$20,000 to $30,000 per house! where and how do I get one? (Sarasota: bank owned, for sale)

[deedub99]

I picked out the below from a newspaper article. I live in England, am about to retire and want to find a cheap way of wintering in Sarasota, where I have holidayed over the past twenty years.

Harvey Vengroff, a longtime real estate investor and co-owner of a Sarasota collections agency with $23 billion in annual revenue, is part of that new wave. He has been buying one house a week in the Sarasota-Manatee area since the beginning of the year for as little as $20,000 to $30,000 per house

So how true is this, and how do I get to buy such a house? My wife and I will be over again mid May, and will be searching for cheap rental/purchase opportunities. NOT the 'vacation villa with pool' deal, just somewhere to live for four months of the year, Nov-March. Any suggestions welcome. Need not be close to beach, prefer south Sarasota/Osprey area. Thanks. Derek.

[SoFLGal]

You are not likely to find a home for that price in the Sarasota/Osprey area. If you did it would either be REALLY old or a mobile home. It's possible to find a small home built in the 1960's in the North Port area or a new home that needs some repair in that price range. North Port is about 25 minutes give or take from the beach.

Since we are on the subject I just did a quick search and there are three homes in Sarasota for under $30K. All were built in 1930 or before, very small and located off of Martin Luther King Blvd.

There are no homes in Osprey in that price range. There are six homes in North Port in that price range. One is built in 2003, appears to need drywall repair, flooring and appliances. A few more that are half finished and two that were built in the 1950's.

Port Charlotte has four homes that are in that price range-again small, and built in the 1960's.

[deedub99]

Thanks for the very informative reply. How would it be if I went up to maybe $100,000? I guess I am trying to find something that doesn't come in at $200K or more, and make savings by avoiding the popular areas close to the sea.

[FLBob]

I think a lot of the press is focusing on the low price and forgetting to report on the location of these "deals". In the more sought after locations prices are holding Places where there was a lot of speculative building you can find newer houses that are not quite complete at very attractive prices.

South Venice has some nice values today. You can find homes that are under $100k, for 2/2/2 CBS built homes. The location is good in that you are near Sarasota and Venice for restaurants and other social features, still near the beach, and much of South Venice is not in a flood zone so your annual cost of ownership can be a bit less.

[dmccauley]

I had just posted something similar that I came across, 3 bdrm 2 bath in Admiral Walk Sarasota. Its a town home. Located about 5-8 miles from the beach. Asking is $114, corporate owned. zip is 34233

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by deedub99

Thanks for the very informative reply. How would it be if I went up to maybe $100,000? I guess I am trying to find something that doesn't come in at $200K or more, and make savings by avoiding the popular areas close to the sea.

There are 143 homes in Sarasota in the $100K and under price range. The majority of the homes in Sarasota in this price range are in Newtown Heights (off MLK Blvd), in Kensington Park (around 17th st), Sunaire Terrace (off Fruitville Rd), Ridgewood Estates (off McIntosh), Hyde Park Terr (around Swift & Tuttle), Sarasota Springs (off Bee Ridge). Most of the homes are built in the 1970's & 1980's and under 1000 sq ft in size.

There are only three homes in Osprey that are under $100K. All three are in Osprey Park and are from 1950's-1989 and under 1200 sq ft.

Venice has 32 homes under 100K for sale. Almost all of these homes are located in South Venice or Venice East. The age range is from 1960's-late 1970's and most are 1200 sq ft or less.

North Port has 145 homes for 100K or less. Many of the homes in NP under $50K are smaller and older but the homes from $50K-$100K are mostly built in the 1990's and 2000's. Many of them are 1500 sq ft to over 2000 sq ft.

Most of the properties in this price range are bank owned. This should give you a pretty good overview of what is out there

[SoFLGal]

All I can say is I would not buy in Admiral's Walk. There are a ton of issues with that complex. Here's an overview of what you might expect: Apartment Ratings | Admirals Walk Ratings and Reviews I've talked with people that live in Admirals Walk and say that hate it. There are so many foreclosures and short sales in there they don't have any money to keep the place up. Anyway, go look at the reviews on the place.

There are 20 pending and 10 active right now in Admiral's Walk. Maybe clearing some of them out will help with some of the problems they've had but I think some it also has to do with the management of the complex.

Not sure what website you were using but the one for $114K actually has a contract on it now. Some of the various websites: Zillow, Realtor.com, etc are sometimes slow to pick up the updates.

[deedub99]

I'm very impressed with the quality of answers I have received. My thanks to the responders, and I would like to try to progress my search when I am in Sarasota mid May.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by deedub99

He has been buying one house a week in the Sarasota-Manatee area since the beginning of the year for as little as $20,000 to $30,000 per house

So how true is this, and how do I get to buy such a house?

Just wait a year or two.....

[dmccauley]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

All I can say is I would not buy in Admiral's Walk. There are a ton of issues with that complex. Here's an overview of what you might expect: Apartment Ratings | Admirals Walk Ratings and Reviews I've talked with people that live in Admirals Walk and say that hate it. There are so many foreclosures and short sales in there they don't have any money to keep the place up. Anyway, go look at the reviews on the place.

There are 20 pending and 10 active right now in Admiral's Walk. Maybe clearing some of them out will help with some of the problems they've had but I think some it also has to do with the management of the complex.

Not sure what website you were using but the one for $114K actually has a contract on it now. Some of the various websites: Zillow, Realtor.com, etc are sometimes slow to pick up the updates.

You know better then I do. I am not a realtor I just like looking at the prices of whats in my area. I always have friends looking. Thanks for the updated info.