Would you live in Dunedin? (St. Petersburg, Clearwater: apartment, condo, mobile home)

[myaustin55]

We are trying to settle in Florida but not sure of the town. We are in our mid 50's and enjoy the beach, riding bikes, walking, mid sized town living.....what suggestions can anyone give????? If you were retired and could pick one place without breaking the bank where would you live and why? also we have heard just a little about Dunedin....can anyone give more info??

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by myaustin55

We are trying to settle in Florida but not sure of the town. We are in our mid 50's and enjoy the beach, riding bikes, walking, mid sized town living.....what suggestions can anyone give????? If you were retired and could pick one place without breaking the bank where would you live and why? also we have heard just a little about Dunedin....can anyone give more info??

I'm not the expert on Dunedin. I would suggest Venice to you. It's close to the beach, it's a mid size town, good for biking. There's always something going on-festivals, parades, etc.

If you look in South Venice you could probably pick something up around $100K. It's close to shopping, dining, etc.

Good luck with your search!

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by myaustin55

We are trying to settle in Florida but not sure of the town. We are in our mid 50's and enjoy the beach, riding bikes, walking, mid sized town living.....what suggestions can anyone give????? If you were retired and could pick one place without breaking the bank where would you live and why? also we have heard just a little about Dunedin....can anyone give more info??

Hi - what do you consider a mid-size town? To me, both Venice and Dunedin are smaller towns, but they are both charming and I would live in either one. They both have nice downtowns and things to do, although I haven't been to Dunedin in many years. We are in our 50's and currently live in Sarasota, which is what I consider a mid-size town. Lots of amenities here and great places to ride a bike, (which I do regularly) and some of the most beautiful beaches in the country if not the world. Maybe you could spell out a bit more of what you are looking for in a town.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by myaustin55

We are trying to settle in Florida but not sure of the town. We are in our mid 50's and enjoy the beach, riding bikes, walking, mid sized town living.....what suggestions can anyone give????? If you were retired and could pick one place without breaking the bank where would you live and why? also we have heard just a little about Dunedin....can anyone give more info??

Hey myaustin55,

Welcome to the board!
If you don't mind I'll through some questions out that will allow people here to help you out. I'm not prying so answer what you want. But if you read much on these threads you'll find people are really helpful here, and will help you out a lot.
You can quote this, and then, if you go advanced (button below) you can respond in a different color, and that may help you reply as well.

Where are you from?
Are you looking for an elderly / retirement area?
Are you ready to live there full time?
Do you have any younger kids?
Are schools important?
What price range are you looking for? You can get some great value for the money right now.
Do you want a house, condo, apartment, mobile home?
Do you want a 3 BR / 2 BA house, or what are your needs?
Do you want a pool?
Do you want to live on the water? Do you Boat? Do you need gulf access?
Do you fish?
Is 20 - 30 - 40 miles too far to travel to a beach?
Are you looking for beach frontage?
Do you want to live on a canal?
Do you golf?
Do you kakak?

Have you looked at or considered Punta Gorda? It is more of an active retirement area, and was rated one of the top 10 places to retire to in the country more than once. It is a mid-size town, and is a short distance to the beaches, shopping centers and is about mid-way between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. Check it out!

[myaustin55]

Originally Posted by Big House

Hey myaustin55,

Welcome to the board! Aloha and Thanks for all of this...
If you don't mind I'll through some questions out that will allow people here to help you out. I'm not prying so answer what you want. But if you read much on these threads you'll find people are really helpful here, and will help you out a lot.
You can quote this, and then, if you go advanced (button below) you can respond in a different color, and that may help you reply as well.

