Fresh start!... Lakewood Ranch area...need info. (Plantation, Sarasota: truck rental, short sale)

[love/pink]

I am 42 years old and lost my 40 year old husband to cancer 8 months ago. I am an east coast native but moved to Denver with my husband and 2 children 13 years ago for his job. Shortly after losing my husband my Colorado BFF moved out of state to care for her ill parents.

3 months ago I decided I need a fresh start. I have always dreamed of living in warm weather. My discovery of UGGS have made winters bearable, but I am a flip-flop girl at heart.

I spent 3 months finishing home projects that were started before my husband got sick. My work paid off...I listed my home 2 weeks ago, had competing offers and my home is now under contract. I depart from Denver in 40 days.

It is time to jump into relocation/house hunting mode and I have a lot of questions. I want to be in the Lakewood Ranch High School boundries.

• I would like a list of neighborhoods that feed the high school. Ideally I want to find a house under 200K. 1800-2100 sq.ft. 3 bedroom + study. No more than 10 years old. Like the cookie cutter communities. Have been looking in LWR but want to explore other options. Originally I was condo shopping but decided on a house after some good advice from the people on the forum.
• Water view properties. Do they = more snakes. I am fine with gators, can exterminate for bugs, but I hate snakes.
• LWR High School- I have seen conflicting #'s about the number of students, anybody know?
• If you have relocated to the area with a high School student what was your childs experience?
• Rentals, I need to find a clean condo or appartment for a few months while I house shop. Needs to be in school boundries. Furnished would be ideal... I prefer to leave the furniture in storage.
• Anyone ever used PODS to move? experience appriciated.
• Local Soccer Clubs. Need a list. Are there 1 or 2 club seasons for high school students.
• When are school soccer try-outs... When are club tryouts?
• I need a bank that is conveinient in the area. Would like to open the accounts here so I am looking for the national ones.
• Anyone know what the singles life is like for a middle aged women? I am not ready to date yet, but have been thinking about it.

Help with any of the above is greatly appreciated. I am not sure how much time I will have to research. It is time to start packing and saying good byes after the appraisal and home inspection. WHEW! life has been crazy.

[TamRE]

You will like living in Florida. This area has beautiful weather and there are plenty of activities to keep you busy. Best wishes in your move. Here are answers to some of your questions.

Lakewood Ranch High School is located in the Manatee County School District. Here is the direct link to the high school: http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/highschool/lakewood/ The first day back to school for students is Aug. 22. If you go to their web page, click on Registration Info and they have the new student registration package.

Here is the map that shows the boundaries of the high school. Click the image to view larger.


The high school has a boys and girls soccer team. For more information contact Lakewood Ranch Athletics 941-727-6100 x2156, email: trents@manateeschools.net Soccer is considered a Winter sport.
Soccer Club info: http://lakewoodranchnews.blogs.heraldtribune.com/10157/clearwater-soccer-club-charges-onto-new-ranch-fields/

PODS – I have had customers that have used PODS moving to the area and moving out of the area. They are cheaper than renting a moving truck or paying someone else to move for you. They didn’t have any problems. But you really have to pack well and protect your belongings by wrapping fragile items carefully. Things tend to shift around easier than in a truck. I have also found Penske Truck Rental to be good. If you reserve the truck online you get a discount and you get an additional discount by using AAA. We used Penske to move from NY to FL.

Singles Life – try a meet up group http://www.meetup.com
Or join a club, church, or other organization to help meet people. Also volunteering helps. We joined the Corvette Club and we do social activities all the time in addition to car shows. There are lots of things to join if you look around.

Snakes – Yes, there are snakes in Florida, but they aren’t only in water. They can be found in any back yard at any time. Here is a link that you might find helpful. http://www.floridabackyardsnakes.com/
There are 45 species of snakes in Florida, but only 7 are venomous. I see a snake in my neighborhood every couple of months. I do get them in my backyard. Usually I see them when I am bending over weeding the landscaping or my beagle will bark and bark and play with them.

[bbronston]

TamRE gave you some good info. You might also want to start looking into the LWR resident's website www.lwrdv.com also known as the digital village. You can keep up on things happening around the area, groups that might interest you or help you meet people.

I've lived near lakes and away from them and, in my experience, snake sightings are rare for both. I've seen gators far more often than I've seen snakes and I have yet to see a live rattlesnake in my 25 years here. I know they are here and I walk my dogs in the "woods" but I've never seen or heard one. In other words, you may freak out once or twice but it probably won't be an everyday thing.

