Northern Port Charlotte neighborhoods (Sarasota, North Port: bank owned, sales, real estate)

[tipsy247]

I'm looking at a home located in the Port Charlotte 33954 area between Toledo Blade Blvd, Hillsborough blvd,and Flamingo. Is this an OK area. I'm looking for a rural type of area but not with run down homes . Some of PC put me off because there would be neighborhoods with nice homes and trashy homes side by side. The only PC area I visited that appealed to me was the Gulf Cove area close to Rotonda. I have not been to this northern part of PC. How do these 2 areas compare (excluding waterfront homes)?

[TamRE]

The area you mentioned between Toledo Blade, Hillsborough and Flamingo is very mixed. It has some newer homes and many older homes, not so well kept up. You are right, there are many parts of Port Charlotte and North Port that have older and newer homes mixed. If you cross over Hillsborough going North you will be in North Port (Sarasota County). If you are south of Hillsborough you are in Port Charlotte (Charlotte County). I used to live off of Toledo Blade and Kenvil - both sides of Kenvil are very nice communities. They have fairly new houses and the neighborhoods are neat and clean, but there are no deed restrictions. There are bike and walking paths up the entire road of Toledo Blade. That is a very nice area.

Gulf Cove is an older development with a community boat ramp and is close to Englewood. South Gulf Cove has many newer homes with a lot of empty lots. It is a deed restricted community with canals and is close to Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande. Rotonda is a deed restricted community with the streets in the shape of a wagon wheel and there are many canals in between. The homes are more expensive in there.

We have many deed restricted communities with homes at reasonable prices as well as high end prices. If you are looking for neighborhoods that are well kept and don't have a boat or old car in the lawn, then you might want to go with a deed restricted community, but you do have to pay homeowner association fees. If you are looking for a reasonably priced home, in a decent neighborhood - we do have a lot of those to choose from. There are some in Port Charlotte as well as North Port.

[tipsy247]

Thanks for your info. The trouble is we want to park an RV or boat on our property but would like to be in a nice area. I was thinking Gulf Cove and South Gulf Cove might work. We wouldn't want to spend more than 200-250K 1700sq.ft.+
It's so nice to be able to have people on City Data offer some insights.
Thanks again

[TamRE]

There are a lot of choices for you if you want to park a boat. You can look in Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Englewood, Rotonda, and North Port. There are neighborhoods in all of these locations that have non deed restricted areas where you are able to park your boat. You may even be able to find a place in that price range that has a garage big enough for your boat to be stored in. I would be happy to send you more info if you need it.

[pcozad1]

We are in Port Charlotte close to midway and kings.Very quiet and almost a rural feel,we have jungle on two sides.There are some nice areas and some a little run down. Just due your legwork and get out and look at the areas.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by tipsy247

Thanks for your info. The trouble is we want to park an RV or boat on our property but would like to be in a nice area. I was thinking Gulf Cove and South Gulf Cove might work. We wouldn't want to spend more than 200-250K 1700sq.ft.+
It's so nice to be able to have people on City Data offer some insights.
Thanks again

OMG! If you plan to spend up to $250,000, you should have no problem finding a 1,700 sf home in most sections of Port Charlotte in this market. I mean, prices have fallen over 50% since 2005. You can get a 2011 house built for under $200,000.

Do you want to be right on the water with a dock & lift? Keep in mind that some areas can be very far from the river and don't have direct access. You should also check out the depth of a canal if you plan to keep a boat, since some canals are very shallow and they're not all navigable.

I'm not in real estate, but I've been living in Port Charlotte for over a year and stayed in 3 very different areas of the city. I've also looked at several houses, but in a lower price range.

[tipsy247]

Online sites reflect quite a difference between the listing price and selling price of recent homes. This would make me think there is a lot of bargaining room for homes now. One home we were interested in, my realtor showed only 2 comps. Online there are many but he claimed they were too broad, so I suppose that was to make us think homes generally sell at the listing price. I'm inclined to feel doubtful about the realtor's claims

[SoFLGal]

I evaluate many of the bank owned homes and here's the criteria I use. No more than 1 mile from the subject property, 20% on either side of gross living area, 5 years on either side for year built and sold no more than 3 months ago. If there are no properties that match then we can relax the criteria a bit. Chances are there are plenty of closed sales to work with.

Here's the stats I pulled for the newspaper a few weeks ago: North Port is dragging down Sarasota County prices | Inside Real Estate | HeraldTribune.com

These stats are for the North Port and Sarasota areas but this area you are talking about is right on the NP/Port Charlotte Line. Also PC prices are running pretty close to NP's stats right now.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by tipsy247

Online sites reflect quite a difference between the listing price and selling price of recent homes. This would make me think there is a lot of bargaining room for homes now. One home we were interested in, my realtor showed only 2 comps. Online there are many but he claimed they were too broad, so I suppose that was to make us think homes generally sell at the listing price. I'm inclined to feel doubtful about the realtor's claims

Are you using the MLS? I wouldn't recommend online sites that aren't directly linked to the local MLS. Your Realtor should have a web site where you can sign on and get this information.

Right now there are only 18 houses in Port Charlotte with your preferences. I entered $200-$250, 1600-1800 sf, 3 or 4 beds, 2 or 3 baths. You're going to find a lot more listings under $200,000. However, if you are interested in a larger house, you might find more in that price range. Again, I'm not in real estate and don't have the expertise as those who do this for a living, but I've lived here for a while and shopped for houses, so I know what's out there.

I can recommend a few beautiful, safe areas, if you don't mind a street that isn't so rural. I like the waterfront homes in the O'Hara area like Ayrshire, but I don't think that's what you're looking for. I also looked at a 2007 never lived-in house recently in NW Port Charlotte, which is a little too isolated for me, and the builder just reduced the price to $129,000. It's still overpriced IMO, but there's nothing wrong with it. It's not on water, however. I think it's a little smaller than you desire, about 1,650 sf under air. Keep in mind that, although it might be several years from now, homes on septic will be converted to sewer and you'll be paying an assessment.

Port Charlotte has very few deed restrictions, if any, so you can park a motor home or boat just about anywhere. (just please don't move across the street from me. LOL) A few days ago, I drove by the home off of Ackerman I rented last year that was on a beautiful street on a saltwater canal, and there was a very long motor home in the driveway. (snowbirds rent it for 3 months) When I lived on Alton, near Peachland, the homeowner across the road had one too, and it was a very nice home overlooking an Audubon nature park.

You might want to consider convenience when looking for homes. I don't know if this is for retirement or to live/work here, but at current gas prices, traveling from areas like Rotonda to 41 or I-75 might be undesirable. However, it's a personal choice, as is everything!

[justNancy]

Above I wrote

However, if you are interested in a larger house, you might find more in that price range.

Okay, out of curiosity, I used the same search criteria ($200-$250) in Port Charlotte, minimum 3 beds, max 4 beds, min 2 baths, max 3 baths. This time I did not enter the square footage and now there are 75 listings.