"Must" haves in Venice? (Sarasota, North Port: foreclosures, HOA fees, insurance)

[pgans]

We will be moving to Venice in the very near (I hope) future and I have been following this board daily. I have also been searching the web for current listings.

I see posts about homes of features that people are looking for, but I would appreciate some input from you SW Florida savvy people as to features you consider "must" haves in a home in Venice.

We are moving from "The North" and realize the environment and culture is quite different in Venice. For example, I read a post that said to be very careful or even avoid well water. I also have seen posts re Storm Shutters, and know nothing about them or how necessary they are.

We are both retired, so commuting is not an issue. We think we want a gated community with a reasonable HOA fee.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[kbuild]

Wait for SO FL GAL, she will get you all the info you need.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by pgans

We will be moving to Venice in the very near (I hope) future and I have been following this board daily. I have also been searching the web for current listings.

I see posts about homes of features that people are looking for, but I would appreciate some input from you SW Florida savvy people as to features you consider "must" haves in a home in Venice.

We are moving from "The North" and realize the environment and culture is quite different in Venice. For example, I read a post that said to be very careful or even avoid well water. I also have seen posts re Storm Shutters, and know nothing about them or how necessary they are.

We are both retired, so commuting is not an issue. We think we want a gated community with a reasonable HOA fee.

Thanks in advance for your input.

I think you want to have a home with the following features. Many are constructed that way because they have proven to be practical.

Split floor plan (bedrooms on each end of the house).
One level (low profile, no stairs when you're older, less wind resistance)
Hip Roofs (less wind resistance - lower insurance costs)
Quarry tile floors through out - easy for cleaning and are very durable.
Lanai and Swimming Pool. Most of the year you want to enjoy having the outside inside and the inside outside.
Water or gulf access if possible (if you boat)
Near a good school. Even if you don't have kids - it is a resale factor.
Near a nice beach - walking distance if possible.
Near some good restaurants, night life.
Vacinity is important (check walking distance and biking distance)
Near a golf course.
Nice Neighborhood, (drive by at nights and weekends) see that it is not full of disruptive type characters.
Check security,
Check interent access, Cable TV, Street and public area lighting
Is it public water and sewer? What are those fees?
Check the elevation and run it by the insurance company for flood insurance - if it is needed.
Check distance to and from the airport.

You might want to prepare a little excel spread sheet to use as a check list. I did that when I found my house. It is hard to keep track of all this stuff when you are in the thick of things looking at and comparing houses.


Avoids
CCD fees,
HOA fees,
High noice areas
and other things that you don't like.

I hope that is a helpful start.

[FlaRan]

That is a pretty good list. Just add hurricane shutters, preferably accordian style.

[FLBob]

If you are in the city of Venice then you should not need to worry about well water. Venice City water is RO water with buffers and chlorine added.

There are a number of gated communities in the city. However I think for lifestyle, you can't beat life on the island. With the exception of big box stores, everything one needs is located on the island.

If you are going to be year round residents, then having a pool or spa is a very nice feature. Some how being in a pool of 85 degree water makes being out in 90 degree weather much more enjoyable.

A well with a sprinkler system is essential if you are going to have and keep any type of landscape. But don't turn your nose up at a home with either Florida friendly landscape or much of the yard in gravel or shell. Water conservation is important and it really doesn't rain that much in the winter, it's even somewhat arid in the summer right along the coast.

Check the orientation of the house, while a western orientation might sound nice - watching the sun set from your lanai - the afternoon sun will keep you from enjoying your lanai. My house has a lanai facing east so I have the morning sun during the cooler time of the day and shade in the heat of the day.

While a live oak is messy the shade is a great thing to have.
Everyone wants their own citrus, but most people can't consume all the fruit produced. So a neighbor with citrus is a good thing.

If you do live choice to live on Venice Island then a bike is a good thing to have.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by pgans

We will be moving to Venice in the very near (I hope) future and I have been following this board daily. I have also been searching the web for current listings.

I see posts about homes of features that people are looking for, but I would appreciate some input from you SW Florida savvy people as to features you consider "must" haves in a home in Venice.

We are moving from "The North" and realize the environment and culture is quite different in Venice. For example, I read a post that said to be very careful or even avoid well water. I also have seen posts re Storm Shutters, and know nothing about them or how necessary they are.

We are both retired, so commuting is not an issue. We think we want a gated community with a reasonable HOA fee.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Wow! Everyone is on the ball today! Lots of good information. You guys almost don't even need me here anymore

I'll answer you're two directions questions that you have. Like FLBob mentioned, most areas in Venice will have city water with the exception of a few homes in the south Venice neighborhoods.

