Coming to FL to check out towns & neighborhoods (Tampa: for sale, to rent)

[jmqueen]

Hello all, this is a repost from the Tampa board. All the areas I'm considering fall into different boards here!

I've been reading here and on the Sarasota and Tampa boards for awhile now, assembling background info for a planned move to SW Florida next year. We live in CT now and I have a decent portable job, working from home, for a company in MA. The boss is perfectly willing to keep me on when I move, and I can support my husband while he starts a business.

We'll be visiting his parents in Fort Myers early in December. We want to spend a few days just driving around some areas that otherwise meet our criteria, to get a feel for things, especially as we might rent for awhile, based on everyone's advice here, and it would be nice to rent in an actual potential living situation/neighborhood. What I'm hoping to get is some input on our criteria from the folks who know -- that would be you!

(We don't want to live in Fort Myers, as I don't actually like it much.)

We are in our 50s with no kids in school, very friendly and also fairly progressive in our social views and politics. I can get along, but I'm not comfortable spending social time with people of harsh rightwing views.

In cold hard facts, here's what we'll be looking for:

- Spending about $200,000
- 2 beds with office or 3 beds
- inground pool
- reasonably new-- 1985 or so upwards (we're completely renovating every square inch of a 70-year-old house in order to move and I can tell you I am SICK OF IT!!! )
- Not too far from beaches, maybe 30 minutes max
- Within an hour of either Tampa or Southwest Florida airports (so I can fly regularly to Boston and NY -- right now it appears that Sarasota's airport only has 1 nonstop flight to Boston, and that's on Saturday)

Here's the kicker: We really want at least 3/4 of an acre, in order to have the breathing room we're used to here, and also so my husband can have a shop for his woodworking business. So no HOAs or postage stamp lots. It seems that most properties like that are further inland than I want to be, so I don't know if it's doable.

Based strictly on the numbers, I've narrowed things down in the Port Charlotte area to towns like Punta Gorda, North Port, Bradenton.

I know these areas are close enough to the airports, but not sure about beaches, since I don't know where all the good beaches are.

Am I off base? Anything I've overlooked? Thanks in advance, and I hope to make friends that I can meet when we move down!

[nphomeowner]

IF you decide on North Port, it's about 25 to 30 minutes from beaches, you could buy an existing home with maybe empty lots on each side, purchase those and have the room you need to build what your husband wants. That or buy those lots and build the house you want. Just an idea. I would imagine you could do the same thing in Port Charlotte also. Empty lots are plentiful in both areas.

[mr&mrssunshine]

its tight but possible. close to the beaches maybe not. I have a 1750 sq ft 3/2/2 pool home for sale -15 mins from beach would fit most of your criteria except lot size. as with most here its .25 of an acre.


as NPHO says you could always buy lots surrounding a home but as most people 'live' inside the home/lanai a huge lot isnt always a must have.

The shout for North Port is not a bad one, its somewhere we would have considered had we not wanted to be closer to the beach/ocean


as for the shop on the home site Im not sure about the legalities ,maybe a small unit might be better ?

good luck

[jmqueen]

maybe a small unit might be better ?

Hmmm, mr&mrs, I had thought about that briefly ... I honestly like the idea of NOT having all the detritus lying around in my driveway and around my HOME the way it does now. He always complains about having to drive to a shop as he used to do, but in Florida it's not like the weather makes that difficult 9 months a year, as it does here. Ha.

I hope we're not just blue-sky thinking here. It's just strange to us to live so closely to your neighbors, because you couldn't find a 6000 SF lot up here if you WANTED one.

Not sure I want to build ... I am SO tired of construction, and we're only about 1/8 through what we have to do to this old place to sell...

[TamRE]

North Port has large acre plus lots in North Port Estates where your husband could have a separate woodworking shop. There are some larger lots that come up once in awhile that have a separate garage on the property too. A normal lot here is 10,000 sq ft. In order to get a 3/4 acre lot you would have to have a triple lot.

Port Charlotte to Tampa Airport - 1 1/2 to 2 hours - Port Charlotte to the Beach - 40-45 minutes
North Port to Tampa Aiport - 1 hour 40 minutes - North Port to the Beach - 25-30 minutes

Click the photos below to see a few homes that might meet your criteria. You can search for homes on the local MLS at Florida Homes for Sale direct from MLS

[mr&mrssunshine]

think the smaller lots here are around 8000 sq ft. you will get a home 1600sq ft + on that.....North Port estates is a good call but a bit more expensive, not sure about the beach time , I guess Tamre is quoting to Englewood beach whereas I always work on Boca (cos we are so close)

[mr&mrssunshine]

my thinking was, to get that size lot may cost you an extra 10-30k. whereas you could rent a unit far cheaper and keep more capital !!

[wpc691]

I've moved from up North to Florida twice. Believe me, unless you plan to move out in the country, or spend $400 a month for a yard guy, the last thing you want in Florida is 3/4 acre. Breathing room isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[TamRE]

I live on a 27,500 sq ft lot and it only takes 1/2 hour to mow with a riding mower. Then the weed trimming takes another 1/2 hour because we have to weed trim around the entire fence and landscaping border. But we only weed trim every other week in the summer and once a month in the winter. Nothing to it. Our neighbor has a 13,500 sq ft lot and pays $20 per time to have it mowed and completely weed trimmed. They mow it every 10 days in the summer and once a month in the winter. It doesn't cost $400 per month to have your lawn mowed and weed trimmed if you can't do it yourself. We love our breathing room. We lived on a 10,000 sq ft lot when we first moved here in North Port and then moved to Port Charlotte for a larger lot. We had a 3/4 acre lot in NY and were used to breathing room. As my boyfriend said about the 10,000 sq ft lot - not enough room to fart. The deed restricted communities have lots that are sometimes 7,500 to 9,000 sq ft lots. Those are too close for us. When you are sitting on your lanai your neighbor can hear everything you say. But some people like the lifestyle of living in a deed restricted community.

If you buy a home in North Port or Port Charlotte the extra lots are running around $3k to $5k per lot. I showed homes this week and some of them had available lots next to them. I called the owners and both of them the price was $5k.

[wpc691]

@TR - does your neighbor's guy mow in Punta Gorda? At $20 a throw to mow and completely weed/trim 13,500 sf, he could do lawns all day and all night.