Where are you from? Cuba and Hawai'i but now in Las Vegas
Are you looking for an elderly / retirement area? NO
Are you ready to live there full time? yes
Do you have any younger kids? just Hula our puppy
Are schools important? no
What price range are you looking for? You can get some great value for the money right now. i have about 210,000 sitting right now
Do you want a house, condo, apartment, mobile home? house is preferred
Do you want a 3 BR / 2 BA house, or what are your needs? yes this would work and maybe a little office space in the house
Do you want a pool? does not matter, bigger yard is desired
Do you want to live on the water? Do you Boat? Do you need gulf access?
Do you fish? Don't fish, don't boat but near water would not hurt if no issues come with it.
Is 20 - 30 - 40 miles too far to travel to a beach? would not want more than 20 miles out
Are you looking for beach frontage? i guess if the deal is right
Do you want to live on a canal? we are open
Do you golf? yes
Do you kakak? yes

Have you looked at or considered Punta Gorda? It is more of an active retirement area, and was rated one of the top 10 places to retire to in the country more than once. It is a mid-size town, and is a short distance to the beaches, shopping centers and is about mid-way between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. Check it out!

you are very detailed and we appreciate that, are you a realtor? We look forward to your comments to our answers.

[Big House]

Welcome to the board! Aloha and Thanks for all of this...
You're welcome, many of the posters here are really helpful. There are a 1000 questions you will have before you're done. And, there are a lot of people that post here that will be happy to help.
If you don't mind I'll through some questions out that will allow people here to help you out. I'm not prying so answer what you want. But if you read much on these threads you'll find people are really helpful here, and will help you out a lot.
You can quote this, and then, if you go advanced (button below) you can respond in a different color, and that may help you reply as well.

Where are you from? Cuba and Hawai'i but now in Las Vegas That is cool! I haven't been to Cuba or Hawaii, but some people have. You'll like the SWFL area!
Are you looking for an elderly / retirement area? NO I'd still recommend PGI, just because I love it there, but others will recommend Venice and Sarasota, and other great places in the area.
Are you ready to live there full time? yes This is good because if that is the case then you may not need lawn care, and a pool service if you get one. (there are reasons for all these questions). But if you need help with that there are people here to offer suggestions (including me).
Do you have any younger kids? just Hula our puppy Cool! What kind of dog is Hula - good thing to bring up, because Venice has some great dog parks, and a dog beach. There are plenty of dog lovers here. Mine is an English Springer Spaniel. Punta Gorda has a nice dog park, but I'd say its a bit limited.
Are schools important? no You might think about that for resale - sometime - maybe.
What price range are you looking for? You can get some great value for the money right now. i have about 210,000 sitting right now You can definitely get something very nice in that budget range!
Do you want a house, condo, apartment, mobile home? house is preferred You can find something nice in most of the places in that price range your in.
Do you want a 3 BR / 2 BA house, or what are your needs? yes this would work and maybe a little office space in the house I would think that would be doable.
Do you want a pool? does not matter, bigger yard is desired A lot of houses in the area have pools, so you may find one with a pool in the price range you're looking and it wont be a huge premium.
Do you want to live on the water? Do you Boat? Do you need gulf access?
Do you fish? Don't fish, don't boat but near water would not hurt if no issues come with it. Well if you come to SWFL you're missing out if you don't fish - (just kidding).
Is 20 - 30 - 40 miles too far to travel to a beach? would not want more than 20 miles out Some of the beaches in SWFL are rated the best in the world. I would say that based on that milage you'll be really ranging in on Sarasota and Venice. PGI is a bit more than that, but it is centrally located so that in 30-40 minutes you can hit several different beach options.
Are you looking for beach frontage? i guess if the deal is right You wil probably be out of your price range for beach frontage.
Do you want to live on a canal? we are open I would check out PGI, it has a lot to offer.
Do you golf? yes Golf is cheap in SWFL (comparatively speaking to other parts of the country), and there are a lot of golf courses. You may want to look at a development near a golf course.
Do you kakak? yes Me too! It is a blast! And it is an pretty afforable way to get out on the water. Watch out for those Manatees though. {I have a funny story about that.}

Have you looked at or considered Punta Gorda? It is more of an active retirement area, and was rated one of the top 10 places to retire to in the country more than once. It is a mid-size town, and is a short distance to the beaches, shopping centers and is about mid-way between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. Check it out!you are very detailed and we appreciate that, are you a realtor? We look forward to your comments to our answers. No I'm not a realtor. But, SoFLGal is a really great one, and she knows all about the entire area, and will surely help you out.