You will see well water more in the North Port area. I think the whole well water thing is a personal preference. I've had people that absolutely don't want it and people that request it and people that just don't know a lot about it. I have well water and I'm fine with it. All we do is have our well person come out and scrub the well down twice a year and change the filters. It costs about $100. Then he monitors it for salt monthly. That's about all there is to it. I don't get a big water bill every month if I use more or less water (of course I always try to conserve with the water shortage).

As far as hurricane shutters go, my opinion is that it is a wise investment. In addition to protecting your home in the event of a hurricane it will also save you on your insurance. Many of the newer homes have hurricane shutters or impact resistant glass, since it is now code. Some of the older homes have had hurricane shutters installed and some do not. You can go here: www.mysafefloridahome.com to find out more about having your home rated for wind safety. Which will also usually save you on your insurance.

I think with the heat in Florida a pool is number one on most peoples list. Also proximity to the beaches probably rates pretty high. Since your retired you don't have to worry about schools but I see that one at the top of lists as well.

BigHouse and FLBob have done a pretty good job on the checklists of what people usually are looking for when they move to the area.

[pgans]

I KNEW I would get great answers.
Some of the items were already on my list, but you guys/gals have been very helpful.

Thanx

[WAwannabe]

I live in Venice and have a well.. - Let's just say, make sure you have an iron blocker and an aerator of some kind. My water has very high iron and it smells.. - However, each well is different.

[imagardener]

One of our major criteria in buying 1.5 years ago was that the home not be in an HOA after selling one in a bad HOA. It is sooooo much easier finding a newer home in an HOA and much harder to find a newer home NOT in an HOA. But that's what we wanted first and foremost. Took quite a while to find it after looking in Sarasota, Osprey, Venice and Englewood.

We didn't want a pool (never had one before) but the home we finally found had one. Guess what--it's great! It adds to your electric and water bill but it's well worth it. Who knew? Well I guess some of you did :-)

[loves2read]

My daughter/SIL lived for 4 yrs on the Island in condo on Esplanade and recently bought house in Nokomis after looking for months to find a good home they could afford--since they have not sold the condo...

Two of their must haves were a pool in good condition and a red-tile roof which I know are not for everyone---they also got one of the largest lots in their neighborhood which gives them additional privacy in the back and bought house where it looks like they have nice neighbors on every side--which is something you really don't find out until after the fact for good or bad

the well that was supposed to be used to water the lawn was found not working--cost 1K for new pump and some other work and then will probably need new irrigation system--poor inspection job/weak RE agent on their part--and the roof leak over the lanai enclosure that was supposed to be fixed wasn't --which cost them some money up front...so
A GREAT HOME INSPECTOR is what I would say every home shopper needs...and always be ready to walk away from a deal...most people get that far into the deal and they won't--too tied to liking the good things about the house...
our daughter/SIL bid on one house they liked a lot that had so much owner-created additions that were against code and would have to be redone --even that was not that easy to walk away from because it was a large lot in good neighborhood

the lack of sidewalks I see in most FL neighborhoods would bother me--It is just so much easier to walk you dog or have kids riding their bikes/trikes when there are sidewalks--but we bought house in neighborhood without sidewalks here in TX--it is just better with than without...

My daughter said the other day that she was checking MLS for some friends who might be transferred into Venice area and found that people have been buying and taken most of the homes under 220K which was the very top of their budget...there are other price zones with choices but not in the lower priced/good deal homes--because people think (I guess) that the bottom is there and prices will be going up...

Now I have read that there are foreclosures that banks are holding on to so that their balance sheets look like they are performing vs dying--don't know how accurate that is because it depends on specific location for one thing...
so you might be wise to do some long-distance shopping and try to get feeler for how hard it will be to find what you want

something else I just thought of--and I know this sounds stupid maybe--but so many of the neighborhoods in Nokomis/Venice area that we have seen and driven through have such winding streets that it becomes almost like a maze ...I know people don't want to buy on a busy street/corner but when you have people come to visit it is SO much easier if you can give them directions without a dozen turn-here then turn-here 's---not everyone has a GPS in the car and GPS don't always work for every location

easy access would be something I would think is great because getting out for you is that much easier as well...either stay on a long, winding street with few turns or minimum of three turns to get to an address...
and fairly close to convenience shopping for things like gas/groceries/hardware