Bradenton, Sarasota, or Venice Area? (Tamiami, North Port: fit in, best neighborhood, apartments)

[Peter the Brit]

Yeah Mon

[mr&mrssunshine]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

I just said I would keep an eye on North Port.

Why is Rotunda shaped like that?

they couldnt get it square -the corners wouldnt fit

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Your right, but we are planning on paying cash for our house, as I stated in my original post. We won't have a house payment, only taxes, utilities, groceries, and whatever fun stuff we decide to do. But we don't want to buy something somewhere we will regret. I am just tossing around lots of thoughts.

No worries...you need to extensively & I do mean extensively examine the real estate market here. If you have no idea why cages are around pools, it tells me you don't have much familiarity with this state. Therefore, you really need to do your homework before you put your cash into a house that could potentially drop in value depending on location.

I just went through a friend of mine's house hunting adventure. He lost a few homes in short sales (bank really didn't want to let go), and a few RE agents, and now, lost potential homes in his price range in SRQ because they all got bought up by investors and there's no more homes in his price range available. The ones that are, have been stripped of appliances, are full of mold, land value only...

Short sales & foreclosures are not all they're cracked up to be, and be very, very careful.

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

No worries...you need to extensively & I do mean extensively examine the real estate market here. If you have no idea why cages are around pools, it tells me you don't have much familiarity with this state. Therefore, you really need to do your homework before you put your cash into a house that could potentially drop in value depending on location.

I just went through a friend of mine's house hunting adventure. He lost a few homes in short sales (bank really didn't want to let go), and a few RE agents, and now, lost potential homes in his price range in SRQ because they all got bought up by investors and there's no more homes in his price range available. The ones that are, have been stripped of appliances, are full of mold, land value only...

Short sales & foreclosures are not all they're cracked up to be, and be very, very careful.

We have foreclosures where I am from too. A long time ago, I was a repo man, so I know the condition things can be in by the time they are re-collected. As for the pool cages, we have visited Florida a number of times in our lives, and I just never asked. It's not that I don't have much experience in your state, it was just a question. As I stated earlier, I tend to think out loud.

Thanks again for the reply!

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Are a lot of the homes in North Port built with the cheap-o apartment style materials, and have textured walls? Some of them look nearly "manufactured". Are there a lot of vinyl villages in this area?

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Are a lot of the homes in North Port built with the cheap-o apartment style materials, and have textured walls? Some of them look nearly "manufactured". Are there a lot of vinyl villages in this area?

Can anybody answer this?

[Big House]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Thanks. Hopefully we can find a place a tad cheaper than the prices I am seeing for rents. One could drop $10K for 3 months time.

Tamiami,
I would come down and get a feel for the area. You are right that you could be spending down potential equity by renting first, but you do want to make a wise informed decision. Planning is the least costly of all phases. But it is costly trying to buy a house - no doubt, so finding a good agent is important, and costly if you don't get a good one.

I think it was you that mentioned shoddy construction in North Port. I would say that there is definitely some low cost housing there, some shoddy construction. However, I think you would be please to know that there are some very well built homes there as well. The oldest homes, that were built decades ago, are more likely to be poorly constructed. The newer homes, built to modern codes and standards are much better construction. I am not a real estate agent, and don't have anything I want to buy or sell. I am not affiliated with anyone either. I just want to help people make a well informed decision when I can.

So, don't over look North Port if you are concerned over construction. It is worth checking out if that is your main concern. That said, SWFL is awesome, and there are a lot of great pleaces. You will find a great buy now. Just be careful if you need a job. The job market is tough.

Good Luck!

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Thanks BH. One thing we wish to avoid is moving to a neighborhood where if one were to come home inebriated, they wouldn't have trouble finding which house is theirs. There seems to be a trend of building neighborhoods where all of the homes are from the same 3-4 sets of plans. We would like to find something more unique to a neighborhood.

[FLBob]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Thanks BH. One thing we wish to avoid is moving to a neighborhood where if one were to come home inebriated, they wouldn't have trouble finding which house is theirs. There seems to be a trend of building neighborhoods where all of the homes are from the same 3-4 sets of plans. We would like to find something more unique to a neighborhood.

That's funny, it happened to me once... I grew up in a military family. Base housing is identical. I was coming home late after just hangin with friends, wasn't seeing as clearly as a minor should.. the front door was unlocked the lights were out... I walked into my bed room...someone was sleeping in my bed I backed out as quietly as I could, and got my bearings and made it home no problem....

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Originally Posted by FLBob

That's funny, it happened to me once... I grew up in a military family. Base housing is identical. I was coming home late after just hangin with friends, wasn't seeing as clearly as a minor should.. the front door was unlocked the lights were out... I walked into my bed room...someone was sleeping in my bed I backed out as quietly as I could, and got my bearings and made it home no problem....

I was just figuratively speaking. I have NEVER been inebriated.