need advice on greater port charlotte area (Venice, Englewood: for sale, rental)

[com1usa]

Hi my wife and I lived in fort Lauderdale for 25 years- ( new york refugees) recently we have been living full time in Costa Rica and want to move back to Florida-- Lauderdale is out----- want to try west coast and my internet searching coupled with past experience tells me that the greater port charlotte/ punta gorda area is the best place for us- we are going to buy a condo in the 50k 60k range and see all kinds of properties listed- HOWEVER are there any areas that we should avoid/be careful of? Are there bad areas that we should avoid buying a property?

Its hard to tell form the internet what area is good and what is bad. Also we are VERY water oriented people- and will probably buy a small boat or at least a few kayaks. IT SEEMS that every area we have looked at on line is close to water activities, beaches, parks etc etc

Any advice on choosing a location- or an area of the county to stay away from? Please any advice would be welcome

[TamRE]

With the price range you are looking in, you will be very limited on which areas you can purchase. When you search for condos on the Internet, be careful of what says Punta Gorda. There are several sections of Port Charlotte that have a Punta Gorda mailing address, but they are actually located in Port Charlotte. If you are looking for a condo with access to the water, there is nothing in your price range. You would have to purchase a condo, store or dock your boat/kayak someplace else and then go get it when you want to travel to a location to put it in the water. Many of the condos under $60k right now are 55+ communities and most have high HOA fees and they are all in Port Charlotte, not Punta Gorda. They are located in Deep Creek, the medical section of Port Charlotte, and near Forest Nelson close by the library, Cultural Center and Franz Ross Park.

We have several boat ramps and marinas in the area.
Link to boat ramps - Community Services

[Restrain]

Watch the problems with condos (search threads and news stories about investors forcing out condo owners) especially lower priced condos. Watch the number of rental properties vs owner-occupancy- can affect the ability to get a loan. Also watch the number of vacancies and the viability of the HOA.

Based on your desired price range, you are going to have to trade off location vs price.

At that price range, you might want to consider a MH facility where the MH are on owned sites as an alternative.

Good luck.

[Big House]

Do you work? What do you do for a living? You will have a very difficult time purchasing a condo or a house in that price range, but that may be a very solid downpayment if you are still working. Even buying in a mobile home park will be a big stretch in that price range.
There are a lot of good posters here who would be willing to offer ideas, but no one wants to mis-lead you.

[com1usa]

we will be paying cash for the condo- we have an online business and can work from anywhere

[com1usa]

I didn't say I needed deep water access- only was wondering about beaches nearby- would you say that port charlotte was located near many beaches - and it looks like there is a refuge center that has mangroves to kayak in

[MikMal]

If you want Gulf beaches then you're looking at about a 40 minute drive, the closest (and a pretty darn nice beach at that) is Englewood beach. But if you're looking for a beach just to lay out on or launch your kayaks and don't care that it fronts the Peace River or Charlotte Harbor, then there is both the Harbor Road Port Charlotte Beach Complex or the Bayshore Live Oak Park in Port Charlotte and Ponce De Leon Park in Punta Gorda. Both the Harbor Road and Ponce park have mangroves close by to explore.

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by com1usa

I didn't say I needed deep water access- only was wondering about beaches nearby- would you say that port charlotte was located near many beaches - and it looks like there is a refuge center that has mangroves to kayak in

Although it's the furthest drive from Port Charlotte (15 to 25 min, depending on where you start), Ponce Park is a great place to drop in a kayak. Ponce creek has good fishing for snook and mangrove snapper, it leads to the PGI perimeter canal (more good fishing), which leads to Poacher's Cut, which leads to Alligator Creek. Turn left and head up the creek, or right and come out on the harbor; then turn left, and you're behind the bar on the East Wall. Paddle along the mangroves in 1-3 ft of water all the way south to Two Pines - great fishing all along there for trout, redfish, bonnetheads, occasional pompano and cobia.

[com1usa]

we may have to opt for a location a little west of port charlotte then - the above info helps but we do want to be close to swimming beaches- 20 min or less

and still confused about the properties- we are seeing dozens of condos for sale online in the 50-60k range thru out the greater charlotte, north port, englewoood punta gorda area
but above posts say that there are problems with many of these.I am planning a trip to the area in 5-6 weeks to see for my self

[Restrain]

We live in PC, 30 minutes to any beach. You have to be very careful getting closer to the beach as the elevations are low (9' elevation here) and you can get into a designated flood zone easily. From PC, we can go to Gaspirilla, Englewood, Venice beaches easily, and are 1 mile from the PC beach complex, 15 minutes from Ponce Park mentioned earlier.

As to a swimming Beach, the PC beach is on the Peace River (that is the harbor) and has great swimming, no waves.

Finally, the closer to the coast, the higher the prices. You are going to have to trade out distance to the beach for price.