Sarasota or Seminole for a family with small kids (Hollywood: bank owned, fit in)

[denverette]

Hello,

We're ready to move to Florida since it's become so expensive in Denver to buy a home. We're looking for an area that has great schools, a lot of small children, and close to the beach. We consider ourselves to be young-at-heart mid-30's parents who still love to go out. It would be great to find open-minded, hip friends. Would Sarasota or Seminole be a better fit for us? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[SoFLGal]

Well I can't tell you much about the Seminole area but I can tell you about Sarasota. I'm a native to the area and have gone through the school system myself and now I have three girls in the Sarasota county public school system. I think it's great! My older two girls go to Pine View School, which was ranked the number one school in Florida and one of the top in the Nation. Pine View is just one of the many fantastic schools in Sarasota county. If you care to check out my blogs I wrote several blogs on this subject.

The average age in Sarasota is in the 40's. I am in my mid 30's, like you, and feel I fit in very well. There are many young families in Sarasota county. There's tons of stuff for the kids to do in Sarasota area. I will take just two areas that are very popular with families-Southside and Palmer Ranch.

There's always something going on in the downtown area. Southside Village, which is the area west of US 41 and just of Main St and north of Siesta Dr. It's also close to the hospital. Right over the bridge is Siesta Key Beach or if you go over the John Ringling Bridge you have Lido Beach. Southside Elementary School is the districted school for Southside Village. You can look up what people have to say about Southside on these to websites: School Accountability Report... or www.greatschools.com The only problem is that nothing comes up when you search under SouthSide village because it's kind of a locally used term for that area but in the MLS they have that area broken down into a ton of little subdivisions. I'll list some here so you can look through and see what you find. If you have a little one I would suggest visiting The Children's Garden in downtown Sarasota. It's a really cool whimsical place for the little ones that is within walking distance of the downtown area. My five year old loves it there. Also, GWIZ,Mote Marine, Selby Gardens, Jungle Gardens are all within minutes of downtown. Every Saturday they have the downtown Farmers Market. Then there's the Hollywood20 Movie theater and The Burns Court Cinema, which has some really cool foreign films. Burns Court and Towles Court are neat little villages that are great to spend the afternoon catching a bite to eat or doing a little shopping. Selby Libraryis a fantastic library right in the heart of downtown. A great little organic grocery store is Morton's Gourmet Market, Southside Village, Sarasota, Florida. Marina Jack’s is always great for an afternoon out with the kids, a picnic under the trees or a leisurely walk by the bay Welcome to Marina Jack.

Some of the downtown neighborhoods are:
The neighborhoods are:
Hyde Park
Hartland Park
Poinsettia Park
Floyd & Cameron
Riverwood Park
Ridgewood
Granada
Laurel Park
Bayview
McClellan Park
Oyster Bay Estates
Bungalow Hill
Aqualane Estates
Graham Heights
Burns Court
Hartsdale
Cherokee Park
Badger Heights
Paradise Shores
San Remo Estates
Harbor Acres
Avondale
Mandarin Park
Morton Terrace

Most of the above are known as a whole as the Southside Village neighborhood. I listed a few that are on the fringe of that area. Here's some more info on the downtown area:

Home
Sarasota Florida Downtown | Shops Downtown, Sarasota Hotel | Downtown Restaurant | Sarasota Rental
Downtown Merchants Association of Sarasota

Palmer Ranch one of Sarasota's most popular and largest master planned communities with over 10,000 acres. Palmer Ranch actually consists of many neighborhoods, all individually operated under their own HOA. The common areas of Palmer Ranch are maintained by a master association. The overall look and feel of PR is "green" - the roads are grass and treelined, the sidewalks wind throughout the entire community, and they have recently been able to add the Legacy Trail to the many great aspects. The Legacy Trail is a paved walking/biking trail that runs through the woods along the path of the old railroad track.

Palmer Ranch is districted for great schools, is only 10-15 minutes to the beach, and is next door to the mall, new 12-screen movie theater and a fantastic YMCA complex, including a huge waterpark. Palmer Ranch is very popular with families.

