Who's got anything to say about Englewood? (Sarasota, Port Charlotte: crime, houses)

[MrTudo]

We made an offer yesterday which was accepted today. BUt it's a short sale so it's supposed to take a considerable time before the bank even gets to reviewing the offer because of so many ss's they have.

[beachbum wannabe]

Originally Posted by MrTudo

We made an offer yesterday which was accepted today. BUt it's a short sale so it's supposed to take a considerable time before the bank even gets to reviewing the offer because of so many ss's they have.

Good Deal MrTudo,glad to hear that. I love Englewood and I'm really glad we bought a house there! I hope everything works out just fine for you too!

[MrTudo]

Thanks Beachbum . We both like it too. We came up with a number and the listing realtor thought we should get it for the price we offered. I'm not crazy about the lack of street lights. That's a negative as far as I'm concerned.

The taxes are HIGH. We ( Floridians ) are really getting ( can't use the right word here ) on this issue. Do we at least have the opportunity to show what we paid for a property and appeal to the king's representatives in this regard for a reduction or are we basically screwed without any recourse?

I need to find someone in the building trade who can do a wide variety of renovations. I have a connection but he's on the east coast and way too far to travel here. If you or anyone knows of a professional who can do it all and not have to sub contract work with the exception of intense electrical work would you please let me know? The realtor we are workinig with asked me to make a list of what we need done and he says he's well connected to refer. Hopefully that's true but in the meantime we'll be looking for referrals for everything from paint, tile, fence, recessed lighting installed, removing a wall and moving the electrical, ( it's 2 bedrooms being made into a single large office space. We've been working out of 180 sq ft now for 6 years but assuming we get this house we'll have almost 330 sq ft for my Wifes and my work space, YAY!!! )

We noticed the people down the block from us have Coconut Palm trees. We REALLY wanted coconuts in our backyard but they have a tough time in Port Charlotte depending on where in PC you are located. It's a little strange to us that Englewood is further north and yet we saw Coconuts and even Areca palms there. All of ours were blasted by the cold wave the other day but we say with our own two eyes that Englewood, didn't have nearly the problems we had. We checked weather.com the night of the big freeze and Englewood as ABOVE freezing whereas Port Charlotte got hammered with 27 degree temps.

REALLY like the artsie fartsie atmosphere of Dearborn street. What can you all tell us about this saturday night live on Dearborn??

[beachbum wannabe]

Hey MrTudo,I've got to tell you right now, I only saw Englewood for the first time in July,and bought the house in October! So I'm no expert by any means. We had a friend that's lived there now for a few years who talked us into looking at the area,and we too fell in love with it, since we are both accustomed to living in a quieter environment but have spent 2 weeks every year for the last 20 or so , traveling somewhere to be on the ocean. So now (once I'm "semi-retired") we will have both and not have to travel ! Getting back to your question about contractors , etc. There is a guy named Kbuild(spelling?) who's on here quite often ,who may have answers for you,and I agree that the taxes are a bit higher than I was hoping for,but in my area I'm on a corner lot and have the luxury of front and side streetlights !

[FLBob]

MrTudo, Coconut palms are zone 10 trees. PC Englewood Venice are technically in zone 9. I love cocos and have planted them at my in-laws on the Peace river and at my house in Venice. My wife's aunt has them on her property in Englewood. Zone 10 is where you would not expect temps to drop below 32 for any length of time. Last year we did have freezing temps in PC and all the cocos survived.
BTW- much of what is Englewood is actually west of PC not north. Since Englewood is closer to the Gulf the temps are moderated by the Gulf waters so not as cold and not as hot as further inland.

[MrTudo]

I noticed coconuts at a house a block away from the one we are after. We're going to have a fence put up on the property and that should also shield coco trees that we'll try planting ( one or two ) from any windy cold snaps. Hopefully.

We weren't so lucky here in PC

[gypsychic]

There are quite a few coconuts here in Sarasota, but only near the coast. I have some that were planted in my yard last spring, right before we purchased and they are doing OK, looking slightly frazzled after the cold snaps. Coconuts like very mild weather, they don't even like going down into the 40's let alone the 30's, but if it doesn't happen too often they will do OK.

Are you near the coast, Mr. Tudo? If so, they should do fine. That fence ought to help, also. Good luck with them, cocos are such beautiful palms!

[MrTudo]

Thanks for the info Gypsychick, approx 1 mile.

[Anne1125]

Mr. Tudo, I'm so jealous. We have to wait another 10 years or so to move to Englewood and build our home.

Did you move to Sarasota County or Charlotte? Our lot is in East Englewood just above McCall. We timed it - 7 minutes to Englewood beach.

Anne

[MrTudo]

Thanks Anne, hehehe. I'm not sure how to gauge that yet. We're approx 1 mile north ( ? ) of Dearborn street. West ( ? ) side of McCall but it's Indiana street where we are.