor to any home, it's critical that the foundation is checked, because it might not support the weight of a 2nd floor over time. Most 2nd floors in FL are wood frame on concrete block. Maybe I'm reading your post incorrectly, but you'll still need to get the proper permits to build.
Those are all real concerns and I'm assuming visiting on vacation is a little different then living there year round. I'll try to address each issue.
Insurance rates can be very high living on the water. Things to look at are the elevation of the home and the flood zone that the home is located in. This can be determined by an elevation certificate, which most home owners can provide if they have flood insurance. If it's older and no changes have been made to the property it can often be re certified instead of doing a completely new one.
Some points insurance agents take into consideration are-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.
Another thing that's important to look at when talking insurance is the www.MySafeFLoridaHome.com program. It's important to have a wind mitigation report done on the home. This usually costs around $150 and some home inspectors include it in the home inspection for free. I'll give you an example of how this can effect your insurance. I live 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.
Now on the mandatory evacuations, I've never live here my whole life and have never evacuated. Not to say that I wouldn't if I needed to, I just never felt the need to. We probably would have evacuated during Hurricane Charlie but it was scheduled to head north of Tampa and took a last minute detour. I've lived on barrier islands for a good portion of my life and even lived out on Little Gasparilla Island for many years, which is only accessible by boat. We've rode out all of the storms without too many problems. It's always best to be prepared during hurricane season.
Anywhere you live in the world you will be faced with some kind of natural disaster-tornadoes, typhoons, tidal waves, earthquakes, blizzards, etc. At least with hurricanes you will have advance notice before they hit. If you choose to leave you have the opportunity to do so. This is not the case with most other weather situations.
Since 1992 Hurricane Andrew, the Florida Building codes have been up graded in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 to deal with damage from wind. Even new manufactured homes are safer than site built homes pre-94 The newer the home since 94, the less insurance you will pay. Insurance for pre 94 homes is difficult to get/keep and you will pay a lot of money for coverage.
Some hurricanes are large and can cover the whole state, while some like 2004 Charley was an oversized tornado. Some years we have to watch for a dozen and other years only one or two. The hurricane season runs from June to November with the peak amount in September.
Here's a chart that shows the probability of a hurricane strike in each area:
Florida Hurricane Coastal Strike Probability
Hurricane strike probabilities are only statistical
estimates. Be prepared as storms approach.
We only had one issue with our car and rusting, etc. I know people talk about this but I never noticed any damage to our cars, homes, etc from the saltwater. The only time I noticed damage to any of my vehicles is the one time I took my car up north for the winter. The circle/metal part (not sure what it's called) in the center of the tires/wheel is completely rusted now. It was bright shiny metal. I'm assuming it has something to do with the salt that they use on the roads.
Well here is a picture of the only time we had any issues with our car. It was the first day of hurricane season in 1972. My dad's beetle bug got ruined by the bay water that came up on AMI. From what I was told LBK faired OK. Guess it rusted the whole thing out
On the building part of it, I would get a structural engineer to give opinions. Tim Seibert, a local architect, is who I'd start with. It's hard to say the construction of the homes. They started building places in Sleepy Lagoon in the late 60's, most of the homes were built in the mid 70's and a handful were knocked down to make way for newer homes in the 80's an beyond. All of the older homes that I'm aware of in Sleepy Lagoon were built of block.
Love the picture of the car, SoFLGal!
And I really loved reading about your childhood! It sounds like it was very special...
Which is, of course, why I am willing to move my family all the way down there!
Justnancy, I appreciate you playing Devil's advocate for me! I went to college in FL and always planned to move back, but married an NYPD detective and had to give up on that plan. I am THRILLED at the possibility of moving back! I also have family in FL which is great.
I am curious though about insurance in particular. This may not be possible to answer, but for a small cement block house on a canal... how crazy will it be? Someone said 2k/yr and I was paying more than that here in NY so I think that can't be right... Naturally as we get more serious about making an offer on the house I will get real quotes, etc, but I would love a ballpark figure. And thank you SoFLGal for mentioning the wind mitigation report... I am adding to my list of things to remember! (BTW, my insurance renewal bill came in November... I am not in a flood zone, no pool, across the steet from a hydrant, and have 2000sft. They wanted 3k!!! After many, many phone calls, I was able to find a new policy for $1600. So I am really dying to know what I can expect down there.)
