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Old 08-05-2013, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Port Charlotte
1,721 posts, read 2,774,345 times
Reputation: 387

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Quote:
Originally Posted by shelterdogs View Post
....We would like to be someplace where you could almost ride your bike to a quaint downtown for lunch...
from this statement I think you would prefer punta gorda or boca grande but that, boca grande way out of the price range
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Old 08-05-2013, 05:55 PM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL
230 posts, read 405,931 times
Reputation: 201
Don't use Trulia. Use Florida Homes for Sale direct from MLS you will get better and more accurate results. Also contact a local Realtor to help you. There are lots on this site that will help you. TamRE did a super job for me and several others on here as well.
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Old 08-05-2013, 06:37 PM
 
12 posts, read 23,437 times
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Many thanks JollyOgre, you are not the first to suggest TamRE, it is so very much appreciated!
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Old 08-05-2013, 08:14 PM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL
3,979 posts, read 10,514,929 times
Reputation: 1939
You won't find homes in Punta Gorda Isles in the $200k range built 2002 or newer. There are other locations in Punta Gorda that have homes in your price range such as Burnt Store Meadows, Burnt Store Lakes or Burnt Store Village and also Creekside. Also, if you look in the MLS you will see addresses that say Punta Gorda, but they are really in Port Charlotte. It says Punta Gorda because they use the Punta Gorda mailing address. This would be locations such as Deep Creek, Suncoast Lakes, River Club, or non-deed restricted areas around Loveland and near Kings Highway. The local MLS is your best site to search for homes. It is always up to date, where other sites such as Trulia or Zillow are not up to date.

I think you already read about flood zones. You can use the site www.floodsmart.gov to look up the flood risk of any property.

It is very difficult to give costs for all of the expenses involved with a home because they vary so much from location to location and from house to house.

Homeowner insurance is generally less expensive on homes built 2002 or newer.

Homes in flood zones X or X500 do not require flood insurance by a mortgage company.

Taxes are always listed on the MLS sheet, but keep in mind some people are homestead which allows them a reduction. If you are not homestead, you will not get the reduction and therefore your taxes would be higher than theirs. Also homes are re-assessed after purchased and the taxes may change.

Pest control costs vary by company and depending on what services you choose to get. At minimum you want termite protection and pest control for the interior and exterior. Some people get pest control on their lawns as well, especially with pets. We have a lot of fire ants and there are ticks certain times of the year that jump right on pets. Some people choose to do their own pest control. You can buy products at Home Depot for example. We use Truly Nolen and they come out quarterly. They will also come to our house for no extra expense any time we have a problem.

Utilities vary by home. Some homes have well water and there is no water bill, but you do have to pay for the upkeep and the salt for the system. City water is less expensive in Charlotte County than Sarasota County. FPL is the power company in this area. Your FPL bill would vary depending on the insulation, windows and other energy features the home may have. Here is the web site for FPL with the rates: FPL | Rates and Your Bill

Other expenses would be phone, Internet, and cable. There are several choices in the area for all of these. It is best to check around and find a plan that meets your needs. Many people choose not to have a home phone if they have a cell phone. You can get package deals with all three. Some people use cable and others use satellite. Just depends on your preference and needs. Watch out though - they have come on prices and the rates increase after a certain amount of time. It could be 6 months or a year. Ask about the increase or the length of time the plan is for.
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Old 08-05-2013, 09:20 PM
 
3,650 posts, read 9,475,837 times
Reputation: 3811
North Port might be a good choice. We are renting in N.P. and it is just 20 minutes to the beaches in Englewood/Venice and even less time to the cute little town of Punta Gorda on the harbor. Houses are much cheaper in N.P. and you are not in a flood zone - much cheaper insurance - house are much cheaper and it is more rural and you can find a home that is not in an HOA and get a nice, big yard for your dogs. Cant let our dog run free here though because of alligators.
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Old 08-06-2013, 10:57 AM
 
517 posts, read 1,088,015 times
Reputation: 1468
I can understand the difficulty of the decision for you--none of us has a crystal ball, and there are trade-offs to either decision, buying or waiting, given all the future unknowns. It seems like you've done a lot of research and have a good handle on both sides and are getting more good advice here.

The one thing I would pass on from my own personal experience is be aware that in the past ten years or so for whatever combination of reasons it seems like things change (in the housing market) rather suddenly versus the more gradual changes that we were more used to before that--whether you're talking about price increases, decreases, or, recently, increases again.

For what it's worth, I love the Englewood/Rotonda area but didn't buy a couple of years ago when prices were lower and am now priced out of the single-family home market. A few months ago I realized that prices seemed to be going up rapidly and decided to buy immediately...only to find that everything that wasn't a foreclosure or a short sale or just trashed was already out of my (low) price range. Even though issues of the condo form of ownership worry me, a condo is my only remaining choice (if I can manage to forget the reasons I felt I had to sell the last condo I bought...basically put on some uncharacteristic rose-colored glasses concerning all the disadvantages of condos compared to houses long enough to bring myself to sign the papers despite all the downsides...because I do want a "home base"). So I really regret not buying a single-family home when I could.

The biggest reason why I didn't buy (and this is similar to your situation, because even though I already live in Southwest Florida, Englewood/Rotonda wouldn't have been, realistically, commutable to the job I had at the time, so my reason for buying at that time would have been to try to buy my eventual retirement home at a low price) is that I was concerned about the house sitting empty (possible burglary/vandalism/AC theft due to its looking vacant, a water leak that could do major damage before it was noticed, etc.) but also wasn't interested in becoming a landlord (Florida has its horror stories on this, especially given the fact that real estate was so low at the time partly due to high unemployment). So I fall in your category, Shelterdogs, of "folks who considered a pre-retirement buy and ruled it out," and again, I do regret my decision not to buy.

