[Avondale15]

We have inherited a condo in Naples, about 15 minutes drive to the beach. The condo is nice but older (1990s) and is near a busy street. We are nearing retirement, and could use the condo both for the eventual snowbirding and for visiting the beach in May. It's worth about $450K or so, according to the RE brokers we invited. It's nicely furnished. We also inherited two old cars.



We are debating what to do -- to stay put and learn to love the place, or to move where WE would want to be, but pay for the moving and selling expenses, etc. I have been to various FL locations many times, and we used to come to Clearwater Beach for many, many years.


My idea of living in Florida is to be able to walk to the beach, but not be flooded in a storm. The area needs to be safe, which rules out downtowns. Does a place (a condo, I presume) like that exists anywhere in Florida, at a similar price of, say $500K?

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Avondale15

We have inherited a condo in Naples, about 15 minutes drive to the beach. The condo is nice but older (1990s) and is near a busy street. We are nearing retirement, and could use the condo both for the eventual snowbirding and for visiting the beach in May. It's worth about $450K or so, according to the RE brokers we invited. It's nicely furnished. We also inherited two old cars.



We are debating what to do -- to stay put and learn to love the place, or to move where WE would want to be, but pay for the moving and selling expenses, etc. I have been to various FL locations many times, and we used to come to Clearwater Beach for many, many years.


My idea of living in Florida is to be able to walk to the beach, but not be flooded in a storm. The area needs to be safe, which rules out downtowns. Does a place (a condo, I presume) like that exists anywhere in Florida, at a similar price of, say $500K?

For a 1 bedroom yes...in downtown Venice Florida...walk to beach...very safe.

Buy on 2nd floor or above to avoid flooding, but in a bad hurricane, anywhere walk to the beach will flood the surrounding area streets & parking lots/garages. You'll face a mandatory evacuation in most walk to the beach places.

Get to know the different flood zones, ans what each designation means. See the FEMA Florida web site, & use their maps.

[FL_Expert]

Northern Pinellas County is probably the best place for this. Downtown Clearwater, for example, abruptly rises about 40’ in elevation. No hurricane can cause that much storm surge so it’s perfectly safe despite being on the water. That same ridge goes north through Tarpon Springs. Safety Harbor, on the bay side, also gets quite a bit of elevation. Then there’s another small ridge in St. Petersburg so you could live in parts of the Old Northeast in Zone X and walk to the waterfront at your leisure.

Venice and South Venice are other good examples as mentioned above. I don’t think they have quite as much elevation so there may still be some hurricane risk, but you could literally walk to the beach and live in Zone X. In Northern Pinellas you could walk to the St. Joseph’s Sound or Tampa Bay, but not the actual gulf beaches.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

Northern Pinellas County is probably the best place for this. Downtown Clearwater, for example, abruptly rises about 40’ in elevation. No hurricane can cause that much storm surge so it’s perfectly safe despite being on the water. That same ridge goes north through Tarpon Springs. Safety Harbor, on the bay side, also gets quite a bit of elevation. Then there’s another small ridge in St. Petersburg so you could live in parts of the Old Northeast in Zone X and walk to the waterfront at your leisure.

Venice and South Venice are other good examples as mentioned above. I don’t think they have quite as much elevation so there may still be some hurricane risk, but you could literally walk to the beach and live in Zone X. In Northern Pinellas you could walk to the St. Joseph’s Sound or Tampa Bay, but not the actual gulf beaches.

The only issue with North Pinellas regarding flooding I encountered was Brooker Creek overflowing and flooding the place. Happened fairly often.
That’s nothing compared to flooding from storm surge though.

[beach43ofus]

Op, when you say walk to the water, do you mean to the Gulf, to the Bay, or to the Intracoastal?

Downtown Clearwater's quite a walk to the beach across the busy Causeway...but doable.

I think using the FEMA maps are most useful for you to do. They are color coded, so easy to spot higher areas.

[Avondale15]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Op, when you say walk to the water, do you mean to the Gulf, to the Bay, or to the Intracoastal?

Downtown Clearwater's quite a walk to the beach across the busy Causeway...but doable.

I think using the FEMA maps are most useful for you to do. They are color coded, so easy to spot higher areas.

It does not much matter which side, as long as there are waves to watch. A typical Florida pond is not quite it. . . we have that view now in Naples.