Glad to help you! There are lots of really fun things to do in SWFL! You seem like you like to be active.

If you want to know about what areas have the best nightlife, Ladywithafan, is the one to talk to.
If you want to talk to an Englishman that cant speak English, and likes French Wine, look for Mr. Sunshine - if you want to meet a great nurse - you want his wife.
If you want some good dental work done from someone who specializes in Chinese then you want to talk to Smiledoc. {just teasing}
If you want to learn how to grow really bad tomatos you want Jennysquirrel. {just teasing - again}
If you want to know about Northport you want AnotherdayinParadise and SoFLGal for just about any place else.
There are a lot of contributors here who can't spell worth a darn and everyone has bad grammar! {just teasing everybody}
Oh, and if you want to have a beer sometime or a little humor, call me. LOL

Good Luck, I'll check back. We do have some fun on the board.
Check out other threads, and you will see that SoFLGal is the most knowledgeable and helpful agent anywhere. I don't recommend people easily, but I can attest that she will not stear you wrong or be self serving in any recommendation she makes to you. I don't work with her nor am I affiliated with her either.

[gypsychic]

Cool! Now that I have more info, let me just tell you that we live in North Sarasota in Whitfield Estates - it was established in the 1920's as Sarasota's first upscale bayside and golf course community. This area is wonderful, homes here range from around $200,000 on up into the millions. We bought a great little 1950's concrete block stucco home with terrazzo floors, and I named it "Hula House!" This is because although I am a Florida native and Spanish, ever since I was a little girl was fascinated with Hawaii, the music, clothes, culture, plants, etc. You will find a lot of the same plants and trees grow here as Hawaii - my whole front yard is planted with coconut palms. Anyway, in this neighborhood the yards are large - at least 1/3 acre or more, have broad streets and sidewalks, as well as a lot of open "park space" (where homes used to be but the airport bought the property, tore them down). There is a main street where anyone can go down and launch a kayak into the bay. Then the golf course just to the east of 41 is one of the most beautiful historic courses I have ever seen, and it has a gorgeous restored 1920's clubhouse, too. The only downside to some people is that the airport is right nearby and planes do fly over this area, but I have not found it to be much of an issue with noise at all - not that many planes, and we have acoustic windows. The aiport is what keeps prices down here, museum area just to the south of us costs at least twice at much for equivalent properties.

Sarasota is a great dog-friendly town, many downtown eateries have outdoor seating where pups are welcome. Anyway, just giving you examples of what it could be like to live here. Big House has given you some good info. It would be good to visit the whole Gulf Coast region and see what vibe suits you best. I am a Florida native and I love the Gulf Coast, but Sarasota is my personal favorite at this point in time.

Good luck to you!

[myaustin55]

Thank you for the info...we truly appreciate all the feedback!!! We plan visiting Florida in September and focusing on the following areas:

Naples, Venice, Clearwater,Juno Beach, Jupiter, St. Augustine, Delray Beach, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Stuart, Punta Gorda and an area someone spoke of called Nicevile!!!

Now I would be happy to hear any feedback regarding these areas!!!

HOWEVER...we have a few pesos to spend now and don't want the September date to deter anyone, if there is a deal out there we can purchase now.

[myaustin55]

Can anyone tell me why my status reads "edit"?????????

[222muchcoffee]

BigAustin, I am new to this site. We read something about Dunedin, and have very many similar wants/ desires in relocating. Some excellent answers in here. I hope to visit the areas mentioned above this summer. I'll chime in with more questions after reading a lot of the comments.

We are not sure if we want the maintenance and cost of being right on the water. We do like the thought of a 'view' of the water. Driving or biking to a beach suits me fine. To the locals: are there any hills in the area that might catch a view or a bit of a breeze? We will operate a business from home, so being in a big city (tampa) is not really wanted. We do like to be close to restaurants and shopping and airport (within 45 minutes perhaps) so we can have kids come and visit.

I guess I chimed in more than I intended. To all posters: your input is appreciated!