Venice v Nokomis (insurance, credit, broker)

[justNancy]

I just want to toss in my 2 cents. Depending on what you're looking for, Englewood in Sarasota County is very nice and borders Venice. I lived in a home about 5 miles from the Walmart off Jacaranda and the Venice Village Shoppes. It was 8 or 9 miles to Centennial Park in Venice and Historic Downtown Venice. Englewood has a quaint downtown area with a Farmer's Market, a local playhouse and live music events. There are some very nice communities off of 776 like Boca Royale, if you are looking in gated communities.

[dpbarr2000]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I just want to toss in my 2 cents. Depending on what you're looking for, Englewood in Sarasota County is very nice and borders Venice. I lived in a home about 5 miles from the Walmart off Jacaranda and the Venice Village Shoppes. It was 8 or 9 miles to Centennial Park in Venice and Historic Downtown Venice. Englewood has a quaint downtown area with a Farmer's Market, a local playhouse and live music events. There are some very nice communities off of 776 like Boca Royale, if you are looking in gated communities.

Englewood is the next best kept secret for real estate in FL. But there are relatively few new home communities here, so you won't hear about it from the regular Realtors on this forum.

[mr&mrssunshine]

Oh Lord here I am agreeing again !! I just contracted to build someone a new home in Englewood and have 2 others interested

[dpbarr2000]

Originally Posted by mr&mrssunshine

Oh Lord here I am agreeing again !! I just contracted to build someone a new home in Englewood and have 2 others interested

Why live 45 min from a beach in Manatee County when you can have cheaper land costs and be 10 to 15 min from a beach in Englewood?

Again, there's no new home marketing out there on the web for this so the regular Realtors can't copy and paste.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

I love Englewood! Old Florida style - parts of it are in Charlotte County and parts are in Sarasota County - so you might want to keep that in mind for schools.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Nancy in Nokomis

I love Englewood! Old Florida style - parts of it are in Charlotte County and parts are in Sarasota County - so you might want to keep that in mind for schools.

I agree Nancy! I love the Englewood area as well! Since I grew up in Englewood and went to Englewood Elementary, I would say I'm pretty familiar with the area and don't need to copy and paste anything regarding Englewood either.

As far as the schools go, I would say that the OP probably isn't concerned with the schools since they are looking for a retirement home. On that end though, I'm pretty impressed with the schools. My little one goes to Vineland Elementary School in Rotonda and it's been great. She qualified for Pine View School but we chose to send her there.

Love the downtown Englewood area with the Farmers Market every Weds on Dearborn St: Welcome to the Englewood Farmers Market Mango's Bistro on Dearborn usually has Swinging Bridge there on Friday night. They are a great little bluegrass band. Vino Loco is another great restaurant which serves tapas. Probably my favorite restaurant in Englewood is Beach Road Bistro they have great Ahi Tuna. Heading out toward the beach is Lock n' Key. The Zombie University plays there on occasion. They are a really fun band.

If you're driving down the main drag in Englewood, you'll see The Sno Queen Sno Cone Shop. My father and mother-in-law own that. They serve New Orleans Sno Cones.

Farlows in Englewood is being remodeled right now but they are another great place to grab something to eat. Oh and Flatbread Pizza is the best pizza place in town, if you're looking for that.

Getting back to the downtown area, there's always something going on--Every year in the beginning of Sept we have the Englewood Pioneer Days. This has been happening ever since I was a kid. My mom used to dress me up in pioneer dress and we'd march in the parade. They also have music, a pie and watermelon eating contest, a beard contest and a car show. It's really a great time.

Every holiday the downtown area puts something on-They have the Firecracker Fest on the 4th of July, for Halloween the vendors on Dearborn St pass out candy and prizes to the kids and at Christmas they light up the street with Christmas displays and lights.

Then there's car shows, and art shows, and gallery walks and wine tastings, and music festivals. The cardboard Boat Races are fun. The kids make boats out of cardboard and race them across the harbor.

This November they are talking about having a new festival called The Waterfest, which was just featured in the local paper: Englewood has big plans for WaterFest | HeraldTribune.com

The Earth Day Fest is always in April and at that festival they have yoga, educational demonstrations, arts and crafts, plants, drumming and live music.

Joanne over at The Art Alliance of Lemon Bay teaches some really great painting classes.

Robert and Lata over at the Englewood Yoga Center have great morning and sunset FREE yoga classes everyday on the beach, On-going Classes Every Sunday, an hour before sunset they have the drum circle out on the beach. That's always fun to go to.

The Englewood Event Center regularly brings in top acts like Charlie Daniels and some older bands like Whitesnake and various comedy shows. It's a pretty small venue and a great place to see events.

When I was a kid we lived on Leach St over in the Bay Vista area (not in a subdivision). Then we moved out onto Little Gasparilla Island in the Englewood/Placida area, which is only accessible by boat and also not in a subdivision. Then we moved back to the downtown area of Englewood. I currently live on Palm Island, in the Englewood/Placida area (again, not in a subdivision). Come to think of it, I've lived all over SW FL and I've never lived in a gated community. So, I think I have a little experience over the last 42 years with the non deed restricted areas.

Back to talking about the areas around Englewood. It seems as though Rotonda would be an area that should be investigated and might be a fit for the OP. The HOA fees are very low and the area, in general, is very well kept. There are several golf courses in Rotonda and many miles of canals. It's very convenient to the above activities I listed as well as in close proximity to Boca Grande Beach as well as Englewood Beach. A few other areas that may be of interest are Boca Royale (oh cripes there I go again with the gated communities) It has golf, tennis, and fitness community with a large clubhouse and a spectacular restaurant. Pat Neal also has some new build homes going up in Boca Royale.

If you're OK with an older community then Englewood Isles might be to your liking. Then there's the new Coral Caye community going up in the Placida area.

Really what it boils down to is getting here and looking through a few communities and deciding what areas mesh with what you're looking for. Buyers usually know within a day or so what style and type of community they like and then you match them up with similar areas and communities.

Feel free to use any of the above info you like

[ByeByeLW]

What?

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by dpbarr2000

So now you're steering people based on age to certain neighborhoods? Unbelievable.

You've gone off the deep end. There is absolutely no hint of this in her post. If you want to be concerned about following the law, you might pay attention to the fact that you have been misrepresenting which brokerage you are associated with on this website for as long as I can remember. Isn't that a big FREC no-no?

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by dpbarr2000

So now you're steering people based on age to certain neighborhoods? Unbelievable.

Haha! I'm assuming you meant my comment about Englewood Isles being an "older community"---as in older houses...Einstein...

[macrodome2]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

Haha! I'm assuming you meant my comment about Englewood Isles being an "older community"---as in older houses...Einstein...

The rest of us knew what you meant.