As for Clearwater, we are quite familiar with the place, but I'm not sure I'd love to live there, as lots of shady characters tend to populate the area. Not the same as Clearwater Beach, of course.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by Avondale15

We have inherited a condo in Naples, about 15 minutes drive to the beach. The condo is nice but older (1990s) and is near a busy street. We are nearing retirement, and could use the condo both for the eventual snowbirding and for visiting the beach in May. It's worth about $450K or so, according to the RE brokers we invited. It's nicely furnished. We also inherited two old cars.



We are debating what to do -- to stay put and learn to love the place, or to move where WE would want to be, but pay for the moving and selling expenses, etc. I have been to various FL locations many times, and we used to come to Clearwater Beach for many, many years. We have been here 35 years and just lately they have been mentioning the term King Tides. We are definitely seeing more coastal flooding around inlets that we hadn’t before.


My idea of living in Florida is to be able to walk to the beach, but not be flooded in a storm. The area needs to be safe, which rules out downtowns. Does a place (a condo, I presume) like that exists anywhere in Florida, at a similar price of, say $500K?

Not sure of your budget but I would come down to the condo you inherited and explore some other areas of Florida while you have a place to live. You have the advantage of not having to buy something right away.

I mentioned budget because being a second home you will not get the advantage of Floridas homestead exemption and we have a bit of an insurance crisis going on now in regards to homeowners insurance (costs and ability to insure).

PS. We live a block away from the ocean on a barrier island and not in a flood zone but we all know living in Florida one hurricane aimed just right can change that.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by Avondale15

We have inherited a condo in Naples, about 15 minutes drive to the beach. The condo is nice but older (1990s) and is near a busy street. We are nearing retirement, and could use the condo both for the eventual snowbirding and for visiting the beach in May. It's worth about $450K or so, according to the RE brokers we invited. It's nicely furnished. We also inherited two old cars.



We are debating what to do -- to stay put and learn to love the place, or to move where WE would want to be, but pay for the moving and selling expenses, etc. I have been to various FL locations many times, and we used to come to Clearwater Beach for many, many years.


My idea of living in Florida is to be able to walk to the beach, but not be flooded in a storm. The area needs to be safe, which rules out downtowns. Does a place (a condo, I presume) like that exists anywhere in Florida, at a similar price of, say $500K?

Not sure of your budget but I would come down to the condo you inherited and explore some other areas of Florida while you have a place to live. You have the advantage of not having to buy something right away.

I mentioned budget because being a second home you will not get the advantage of Floridas homestead exemption and we have a bit of an insurance crisis going on now in regards to homeowners insurance.

PS. We live a block away from the ocean on a barrier island and not in a flood zone but we all know living in Florida one hurricane aimed just right can change that. We are seeing increased coastal flooding at inlets though in the last few years so that is something for you to be on the lookout for.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by JBtwinz

Not sure of your budget but I would come down to the condo you inherited and explore some other areas of Florida while you have a place to live. You have the advantage of not having to buy something right away.

I mentioned budget because being a second home you will not get the advantage of Floridas homestead exemption and we have a bit of an insurance crisis going on now in regards to homeowners insurance.

PS. We live a block away from the ocean on a barrier island and not in a flood zone but we all know living in Florida one hurricane aimed just right can change that. We are seeing increased coastal flooding at inlets though in the last few years so that is something for you to be on the lookout for.

Budget was stated in the OP...~$500k.

In most cases, that's a 1 bedroom in an oldeer building/community. Would the Op go for a condo like that?

Does the Op know about the new condo regs on buildings > 2 stories? the HOA's and insurance cost have exploded on higher units.

I'd be looking for a 2nd story in a 2-story building...as new as possilbe in a X flood zone.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

Northern Pinellas County is probably the best place for this. Downtown Clearwater, for example, abruptly rises about 40’ in elevation. No hurricane can cause that much storm surge so it’s perfectly safe despite being on the water. That same ridge goes north through Tarpon Springs. Safety Harbor, on the bay side, also gets quite a bit of elevation. Then there’s another small ridge in St. Petersburg so you could live in parts of the Old Northeast in Zone X and walk to the waterfront at your leisure.

Venice and South Venice are other good examples as mentioned above. I don’t think they have quite as much elevation so there may still be some hurricane risk, but you could literally walk to the beach and live in Zone X. In Northern Pinellas you could walk to the St. Joseph’s Sound or Tampa Bay, but not the actual gulf beaches.

The west side of Pinellas around Seminole, Largo and Bellair Bluff are I believe at the highest points in the county and in non-flood zones.