Silver Oak and Prestancia are going to be your more upscale neighborhoods. Silver Oak has a championship golf course, tennis, canoeing, nature and bike trails, clubhouse, pool/spa, exercise facility. All home sites back up to a lake or preserve. There are 25 homes available in Silver Oak ranging from $439K-1.5 Mil. It is one of the newer neighborhoods in PR.

Prestancia has two championship golf courses, country club, etc. The boundaries for Prestancia are-Palmer Ranch Way, McIntosh and Beneva. It pretty much runs inside of those streets-it encompasses 565 acres. There are 28 homes for sale in Prestancia from $325K-3 mil.

Reymore St is the southern boundary for Palmer Ranch. The eastern boundary runs out to I-75, the western boundary goes to Beneva and the northern boundary runs nearly to Clark Rd. This tells a little more about Palmer Ranch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Ranch Within Palmer Ranch is CJ Lofino YMCA Complex. It has a full aquatic center, gym/fitness, basketball, swimming, tennis, and water park for the kids.

Here are the communities within Palmer Ranch:

Arielle: 2 and three bedrooms coach homes built in the mid 2000's, Prices are from $215K-$299,900, There are 9, no foreclosures

Botanica: on Palmer Ranch: 172 luxury condo styled apartments. Prices are from $229-$435K, there are 5 condos-no foreclosures.

Bella Villino: Gated, 2/3 bedrooms resort like low rise condos. Prices are from $79K-$239K, there are 31 condos, 1 foreclosure a 1/1 priced at $80,900

Country Club of Sarasota: Gated, single family homes. Prices are from $295K-$537,900, 10 properties, no foreclosures

Deer Creek on Palmer Ranch: 285 acres, 400 luxury homes, private and guarded gate. This is one of the original communities at Palmer Ranch. Prices $249K-$649K, 28 properties, no foreclosures

Huntington Ponite: Single family homes. Prices are from $299K-$469, 10 properties, no foreclosures

Marabella: 139 single family homes and villas, gated community. Prices are from $199-$499K, 5 properties, no foreclosures

Mira Lago: Mediterranean style, 180 single family homes and villas, maintenance free living. Prices from $249,900-$299,900, 7 properties, no foreclosures

The Palisades at Palmer Ranch: 43 maintenance free and single family homes. Prices $399K, 1 property, no foreclosures

Palmer Square: Mediterranean style maintenance free coach homes and town homes. Prices $295-$459K, 6 properties, no foreclosures

Pinestone at Palmer Ranch: Maintenance free condos. Prices $159,900-$250K, 15 properties, no foreclosures

Plaza De Flores: 200 Mediterranean style condos. Prices $148K-$209,900, 9 properties, no foreclosures

Prestancia: This is probably one of the more upscale developments in Palmer Ranch. Two championship golf courses. Prices $229,750-$2,799,000, 42 properties, no foreclosures

Serenade on Palm Ranch: Affordable Condo community. 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms. $73,900-$204K, 24 properties, no foreclosures

Silver Oak: I have a bank owned home listed in here for $730K. There are 181 single family homes here. It is very upscale and probably one of the nicer developments in PR. Prices $399,900-$1,495,000, 24 properties, no foreclosures, we just sold a bank owned one in here.

Stonebridge-Single family homes with preserves and lakes. Prices $309K-$399, 900, 6 properties, no foreclosures

Stoneybrook Golf & Country Club-Has single family homes, villas and condos. 18-hole golf course. Prices $179K-$499, 900, 55 properties, no foreclosures

The Hamptons at Palmer Ranch-Is comprised of three subdivisions and has from two bedrooms homes up to executive homes. Prices $299K-$529K, no foreclosures

The Isles-Is a DiVosta community. Single family homes, villas and townhomes. Prices $213,900-$549K, 5 properties, no foreclosures

Turtle Rock-751 single family homes and villas. Executive and estate homes. Pool, recreation building, canoeing, tennis courts, bike paths. Prices $299K-$599K, 17 properties, no foreclosures

VillageWalk on Palmer Ranch-1,177 townhomes, villas, and single family homes. 500 acres. It's like a small town. Prices $208K-$549,900, 39 properties, no foreclosures

Vintage Grand-One, two and three bedroom condos. Prices $89,900-$224,900, 12 properties, no foreclosures

Wellington Chase-Single family homes. Prices $205K-$360K, 4 properties, no foreclosures

One thing I will caution you about is jobs. You didn't mention what line of work you were in or if you needed a job when you get here. The job market is pretty tough right now with the unemployment rate hovering right around 12%. It seems as though professions in the medical field have some what of a higher demand in this area.
Good luck with your search!

