It's official - we're moving to Bradenton next spring! (HOA, houses)

[ruthinraleigh]

Woohoo! My husband and I were down this past week for the 4th time since New Years. We signed a contract to get a house built in Tidewater Preserve. This ends our 2-year quest to find a retirement town, and begins a new life adventure for the two of us. We'll move down next spring when the house is finished. Exciting times!

Ruth

[beninfl]

Congrats! Now the anxious awaiting begins.................

[ruthinraleigh]

Thank you!

LOL - we took care of one worrisome part by doing the Design Center visit the next day after we signed the contract on the house. Not especially recommended to do both so close together (lots of really big decisions on both ends), but it meant we would save another trip back down in a few weeks. And the Design Center rep was able to squeeze us in. So it meant we had to make a lot of design decisions without really having a chance to overthink it. My husband and I got out of there without killing each other, LOL!

I made some decisions that surprised me, actually...

Ruth

[bbronston]

Congratulations. It's a nice community and design center appointments are always an exciting time, IMO. If you don't mind my asking, are you boaters? Did boating play a part in your decision?

[ruthinraleigh]

Originally Posted by bbronston

Congratulations. It's a nice community and design center appointments are always an exciting time, IMO. If you don't mind my asking, are you boaters? Did boating play a part in your decision?

I don't mind at all! We are not boaters, so that was never a factor in the decision making. (Although, we are now talking about maybe getting a boat somewhere down the road, LOL!)


Here are the factors that were most important to us.

1. Floor plan that met both our needs.
I wanted an artist studio that felt separate from the main part of the house. My husband wanted an office that was located on the back of the house. And we wanted adequate bedrooms for visitors without compromising our work rooms that we would both use daily. The Boretto floorplan with a casita option (golf cart garage on the front of the house converted to a finished room with an outside entrance separate from the main house entrance) gave us everything we wanted. My art studio with it's own entrance, his office overlooking the lanai on the back of the house, and 2 additional bedrooms we could use for guests with their own private bathroom on the opposite side of the house from the master suite. No other floor plan came close to ticking all those boxes in our price range.

2. Zero entry community pool
This was huge for me personally. I can no longer climb steps in and out of a pool, even with a hand rail. Tidewater Preserve has an amazing community pool overlooking the Manatee River with zero-entry access on one end. Not only do they have the zero-entry access, they put a double handrail on one side for people who would need it, and I do. And they have a ramp from the clubhouse down to that end of the pool. I've got to tell you, when I saw that on our very first visit, I almost started crying. It's been a long time since I've been able to use a pool. That kind of access means I can use the pool daily for enjoyment and for exercise. I truly appreciate the thought given to that design, especially considering that is NOT a 55+ community. You could wheel a chair into that pool if you needed to. Great for older folks who need it and for mobility issues at any age.

3. Water views
Our lot does not have a water view, but it does back up to natural preserve area, as do most of the lots that are not on the river or on one of the manmade lagoons. I can enjoy river views daily simply by going to the clubhouse and pool. And the drive into the community from the gatehouse meanders along the Manatee River - it makes me feel good every time I drive in or out and see the river. I love that...

Those were the 3 factors that tipped the scales. Other positives included a relatively low HOA fee ($291 per month which includes cable, amenities with two clubhouses, pool, tennis courts, fitness center, children's playground, dog park, canoe launch, boat lift into the Manatee River and lawn/landscaping irrigation and maintenance). No CDD fees. The community is a nice size, but is not a mega-community. I feel we can really get to know neighbors. The community has a nature walk along the river bank. The price was incredibly competitive, in fact about the best we found for the square footage and rooms that we wanted in a new build.

The two negatives for the community are the proximity to I75, and the power line that cuts through the community. But they did a nice job keeping that power line encased within very generous preserve areas - I did not even notice it until our 3rd visit.

All in all, I think it is a great value in this area.

Ruth

[bbronston]

That's a great report and I didn't know about the pool until you mentioned it. There's a C-Der who lives in TP and he has said it is a great community now for a couple of years or so. Good luck and fill us in as it proceeds.

[tzais01]

Congratulations! As someone who went through the same process recently (bought in Esplanade at LWR) I know how exciting it is. The wait will seem like forever, but it's all worth it in the end.

[Sunshine Rules]

Welcome to the area Ruth. If you have any general questions about south Manatee county/ SR-64 area, there are several of us that live nearby. By the way, great post on Tidewater Preserve -- the builder should pay you for your fantastic description of the community, use it as advertising on their web site.

[beninfl]

How big of a boat can you get under that bridge into their bay?

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Your place sound fabulous. Congrats.

I don't know what a zero entry pool means. Is that a ramp?