After posting my initial question I started reading about Manatee County Schools and I was really diappointed that overall, they are rated a 5 on the Great Schools Ratings... It seems like Sarasota schools are better? In your opinion, reason to not move to LBK? I am a teacher (though not currently working as one) and am really on top of my children so they would not fall between the cracks, but school are a priority for us.
And finally, the traffic... Just how bad is it? When it is at its worst during high season, is it 24/7 or during normal commuter hours?
Love the picture of the car, SoFLGal!
And I really loved reading about your childhood! It sounds like it was very special...
Which is, of course, why I am willing to move my family all the way down there!
Justnancy, I appreciate you playing Devil's advocate for me! I went to college in FL and always planned to move back, but married an NYPD detective and had to give up on that plan. I am THRILLED at the possibility of moving back! I also have family in FL which is great.
I am curious though about insurance in particular. This may not be possible to answer, but for a small cement block house on a canal... how crazy will it be? Someone said 2k/yr and I was paying more than that here in NY so I think that can't be right... Naturally as we get more serious about making an offer on the house I will get real quotes, etc, but I would love a ballpark figure. And thank you SoFLGal for mentioning the wind mitigation report... I am adding to my list of things to remember! (BTW, my insurance renewal bill came in November... I am not in a flood zone, no pool, across the steet from a hydrant, and have 2000sft. They wanted 3k!!! After many, many phone calls, I was able to find a new policy for $1600. So I am really dying to know what I can expect down there.)
After posting my initial question I started reading about Manatee County Schools and I was really diappointed that overall, they are rated a 5 on the Great Schools Ratings... It seems like Sarasota schools are better? In your opinion, reason to not move to LBK? I am a teacher (though not currently working as one) and am really on top of my children so they would not fall between the cracks, but school are a priority for us.
And finally, the traffic... Just how bad is it? When it is at its worst during high season, is it 24/7 or during normal commuter hours?
Thank you SO much!!!
I think your insurance on a canal on the key would be MUCH higher than $2,000! We are on the mainland, in a small concrete block home not on water but two blocks from the bay and we pay a total of $3,000 including flood! So I would expect extremely high rates on the island and on the water. We have friends who own a home in Holmes Beach, an older block, not on the water even, but he doesn't even carry insurance (owns free and clear) because he said it's not worth it to him (way too high)- the value is in the land.
I think your insurance on a canal on the key would be MUCH higher than $2,000! We are on the mainland, in a small concrete block home not on water but two blocks from the bay and we pay a total of $3,000 including flood! So I would expect extremely high rates on the island and on the water. We have friends who own a home in Holmes Beach, an older block, not on the water even, but he doesn't even carry insurance (owns free and clear) because he said it's not worth it to him (way too high)- the value is in the land.
Good luck to you!
We are on a canal in Punta Gorda Isles, and it is block, with storm shutters and is an older home. We pay about $1850 for home insurance, and $1800 for flood insurance. It will vary though depending on where you are and the value of your home. Also the different companies have greatly varying rates. We use All State, with Satin Jones here in town - I would ask her for a quote.
I lived in Holmes Beach, in a townhouse condo, had a nice view of the water, my maintanence fees were $300 per month. My real estate taxes ran about $1,500 per year. That was 15 years ago, I can't imagine what they would be today.
Sold and moved to Palmetto, large free standing home. Water view, Hoa fee $200 per month, real estate taxes $6,000 per year, insurance(flood & homeowners) $2,500 per year. Sold in 2004, right B/4 crash.
I now live in Ellenton, 1/2 block from water, much smaller home. No Hoa fee. $2,225 insurance (flood & homeowners), real estate taxes $881 per year (just dropped due home value tanking).
I would expect that today insurance on a canal or directly on the gulf would run you $3,500 to $4,500 a year. There are of coarse lots of variables, all you can do is shop around.
Traffic on LBK, Anna Marie Island and so forth is a nightmare during snowbird season, talk about gridlock, the snowbirds are roaming around all hours of the day and night and getting across the bridges is a real lesson in how to be patient. That is why I moved from Holmes Beach, the traffic.
Good Luck!
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