Just bought in Sarasota. Helpful hints. (Fort Lauderdale, Naples: to rent, HOA, high crime)

[Ursulaminnesota]

I would love your guy's name. We would like to work with someone we can trust and who will work with us. How can I get that from you?

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Ursulaminnesota

I would love your guy's name. We would like to work with someone we can trust and who will work with us. How can I get that from you?

You should call SoFLGal! She is the most knowledgeable real estate agent in the region. She knows all about Sarasota she lived there for years. You can find many helpful posts on the board from her, and see many referals and recommendations about her on this board as well. Read my post about buying in SWFL, its called Punta Gorda Anyone.

Here is the link, she helped with many things someone from out of state needs like insurance, inspectors, lenders, and is very literate with emails and the web.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/showt...07260#poststop

[222muchcoffee]

Hi Smiledoc -- great post! My wife and I plan to look around and find this site really informative. I liked the comment about the buyer's agent. We still own a home in Texas, and were originally thinking about buying in a couple of years (when kids graduate). However, due to market conditions, we may decide to try to purchase sooner. We just need to figure out what areas suits us the best. I plan to visit area in next week or two. Looking forward to it.

[Delta Dog]

Well you are 5 years too late.
You should have flipped houses and left Florida for Carolina 5 years ago.
You could have made a good chunk of change and bought for less in Tennessee or Carolina.

Both states are cooler and not so flat like Florida.

Welcome aboard the Flying Dutchman!

[MauiTiki]

Originally Posted by smiledoc1

Venice is not the place to be for anyone under 70.

Sorry Smiledoc1 but I beg to differ. We are not getting any younger LOL. My husband and I just bought a house in Venice last year. We are 45 and 47 years (no kids) and fell in love with the area a few years ago upon a visit there. We currently live in NYC right now and if I can get my 82 yr old mother to MOVE we will be there 24/7 in a heartbeat. For now it is a vacation house to visit 6+ times a year.

While it is not "over the hill" I find the area perfect, peaceful, and soooo relaxing. And the beach right down the road is an added bonus.

Congratulations on your purchase. Everywhere in Sarasota is beautiful.

[smiledoc1]

Originally Posted by MauiTiki

Sorry Smiledoc1 but I beg to differ. We are not getting any younger LOL. My husband and I just bought a house in Venice last year. We are 45 and 47 years (no kids) and fell in love with the area a few years ago upon a visit there. We currently live in NYC right now and if I can get my 82 yr old mother to MOVE we will be there 24/7 in a heartbeat. For now it is a vacation house to visit 6+ times a year.

While it is not "over the hill" I find the area perfect, peaceful, and soooo relaxing. And the beach right down the road is an added bonus.

Congratulations on your purchase. Everywhere in Sarasota is beautiful.

Hi MauiTiki,
Glad you are enjoying Venice. Walking down Main Street in Venice vs Sarasota had a different feel for us. On a Sunday evening my wife and I were impressed by all the young people walking around in Sarasota. Venice didn't strike us that way. But we just might have hit Venice on AARP night .
Our next excursion is in a few weeks and we are looking forward to it. The heat doesn't bother us.
Enjoy !!

[Peter the Brit]

Living in Nokomis near Venice and working in downtown Sarasota I agree 100% with Smile Doc 1

[MauiTiki]

Originally Posted by smiledoc1

Walking down Main Street in Venice vs Sarasota had a different feel for us. On a Sunday evening my wife and I were impressed by all the young people walking around in Sarasota. Venice didn't strike us that way. But we just might have hit Venice on AARP night .

[SIZE=2]LOL now that AARP comment was funny But you are 100% correct that walking Main Street in Sarasota vs. Venice is totally different. I much prefer Sarasota for the MANY different restaurants. I was sad to hear the FREAKY TIKI surf shack is closing (or closed now). I always get my Hawaii fix when I would visit there.

Anyway, its not a far drive to visit and while at times we do feel like we bought into a retirement community, we have been seeing people closer to our age buying in.

PS - The heat does not bother me either. I hate the cold! So happy to find this site and looking forward to conparing notes with you in the future.
[/SIZE]

[REIDELBACH]

Hi Smiledoc:

My husband and I currently live in Wisconsin and have our home on the market so that we can relocate to Sarasota. I enjoyed your comments on the area and we feel exactly the way you and your wife do.

We visited the area on vacation a few years back and stumbled on Siesta Key and Sarasota on our way down the coast. Needless to say we didn't make it any further south...we stayed on Siesta Key and spent time driving around Sarasota.

We found it to be just the right size, with some culture, good restaurants and we love the HOT weather.

Our challenge is that we are strapped to our current home and cannot relocate until we sell our current home. (We hope before cold weather sets in again)

We are looking to rent initially so that we can get a real "feel" for the areas before we decide to purchase. We'd like to be very close(walking distance) to downtown but in a nicer area.

Our plan is to move down and look for jobs once we are there because we found it's difficult to find with another company job long distance.

If you have ANY suggestions on rentals, jobs in the area or any other helpful hints, we would love to hear them.

My husband and I are both in Sales. I sell software for Industrial Automation and he is in Liquor Sales. We have resolved to the fact that once we sell we may have to take menial jobs temporarily until we find suitable employment. I am just starting to network now.

Glad you like Sarasota and we look forward to joining your likes!!

Thanks for the post!

[smiledoc1]

Originally Posted by REIDELBACH

Hi Smiledoc:

My husband and I currently live in Wisconsin and have our home on the market so that we can relocate to Sarasota. I enjoyed your comments on the area and we feel exactly the way you and your wife do.

We visited the area on vacation a few years back and stumbled on Siesta Key and Sarasota on our way down the coast. Needless to say we didn't make it any further south...we stayed on Siesta Key and spent time driving around Sarasota.

We found it to be just the right size, with some culture, good restaurants and we love the HOT weather.

Our challenge is that we are strapped to our current home and cannot relocate until we sell our current home. (We hope before cold weather sets in again)

We are looking to rent initially so that we can get a real "feel" for the areas before we decide to purchase. We'd like to be very close(walking distance) to downtown but in a nicer area.

Our plan is to move down and look for jobs once we are there because we found it's difficult to find with another company job long distance.

If you have ANY suggestions on rentals, jobs in the area or any other helpful hints, we would love to hear them.

My husband and I are both in Sales. I sell software for Industrial Automation and he is in Liquor Sales. We have resolved to the fact that once we sell we may have to take menial jobs temporarily until we find suitable employment. I am just starting to network now.

Glad you like Sarasota and we look forward to joining your likes!!

Thanks for the post!

Thank you for you kind comments about my posts. I try to be entertaining as well as helpful.
I can't comment on the rental market nor the job market. From what I read on the forum as well as what I read in the Sarasota newspaper, the job market is tough and it might be imprudent to relocate here without some job security. That being said, there is someone on the forum who has experience in the auto industry and quickly landed a job in Sarasota. I cannot think of his screen name now.
Keep on the forum. There is a boatload of information here. I spent a looooooong time monitoring threads before visting. It was the wisest investment I made. Next to Google