[denverette]

Thank you SO much SoFlGal! I feel like I've made you work hard for nothing, since I've read almost all of your other Sarasota posts (Sorry ) You are certainly the Sarasota expert! I feel almost certain that Sarasota is the ideal fit for us, however we are exploring Pinellas County because my parents bought a vacation home there. It makes sense for us to be close by. We're going to spend some time there exploring the areas this summer and I'll try contacting you when we get a better idea. Thanks again! The links you gave and information about the Southside Village are terrific!

[davery5872]

Originally Posted by denverette

Thank you SO much SoFlGal! I feel like I've made you work hard for nothing, since I've read almost all of your other Sarasota posts (Sorry ) You are certainly the Sarasota expert! I feel almost certain that Sarasota is the ideal fit for us, however we are exploring Pinellas County because my parents bought a vacation home there. It makes sense for us to be close by. We're going to spend some time there exploring the areas this summer and I'll try contacting you when we get a better idea. Thanks again!

When we where looking for our condo we looked in Pinellas and Sarasota counties. I have family in both areas. In fact, my mom had a mobile home in Clearwater for 10 years. We stayed in it for about 2-3 months each year. The biggest difference I saw between the two areas is consistency. In Pinellas County there are great areas surrounded by not so great areas. I can't tell you how many condos we looked at and really liked only to drive around the area and not feel safe. really nice condos in really bad areas. Generally, in Pinellas County the further north you get, the nicer. Of course, near the beach is usually nice, but not always. Seminole is a nice area, though. I just don't like the areas next to it. Sarasota seems to be much more consistent. Not that every area is great, but those areas seem to be grouped together. When we looked in Sarasota, we mostly looked south of Bee Ridge.

[SoFLGal]

Sure, no problem. Most of the info I just pulled off the blogs that I have listed so it really wasn't a lot of effort. I'm glad it helped out. I have lots of info on the area posted in my blogs so you might want to browse them. I think it would be a good idea to come and visit the area to make sure it is a good fit for what you are looking for. You might even consider renting first if you aren't really familiar with the area. Good luck with what ever area you decide on

[denverette]

Thanks, Davery5872. It's good to get the perspective of someone that considered both areas. Seminole does seem like it may have a small pocket of a family neighborhood within a lot of retirees.

[davery5872]

Originally Posted by denverette

Thanks, Davery5872. It's good to get the perspective of someone that considered both areas. Seminole does seem like it may have a small pocket of a family neighborhood within a lot of retirees.

It wasn't the retirees I was worried about.

We actually had a contract on a condo on Lake Seminole. It was in Largo, which is directly north of Seminole. The condo had a water view of the lake and the complex was new. It was very nice. But you had to drive through a very rough neighborhood to get into the complex (which was gated). We lost the contract due to a high foreclosure rate (could not get a loan). We found out locals from the neighborhood were jumping the fence to swim in the pools. The complex hired security, but they seamed to be gone most of the time when we were there.

[dcropper]

We are thinking of relocating this summer to Sarasota. I noticed most of the home prices are over $250,000. Can you find a house in a nice neighborhood close to the beach in the low $200's?

[SoFLGal]

You could find those prices without any problem in North Port but you're 30 minutes from the beach. There are only 39 homes in the city of Sarasota that are 3/2 and built in 1995 or newer for under $200K. If you're not that concerned with the age of the home then that would open it up to 269 homes. Most are older than 1995. Many are located in Southgate, Lake Sarasota, Kensington Park, Ridgewood, Sherwood Estates and Sarasota Springs. So, yes I think it is possible to find what you're looking for but you may have to modify your criteria a bit.

[dcropper]

Are there any older homes in Southside Village? That area sounds like what we are looking for in Florida. We have a 10 year old son and want to make sure that we choose the right area.