Neal Communitites in Bradenton/Parrish, FL (Plantation, Sarasota: to rent, HOA fees, new home)

[LadyBug0114]

Hello!

We are considering a move to Parrish, FL or nearby areas. Husband will be working in St. Pete.

Have been doing some research and came across Neal Communities. Can anyone speak to the neighborhoods? What would people recommend for a young family, young kids (not school age), who like trails/walking and like to be within driving distance (i.e., 30 minutes or less) to some shopping (i.e., HomeGoods, Target, etc)?

Any thoughts on Bradenton versus Parrish versus Sarasota versus Ellenton/Palmetto? We are just starting our search and would greatly appreciate any thoughts. FYI we would like to keep our housing budget at about 200k, need a 3-4 bedroom one story home around 1800 sq ft. We prefer a new build, but are open to other possibilities as long as they are in very safe, well-maintained, family-oriented type of neighborhood.

[Sunshine Rules]

I've sold several Neal Communities homes over the past few years. I always follow up with my buyers after the closings, all (so far) are happy with Neal and their customer service after the fact. It's a local company, building in our area for about 40 years, financially stable (several builders ran into serious financial problems when the market here went bust in the mid 2000's).


Sarasota county, overall, has better school districts than Manatee county, where Parrish is located.

The Parrish area has quite a few new or newer construction home neighborhoods. School districts can be hit or miss, so if school districts are important to you, I suggest checking the school districts for specific homes.

The Manatee county school website is: http://www.manateeschools.net/pages/SDMC

This site has links to each individual school within the district as well as all of the other important information for parents such as school ratings and test scores, school districts, new student enrollment, bus routes & schedules, gifted student programs, etc.

The site above does have a school locator feature where you can plug in an address and you will get all 3 current school districts for that address (elementary, middle & high schools).

Regarding school districts -- the school board does make changes to the boundaries of the districts almost every year, so if you are looking to rent or buy within the borders of a particular school district, you will want to verify school districts. This is especially true in southern Manatee county (near University Parkway) and eastern Manatee county (east of I-75) where there have been significant population increases due to construction of new subdivisions.

The Manatee county school system also offers school choice, information on the program can be found here: Choice
However, several of the most popular elementary school districts east of I75 in Manatee county are filled to capacity so they are not participating in the school choice program at this time.


Information on private schools within Manatee county can be found at:
Private Schools - Manatee Chamber of Commerce



School Ratings and Rankings

The school districts make available the ratings for the individual schools within their districts.

The state of Florida's Department of Education (FDOE) also ranks both FL school districts and individual schools each year based on a FCAT scores and a number of other factors. This information can be found at:
School Accountability Report

[LadyBug0114]

Thanks for all the information regarding the school districts.

Are there are specific Neal communities/subdivisions you would recommend?

[Sunshine Rules]

Keep in mind that the new home prices you see quotes on the builder's website do NOT include upgrades, and most buyers add on an additional $30,000 - $45,000 in what I call "standard upgrades." Plus a good portion of the lots have premiums added for anything on a lake, wooded preserve area and even corner lots. So that $200,000 home you're looking at on the internet will probably cost you closer to $250,000 in reality.

Forest Creek and Rivers Reach are two I can think of that have new Neal homes in the $200k range - but I refer to my paragraph above about actual prices vs price sheets.


There are resale homes in the Parrish area that are in new or newer construction neighborhoods that might have homes in your price range. Kingsfield, Harrison Ranch, Ancient Oaks, River Plantation, Copperstone, Aberdeen, Lakeside Preserve, Chelsea Oaks.

In general, the more amenities a community offers the higher the annual HOA fees. Many of those listed above run $600 - $800 a year in HOA fees. Some, like Harrison Ranch, are also within Community Development Districts (listed as CDD in the MLS) that will add on additional annual costs in your property tax bill. For example, a home in Harrison Ranch would have annual CDD fees in the $1500 - $1700 range unless an owner paid the full amount off up front. So if you are trying to put together your home ownership budget, you'll want to take HOA and CDD fees into account.

[dpbarr2000]

Neal has a good reputation, but do go in with a buyer's agent. I sold a Neal home just recently, and was able to help the buyer negotiate closing costs.