Can I afford to move to/live in Sarasota? (Tampa: real estate, rental)

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Delta Dog

Don't move, the job market is terrible!
The crime is getting worst!
I have lived in Sarasota/Bradenton for 30 years and it is a laid back environment.
Iam originally from California.

Did you see the movie Pirates Of The Carribean?

Do you remember the flying Dutchman ship?
Some of us have been here so long that we have become a part of it!
It is difficult every where in the U.S. to survive, Florida is at the top of the list!

Be a snow bird!

haha - thanks for the chuckles.....

[Sarasota_Blues]

A couple years ago, I was a semi-regular poster here. I don't know why I haven't been on these boards since then,....and no, I haven't been incarcerated!

I wanted to chime-in with my thoughts about Sarasota, when I recognized some folks who I used to post with here.

Gypsychic, wasn't it you that relocated from Sarasota to Lakeland, was it? Have you returned to Sarasota? It's none of my business, but I remember debating the pros and cons of Sarasota, and I thought it was with you. Anyway, if you have returned to Sarasota, welcome back!

To AustinsSingleMom,....if you move to Sarasota, you'll have absolutely no problem finding a new home in that price range. In fact, you might even find that you don't necessarily need to spend THAT much to find something nice in Sarasota. It depends on your lifestyle.

As for employment in Sarasota, it is really no where as good as Austin, especially in the IT field. Sarasota is no where even close to what Austin is as far as IT jobs go. I work in IT, and I thank my lucky stars that my badge works when I get to work everyday. There's just not that many technical positions in the Sarasota area, as there are not many large(r) companies that have satellite offices here. Keep your present job, THEN look around once you get here.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Sarasota_Blues

A couple years ago, I was a semi-regular poster here. I don't know why I haven't been on these boards since then,....and no, I haven't been incarcerated!

I wanted to chime-in with my thoughts about Sarasota, when I recognized some folks who I used to post with here.

Gypsychic, wasn't it you that relocated from Sarasota to Lakeland, was it? Have you returned to Sarasota? It's none of my business, but I remember debating the pros and cons of Sarasota, and I thought it was with you. Anyway, if you have returned to Sarasota, welcome back!

To AustinsSingleMom,....if you move to Sarasota, you'll have absolutely no problem finding a new home in that price range. In fact, you might even find that you don't necessarily need to spend THAT much to find something nice in Sarasota. It depends on your lifestyle.

As for employment in Sarasota, it is really no where as good as Austin, especially in the IT field. Sarasota is no where even close to what Austin is as far as IT jobs go. I work in IT, and I thank my lucky stars that my badge works when I get to work everyday. There's just not that many technical positions in the Sarasota area, as there are not many large(r) companies that have satellite offices here. Keep your present job, THEN look around once you get here.

Welcome back, Blues! Yes, a long time ago we lived in Sarasota, and we didn't like it very much at that time. Town was different, much older and more conservative then, also we lived in Laurel Park which was really crime ridden at the time. We also had many personal and financial misfortunes during that time, but long story short, we moved away for 11 years, but just by chance we came back - now in Whitfield 2 blocks from the Bay and just love it here now. I kind of remember your posts, about Gillespie Park.

Anyway, as far as employment goes, Sarasota has never been a mecca for great jobs, it is what it is - a smaller resort/vacation/retirement city, which has some small colleges and a great art scene. It cannot be compared to any of the larger cities where businesses would locate. But I do think it will change down the road, as more innovative "green" type businesses come here, and even more along the design business - I heard there was a big Hollywood animation company looking to possible relocate here because of the Ringling College. So, we'll see what happens. I am happy to be out of Laurel Park, even though it is now "trendy" and expensive, when I go down there, I still see some of the same issues that bothered me before. Love it here in Whitfield, don't mind a few planes at all. Even with the planes the neighborhood is far quieter than LP ever was.

[AustinsSingleMom]

Sarasota_Blues
Thanks much for your post. I have talked to my employer. They are very open to me telecommuting, since some of the largest customers I help to support are in the east coast (it will put me in the same time zone as them, instead of 3 hours behind like I am right now). I will only start looking in Sarasota *after* I sell my house. I just found out the other day, it's worth ~$70k less now than it did almost exactly a year ago (depressing). I am in San Francisco, by the way. My home is in Fremont (about 40 min outside of San Fran). I've never been to Austin, but I hear it is nice.

gypsychic
You sound really happy to be where you are in Sarasota...Seems like a lot of people in Sarasota are happy about being able to live there..well, there are always a a few who don't..but, compared to other cities..

[Sarasota_Blues]

"AustinsSingleMom",...please pardon my reference to the city of Austin. I read through this thread at work, and very quickly. So, you're really from Fremont, California. Ahhh, there's another area, that "speaks to me". Actually, I lived in San Francisco from 1974 to 1979, and graduated from Galileo High in 1977. So, I know and love the bay area of California well.

In the 60's to 1974, my early childhood was in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, so the Florida lifestyle has always appealed to me. I've lived in Sarasota/Bradenton since 1981, and consider Sarasota my longtime home now. However, if I could live anywhere, I'd be right in San Francisco's "Cow Hollow" (Marina District), or St. Francis Woods area, towards the backside of Twin Peaks.

Back to Sarasota,....I'm certain that you'd enjoy the laidback lifestyle, and lower cost of living. I was a semi-regular on this site 2 years ago. I've debated many people here, including "Gypsychic" about the pros and cons of Sarasota. I'm glad to see that she has returned, and seems to be happy here.

