Looking for a vacation home in Sarasota/Venice

[FLBob]

Venice Gardens is a community east of 41 and south of center. Shamrock blvd runs through Venice Gardens. There is a community center and pool, there are many lakes. It's a good neighborhood, there is a neighbor deli called Herman's where you'll find great meats. There is a Lowes just outside Venice Gardens. You would be a quick drive over the circus bridge to Venice Island and public beach access at Sharkys and Service beach. Venice Gardens is a very convenient location.

Shamrock Park is in South Venice along the intracoastal and only a short drive from Venice Gardens.

[luzzcrew]

So I see that a few of you that have been so kind to give some great advice are also realtors. May I ask a "realtor" question..... In your view do you think the Sarasota/ Venice area has bottomed out in terms of price and is on the way back up or do you think there are more drops in price pending? I hear that some homes have multiple offers on them. Is there really any advantage to coming to the table with a cash offer or is a financed offer just as good. Just wanting to get a temperature on what is happening there. Thanks!

[FLBob]

I find a discussion of bottom is very dependent on location. Even when you narrow the geography to Sarasota/Venice you still have micro-markets within the area.

Anywhere that there is a large amount of distressed property, there will continue to be downward pressure on property.

Venice Island has about 4% of the MLS listed properties identified as distressed. Compare that to 13% in the city of Venice, 15% in Nokomis, 7.6% in South Venice, and 27% in North Port.

When I look at the median sales price decline on the Island of Venice over the past 2 years, the decline is about 15% over 2 years. That's much less than many other areas.

Multiple offers are happening on aggressively priced properties.
I always think a non-contingent offer gives the buyer an advantage when negotiating terms. However, a letter of pre-approval does make for a strong offer.

[SoFLGal]

Most of the properties that are getting multiple offers are bank owned homes or properties where the homeowner has priced the property very well.

There is an advantage of coming to table with cash. Right now we are seeing many deals fall apart because the potential buyers thought they could get financing and then can't get approved. Banks will often accept a lower cash offer because of this reason. So, yes there is an advantage to having cash over financing.

For the past three months there have been more properties go pending then go active on the market. To me, this would be a sign of a turn around. I don't know if it's just a temporary thing or not. If this continues after the snowbirds go home it might be the beginning of the climb back up. There are lots of properties still on the market so it would take a while for many of them to sell.

You also have the problem of the option ARM mortgages adjusting in the next several years which might cause another wave of foreclosures. So, I think it's a bit hard to tell if we've really "hit bottom" yet.

[shony]

Does anyone have any feedback on the Pelican Pointe villas? Are the prices of $220,000 reasonable? Is the area acceptable? Thanks

[FLBob]

Pelican Pointe is a very nice gated golf course community. The villas have a very comfortable floor plan. The $220k list range is very typical of the price on the 3/2 villas, the price on the 2/2 is in the 170k range.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by shony

Does anyone have any feedback on the Pelican Pointe villas? Are the prices of $220,000 reasonable? Is the area acceptable? Thanks

There are currently 6, 2/2 villas in Pelican Pointe with an average list price of $216,116 and 143 days on the market. There is one 3/2 villa price at $279K

In the last 6 months 7, 2/2 villas have sold with an average selling price of $181K and 230 days on the market. 9, 3/2 villas have sold in the last 6 months with an average selling price of $191,966 and 219 days on the market.

[Rich2010]

[quote=gypsychic;8105876]
[A] lot of Sarasota will be in a flood zone. We live in a 2 BR 1950's home just west of the Trail, and our insurance is $1700 through Citizen's plus an additional $1,000 through Allstate for mandatory flood.

Are there parts of Sarasota's "West of the Trail" neighborhoods that are NOT in a flood zone?

[Rich2010]

gypsychic writes: "[A] lot of Sarasota will be in a flood zone. We live in a 2 BR 1950's home just west of the Trail, and our insurance is $1700 through Citizen's plus an additional $1,000 through Allstate for mandatory flood."

Are there parts of Sarasota's West of the Trail neighborhoods that are NOT in a flood zone?

[FLBob]

Originally Posted by Rich2010

gypsychic writes: "[A] lot of Sarasota will be in a flood zone. We live in a 2 BR 1950's home just west of the Trail, and our insurance is $1700 through Citizen's plus an additional $1,000 through Allstate for mandatory flood."

Are there parts of Sarasota's West of the Trail neighborhoods that are NOT in a flood zone?

The answer to your question is yes, however most of the area west of the trail will be in a Flood Zone
Use the FEMA site to locate Zone X areas, the link below will take you to a web page where you can enter the location you are interested in ie. Sarasota FL.
On the resulting map page you will note 10 character map ids. Select the pointer tool on the left of the page and click on the map number you are interested in. A FEMA flood zone map will be displayed.
Search FEMA MAP