Moving from Delaware for a job in Siesta Key - where to live (Sarasota: apartment, skateboarding)

[mbb28]

We are a family of 5 (3 young children) that most likely will be moving to the area in August for a job my husband wants to accept. My daughter has already been accepted into Sarasota Suncoast Academy so she'll be going there for school. We want to rent for the first year or so and are looking preferrably for a single family or townhome for $1050 or less. A condo is ok, if it is ground level, where we can grill - we are huge grillers so this is big for us. We need 3 bedrooms, preferrably 2 baths, but would settle for 1 1/2 baths. We'd like to keep the commute to the school and my husband's job within 1/2 hour if possible (his hours will be off normal business hours so rush hour for him won't be an issue). We are looking for a safe, family friendly area. We are big beach people but other than that we just like to do parks/pools with the kids. Where should we look? Is Venice too far? We are coming from the Northeast but vacation in Siesta Key every year and livid in Bradenton 15 years ago so are a little familiar with the area. Any and all ideas or suggestions are welcome and needed! Thanks!!!

[Sunshine Rules]

Hi,

If you are moving in August, I would suggest starting your rental search immediately as the inventory of available rentals, especially for a 3/2 in the $1100 per month price ranage, is limited.

As to condos, if grilling is an absolute must, you will find most of the condo communities here do not allow inidividual units to have BBQ grills, although a few allow electric grills, because of insurance reasons. Be sure to check the specific Rules & Regulations of the community before signing a rental agreement. Some condo communities such as Serenade in Palmer Ranch do offer central, public BBQ grills for residents to use.

On neighborhoods for rental homes, here are some suggestions to try for more reasonably priced rentals in neighborhoods that may fit your other criteria as well:

Alta Vista, which is south of Ringling, east of 301 and west of Tuttle. It's by Payne Park, which used to be the home of the baseball stadium but is now a park with sports fields, tennis walking paths and a skateboarding park. There are some simple 50's and 60's ranch homes andduplexes mixed in with the pricier homes.

Arlington Park area - this is south of Bahia Vista, east of US41, west of Tuttle and north of South Gate. There are a lot of little neighborhood names such as Hyde Park Terrace, Loma Linda Park, La Linda Terrace, Grove Lawn, Battle & Turner, Rustic Lodge and Sunnyside Park. You'll see street names like Arlington, Floyd, Loma Linda, Prospect, Hillview & Waldemere. Some of the homes on the streets east of Tuttle in this area are still on septic tanks, so you may want to ask if that would be an issue for you.

South Gate area - south of Bahia Vista to Bee Ridge, mostly between Shade & Beneva - mainly flower name streets such as Wisteria, Clematis, Bougainvilla, Goldenrod. Popular with both home buyers and renters because of location - close to downtown and north Siesta Key bridge.

A little more expensive but you may still find something to rent is the actual South Gate neighborhood. South Gate residents can join the HOA and pay $99 per year to use the community center and pool, which is a historic landmark for it's design. South Gate streets include names such as Homasassa, Rosewood, Tuttle Ave, Jefferson, Goldenrod, Tulip, Valencia and Key.

Brentwood, Sarasota Springs and Ridgewood are in the area of Bee Ridge & McIntosh, north of Bee Ridge and running both east and west of McIntosh and slightly north of Webber. This is further away from Siesta Key but you are more likely to find a 3/2 for about $1100 or so a month to rent.

You may also find something in Lake Sarasota, off Bee Ridge just east of I75. There are a lot of 3/2 in that neighborhood, it's in popular school districts too. However, rental rates have been going up in Lake Sarasota recently and I have seen some of the newer homes renting for $1400/mo now. You may still find an older, 1960's or 70's home for rent in your price range.

South Gate Ridge SE of Bee Ridge and Beneva - streets such as Glen Ridge, MacEachen, Warren Ridge, Watkins, Sloan, Violet & Garcia. You might find something in that area and travel down Beneva to Clark and out to Siesta Key is doable.

There's a cluster of streets south of Bee Ridge & north of Clark Rd off of Swift such as Trinidad, Jamaica, Caymen, Austin, Parma, Herwald where you can find more reasonable rentals. That would put you a shorter distance to Siesta Key.

Sun Haven area off of Clark Rd & Lockwood Ridge - streets such as Yorktown, New England, Williamsburg, Concord. Again, reasonable rentals and also closer to Siesta Key.

When you move further south of this Clark Road area you get into the Gulf Gate neighborhood, which tends to have pricier rentals because of the location and it's popularity with both home buyers and renters.