You should be able to find a home meeting your needs for your price range but they are fewer of them than there have been and it will almost certainly be a short sale so I would suggest looking for a rental of six months with an option to go month-to-month after that. Many places in LWR (and outside the ranch) have a minimum lease period of 6 months anyway but you will have to pay taxes on any lease for less than 6 months so you might as well save yourself some money. It will probably take you a few weeks or more to find a place you want and a short sale can take 4-6 months or more and there's no certainty that the deal will be completed even at the end of that period. If you find a place you can close on in less than 6 months, you can either use the time to get things fixed or changed before you move in or you might be able to work out an early lease termination.

Regarding a furnished rental, you will be getting here at the beginning of October (roughly) so you need to be aware that a furnished rental can often bring 2-3x the normal monthly rate during "season" or December thru March. You might want to rethink this and consider a plan for having just enough stuff to get by temporarily in an unfurnished rental.

Any other questions, please ask. I and the others here are more than happy to help.

[Big House]

Sorry to hear about your loss!
I am sure you are going to love it here! It is hard to pick up the pieces and move on, but sometimes that is the best thing.

Welcome to the board! I am sure you will get a lot of great advice! All the women here are awesome!

[Sunshine Rules]

Hi,

First, I want to say sorry to hear about your loss. I admire your courage in starting over in a new location.

As to your questions, finding a home under $200,000 that meets your needs in the Lakewood Ranch High school district may be difficult. Greenfield Plantation does have homes in that price range but many of them were built in the mid to late 1990's. The Summerfield Village of Lakewood Ranch does have 4 bedroom homes within your price range but again, most were built in the mid to late 1990's.

I understand your wanting the LWR High school district, it has an excellent reputation. However, you may also want to look into Braden River high school district. The Braden River high district has a lot more subdivisions of newer homes that fall in the $200,000 and under price range and it is located about 3 miles SW of the LWR school.

Here are links to both the Lakewood Ranch and Braden River high school at the greatschools.org web site. This site has a lot of information regarding test scores and statistics, but it also includes reviews by parents and you can do actual comparisons between school A and school B on their web site.


http://www.greatschools.org/florida/bradenton/1817-Lakewood-Ranch-High-School/

http://www.greatschools.org/florida/bradenton/7445-Braden-River-High-School/


As to rentals, bbronston gave you good advice regarding short term rentals. Considering that many landlords triple the monthly rental rate during the winter "season," you may find an annual lease cheaper than renting for 6 months. What monthly rental rate were you hoping to stay within?

Banks will not be an issue, you'll find one on just about any street corner in our area. Some of the local community banks are still struggling with financial issues but most of the area banks are financially sound. You can check the financial rating of any bank in the US at www.bauerfinancial.com/btc_ratings.asp
for free. If you want more detailed information, they do provide it for a service charge.

The local newspaper, the Sarasota Herald Tribune, has a listing of over 900 civic and social clubs and groups in our area:
Sarasota Civic and Social Clubs Directory | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Herald-Tribune


I am not a fan of snakes either, ask my husband. Fortunately, we rarely see any and the ones I do come across are usually the small, black harmless kind. Our community lake is one block over from my home and I've not heard of any snake issues from neighbors that live along it. The HOA does maintain the grass around the lake, which may help keep the snake population low.

Good luck with your appraisal and inspections. You'll find a lot of friendly people on this board offering help and advice. Any other questions, just ask. Florida is definitely the place to move if you want to wear flip-flops year round.

[love/pink]

Thanks for all of the info. so far... spending the day figuring out the best way to move my stuff and making lists. There is so much to get done. I need to figure out how to accompish without much help. I know it is going to be stressful, but I am confident it will all get done. Probably with a lot of tears.

I have another question...

I need to find new health insurance for my children and me. COBRA was going to be $1000 per month after my husband died. So I declined it after finding insurance for $350.00. Problem is the plan is specific to Colorado if I leave the state everything will be processed at out of network rates, which is vey expensive.

[TamRE]

I just went through getting quotes on health insurance in Florida. I would recommend contacting a health insurance agent in Sarasota/Bradenton. I used someone in Charlotte County, but here is one you can try who covers Sarasota/Bradenton. Steven Dansky, stevendansk@yahoo.com.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of FL just came out with a new policy this year, which I plan to switch to in 2012. I already paid my max out of pocket and met my deductible for this year, so that is why I am waiting to switch. It really depends on your pre-existing conditions, what medications you are on, your age, and what options you need or want in a plan. The higher your deductible, the lower your insurance. I currently have United Health Care. I pay $266 per mo with dental for just me. Rates are different for family and individual plans. Rates are higher in Charlotte County because we have less people and more older people than Sarasota County.

Good luck.