The biggest drawback to living here, is the employment situation. Sarasota is absolutely dreadful as far as the IT field goes. Even the entire Tampa Bay area is not really noted for it's opportunities in the IT field. Many people at my company commute from all over S.W. Florida,...most over an hour too. So, if it were me, I'd keep my present employment, and then look around after you've been here a while.

[angelfish]

My husband and I are both in IT and telecommute from here in Sarasota. My husband was with a company out there that relocated us to Fl. from California in December of 08. He was laid off a month later. Forget even trying to find a decent IT job in Sarasota, and honestly the Tampa market for our profession is small and just as bad. After several months of looking for something comparable in terms of pay and benefits in the entire state of Florida, he was picked up by a company in SF and we couldn't be more relieved.

If you can keep your California paycheck and you live in Florida, you are home free. This is a beautiful small city, and I feel, a great place to raise your child.

Though we miss California like crazy, we are very happy to be back here. Being in IT I know the Austin area is a great place to be. Should you need a back up plan, obviously you would have no problem finding a job there.

[ZaraZoteBuccaneer]

AustinsSingleMom - I can totally relate to how Sarasota speaks to you. I wish you and your son the best of luck in your transfer . You're so lucky to have a flexible company. What I don't understand are your feelings on the weather in SF - you think YOU'RE cold?!? All you might get in Cali are the sniffles.... Up north, our birds can't even migrate fast enough before they freeze to the lakes!!

Delta Dog - sounds like you may have stolen some of that Aztec gold... time to put it back me 'eartie.

[LaVidaEsCorta]

My husband and I just moved down to Sarasota 2 weeks ago. We are renting my former bosses' place in Palmer Ranch. We sold our house in Chicago and did what everyone warned us not to do, we came without jobs. At least that's not an issue for you!!

When you said that Sarasota "spoke to you", it put a lump in my throat becasue that to me, is what life is all about. You only get one chance and if you don't take it, you never know what could have been.

I do realize that we don't have any children and that is a whole different deciding factor on a lot things but if you feel this is where you need to be........follow your heart and the rest will come. That's what we are doing and I'm going to be so happy to post when either one of us has gotten a job!! We're enjoying it in the meantime!! Good luck to you!!

[AustinsSingleMom]

Hey everyone,
Thanks so much to everyone who posted here! I have decided to make the move (even though it's gonna end up taking a little longer than I'd like, due to having to wait for my renter to find another place).

Sarasota_Blues & angelfish,
Thanks for the word of warning about the employment. I've come to the conclusion (after reading your comments and doing some research of my own) that good work in my field just can't be had anywhere in or near Sarasota. So, I'm banking on telecommuting jobs should something happen and I lose my current job which also allows me to telecommute.

ZaraZoteBuccaneer
"our birds can't even migrate fast enough before they freeze to the lakes!!" -- too funny!! :-)

LaVidaEsCorta
Thank you so much for sharing your story!! I think it is a brave and wonderful thing that you & your husband decided to follow your hearts despite what everyone else said. You're absolutely right, you never know what could have been if you don't even try...I personally believe that if you *really* want something, you can make it happen (I'm kind of idealistic, can you tell?). Anyway, I hope you and your husband are able to find work and can make a good living for yourselves wherever you choose to be.

btw: It *is* different with children, esp as a single parent...and this is really the sole reason I've been debating with myself about moving...as the days go by, though, I feel more and more that this is is the move that I should make at this time..

[ctr88]

Austinsinglemom...I put up a similar post asking about Sarasota. I'm a similar age 39, I have an Internet job where I can live anywhere, and I'm coming from California. I lived in SF Bay for 15 years and moved to San Diego 3.5 yrs ago. I like San Diego and suprisingly don't miss SF. I loved SF while there, but unless you have a TON of money to me it's a terrible place for the middle class to get ahead. Your standard of living (housing) in the SF Bay is so much lower than people of similar middle class incomes throughout most of the rest of the U.S. It's OK in your 20's, but after a while it just get's really old living in a shoebox apartment for $2,000+ a month. And it is such a rat race up there. And traffic congestion is terrible.

For me personally it boils down to 2 reasons to look at Florida, lower housing costs (you get a lot more for your rental dollar or to purchase) and IMO better weather in FL vs. CA December to April. The biggest driver for me is housing costs.

For what I like to do at the beach (swim and chill), I like FL beaches better than SoCal. SoCal beaches are good for wetsuit surfers but IMO FL beaches are better for everything else (water temp, texture and color of sand).

I think Cali definately has it over Florida in a big way with mountains close by and desert, and diversity in ecosytems and landscape (I'm very into the outdoors). Summers are much better weather in Coastal Cali and there is no rain or clouds all summer/fall long. Also, few bugs or mosquitos in CA. If you want to hike a mountain in Florida or see a mountain stream or meadow, you have an extremely long drive or a short flight to the Appilachans.

I think the Coastal Cali major metros also have more diversity in people as well.

I couldn't live anywhere in FL for all 12 mos, but I certainly could for the winter and early spring months. But I don't mean that in a bad way, just that I personally couldn't.

I noticed checking average temps that the SE coast of FL has warmer winter nights than Sarasota? Sarasota seems to get a bit chilly at night in the winter evenings in the low 50's. Can someone comment?

Also, for people living in Sarasota, if you had to live on the SE Coast of FL, which area would you pick?