Finding Rentals

While some rentals in our area do get listed in the MLS, most can be found on other websites such as these:

Rentals.com http://www.rentals.com/Florida/Sarasota/ (easy to use search engines)


Real Rentals http://www.realrentals.com/houses_for_rent/?city=Sarasota&state=Florida+FL


RentalHomesPlus.com http://florida.rentalhomesplus.com/Sarasota

RentalHouses.com http://www.rentalhouses.com/find/FL/SouthwestFlorida/SARASOTA-BRADENTON

Rent Range www.rentrange.com


FlipKey http://www.flipkey.com/search/l/34618/?featured=true&gclid=CLql6oiwtqsCFY125QodFhQwiw

SarasotaRent.net http://www.sarasotarent.net/





You might try the classified of the local newspapers:

Sarasota Herald Tribune http://www.heraldtribune.com/


Bradenton Herald http://www.bradenton.com/



Here are also a couple of the better known property management companies in our area that handle rentals:

Stringer Management
Sarasota, FL
941-922-4959
http://www.stringermanagement.com/

Sarasota Management
Sarasota, FL
941-377-8400
http://www.sarasotamanagement.com/owners_choose.html?gclid=COiWw9qvtqsCFYlM4AodaE9Ze g




You did not mention if you are bringing pets with you. With a couple of rare exceptions, most condo communities do not allow tenants to have pets. So if you have a pet, your best option may be to rent a home. Some landlords allow pets. They typically have an extra damage deposit required and, since most insurance companies in FL have a list of aggressive breeds of dogs that they will not insure, landlords also usually exclude tenants from having dogs that fall into the insurance companies list of agressive breeds banned.

Sarasota has a number of great beaches, lots of outdoor activities and parks, plus if you find something in the South Gate, Alta Vista or Arlington Park area you will be near the public pool and amenities of Arlington Park. Also nearby to the south of Arlington Park is a great YMCA. There's another Y in south Sarasota by Palmer Ranch. There are a number of sports activities available for the little ones, as well as less expected things such as a good BMX program and a park that hosts national BMX racing events. You'll find lots of activites and inexpensive, fun things to do with your family in our area.

[mbb28]

Thank you Sunshine Rules for all the info. I was pretty clueless as to what were nice /safe areas and what weren't. We've been looking for awhile but it seems like almost everything on Craigslist is a scam and most places I've found on zillow, the property managers never respond even though the properties are still listed. I am finding it pretty hard to find anything in our budget. Would Venice be too far of a hike? I did see she places there that fit our requirements. I am going to check out all the other sites and hopefully something will pop up.

[Sunshine Rules]

You'll find that a number of the condo rentals in Venice are age restricted. Most of the less expensive neighborhoods in Venice will be towards the south, which puts you pretty far in terms of daily commute to Siesta Key. There are some little neighborhoods around the Osprey - Nokomis area that might have a rental in your price range. Some of those are still on well water and septic, so be sure to ask about public utilities. Oh, and you might try the Vamo Road area, west off of US41 by the mall.

Not a fan personally of craigslist for rentals because of the scammers. Zillow is ok but too often the leasing company or landlord forgets to remove their rental from the system when it's no longer available. That could be why you're not getting contacted back. You might try one other management company, Argus, that handles a number of condo communities and often rentals. Their site is www.argusmgmt.com FYI, you might try sending them a message from the contact page of their web site vs trying to call the phone number given.....

[PixiStix]

You could try www.myfloridahomemls.com. Zoom in on the areas you want & choose "rental" under the types menu.

The commute from Venice would suck. I know, I did it for 2 long years.. Plus Venice is older than Sarasota & has less to to offer young kids. You'd be better for job, school & entertainment to stick with Sarasota.

[mbb28]

Thanks again Sunshine Rules and Pixistix! Ok, Venice is off my list and I definitely want a younger area since my kids are little. I am going to check all the sites you suggested and hopefully I'll come up with something. I'll be back to pick all your brains again if I find something and I'm not quite sure where it is. I really appreciate all the advice.

[mbb28]

What about the Whitfield area - safe, nice? I've seen a couple of places there in my price range. There is nothing on the other sites in our budget so far. If we have to go the apartment route, is Hunter's Glen or Citation Club decent places?

[PixiStix]

Originally Posted by mbb28

What about the Whitfield area - safe, nice? I've seen a couple of places there in my price range. There is nothing on the other sites in our budget so far. If we have to go the apartment route, is Hunter's Glen or Citation Club decent places?

gypsychic lives in Whitfield & she seems to like it. Hopefully she will chime in...

I will say though, it would be a long commute from there to where you daughter is attending school.

[Skunk Workz]

Originally Posted by PixiStix

I will say though, it would be a long commute from there to where you daughter is attending school.

It's also in Manatee County. I don't know if charter schools allow you to cross county lines, that might be something to check on.

[PixiStix]

Originally Posted by Skunk Workz

It's also in Manatee County. I don't know if charter schools allow you to cross county lines, that might be something to check on.

Good point! Didn't think of that...