What I should have done then (this wouldn't be most people's cup of tea but might be another possible option for you to consider) is buy the home and rent a room out to a roommate, which would mean I could come and go in the house freely myself and would have a little income to partly offset the cost of also continuing to rent near my job, but, most important, would know the place wasn't vacant.

I considered this option but didn't do it because of fear of the "roommate from hell," but if I had it to do over again, I would. I think I could have screened well and found one nice, responsible person who would have been fine as a roommate. And while it would have been unrealistic to think a roommate situation would have been hassle-free, at least I would have known that the house was safer in my absence by not being vacant. (And if I did wind up with the roommate from hell, I would have hopefully survived, moved on, and at the end of the day would still have my house.) Just a thought.

Best of luck, whatever you decide. Southwest Florida is beautiful, and there are a lot of really nice people living here. If I ever have to leave, I will miss it.
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Old 08-06-2013, 02:15 PM
 
130 posts, read 277,032 times
Reputation: 91
AFter thinking about it for several years, we just bought a retirement home. We will not be retiring for about two years. What drove our decision is when prices started going up again. The house we bought sold for 260,000 in 2006. We bought it for less than half of that price. If we had bought a couple years ago, our realtor says we could have snapped it up for $100,000. We intend to rent it out as an annual rental (we don't furnish the house) until we can use it more frequently. (That kills me - but the money is too hard to pass up and we would only be able to use the house for a couple weeks per year while we are working). We hired a good agency that will advertise, screen applicants, handle problems as well as take care of the house until it is rented. After retiring, we will snowbird for awhile and then see where it takes us. If we decide to sell the house up north and move permanently, we would probably have to buy a bigger home in FL but that's OK - if we sell the home up north we have more money to work with. And if prices rise dramatically, our house value will have risen also. I have no idea where real estate prices will go, but if they start rising again we could be priced out. And since we bought low, if we decide to sell for whatever reason, we should not lose much - if anything.
The roommate suggestion mentioned above is not a bad idea either. You could look for a home with a split bedroom floor plan, or even a house with a mother-in-law suite (private entrance/quarters) and rent that out. We did consider that idea also. There are agencies who will screen prospective renters for you and have contracts all drawn up spelling everything out. It will cost you, but worth the peace of mind.
So....in a nutshell....we bought because prices were low, planned to rent it, and figured if things didn't work out we would sell it. So far we are happy with our decision. Ask me again in a couple years.

Last edited by luvtobewarm; 08-06-2013 at 02:26 PM..
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Old 08-06-2013, 03:52 PM
 
12 posts, read 23,437 times
Reputation: 18
Gosh, if the population of Florida resembles, even just a little, the folks on this board, we will be thrilled beyond words! How kind of you all to take time out of your day to read what must be a most monotonous and repetitive inquiry from us "Up North" who are contemplating taking the Florida plunge. TamRE gave some excellent considerations, CityDatarer gave us an idea about the roommate potential which I had never considered, and luvtobewarm reinforces this is not some hare brained dream but one undertaken by lot's of people who want to capture their retirement paradise! How difficult do you think it would be to rent for either October or November with three dogs so I can spend time and try to identify a property? While we are meticulous and one could eat off our floor, I realize that at first glance we probably sound like a horror show w three dogs. Again, thank you, and I hope I can offer some helpful advise at some point to others on the forum.
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Old 08-06-2013, 04:09 PM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL
3,979 posts, read 10,514,929 times
Reputation: 1939
It will definitely be hard to find a rental that will allow 3 dogs. And if you are going to rent short term in season it will be expensive. Most people book seasonal rentals more than a year in advance. Try these rental sites:

MLS - http://myfloridahomesmls.com/
Craigslist - www.craigslist.com
Vacation Rentals by Owner - www.vrbo.com
Ebay Classifieds – http://www.ebayclassifieds.com/
Florida Rental Ads – http://www.floridarentalads.com/
Real Rentals – http://www.realrentals.com/
Rentals.com – www.rentals.com
Rent Range – www.rentrange.com
Sarasota Herald Tribune - http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Sun Herald – www.sunnewspapers.net
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Old 08-07-2013, 01:51 PM
 
3,409 posts, read 4,869,858 times
Reputation: 4249
We had the same plan, a couple of years ago. Buy what would be our retirement home eventually and rent it out until the time came. We bought at what we thought at the time was the bottom of the market, it wasn't, but that's okay, we still like the property we did end up with. Which is a vacant lot we can build on someday. The reasons we didn't buy the many homes SoFlGal took us too were; 1. We couldn't find a house that we could remodel into what we wanted later on, and 2. We were worried about being an absentee landlord. The final straw that made us give it up and go the lot idea was, we were looking at a house in PC with the big pocket slider patio doors, and after we slid them all the way open, they wouldn't shut again. SoFlGal had to call the realtor that had it listed to come over and close them or secure the house somehow. We thought, what if something similar were to happen to a tenant when we're thousands of miles away??? We couldn't just hop in the car and drive over to fix whatever had happened.
Due to the buyer of our business filing bankruptcy and not paying us for the business we sold him, we are now out our retirement funds, so it'll be awhile before we can build a house and move down. So all I can do is read this forum and wish I was there.
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