Seems that our realtor is steering us away from North Port, any reason? (Tampa: for sale, real estate market)

[Volgirl65]

We just signed a contract on our home and have been working with a really nice realtor to help us relocate. I love the Sarasota area, but it just seems that NP has the better bang for the buck and we are looking at a very limited budget. The area we live in now is a much lower cost of living that the Sarasota area, but I have always wanted to live there. We are making plans to come down next week to see some houses, and I have mentioned looking in NP too but I get the impression he doesn't want to show me anything there. Is there a reason for this? Is there something I need to know about NP?
Thanks!

[StepHome941]

North Port has always been the red-headed stepchild of Sarasota County and no doubt there are some Sarasota Realtors who don't want to be bothered driving 40 minutes to North Port to sell less expensive homes. The median price in Sarasota is about $220K, in NP it's 125K. Prices (year over year) are appreciating at 25% in NP vs. 12.6% in Sarasota. You can read about all the statistical analysis on my blog. North Port also got hit far harder than Sarasota by the housing crisis as NP lacks the older, mature, established neighborhoods of Sarasota and Venice, which allowed them to weather the crisis a bit better. When I first moved to this area, in 1999, there were less than 20,000 people living in North Port. Over the next decade the population would TRIPLE to 60,000. Of those 60,000, about 10,000 are school age children. Much of what drove the population growth to NP was people, and families, living and working in Sarasota, as Sarasota got real pricey, people discovered that they could buy a much newer and larger home in NP for far less money. That is why so many homes in NP were built in the 2004-2006 era. I love Sarasota and we go there at least once a week to visit friends and do stuff there. North Port represents a terrific value by comparison. Especially also when you take into account the cost to insure an older home - which is what you're likely to be buying up in Sarasota if you're shopping on a budget. This is also something that some Realtors conveniently don't like to talk about with their clients. For a more detailed explanation of this, I have an article on my blog called "The Price of Paradise", which discusses the insurance issue for home buyers. I could never say that NP offers what Sarasota has. We do not have beaches (nearest beaches are Englewood-Venice) nor do we have a lot of culture, entertainment, dining options, or shopping. But we have some nice new stores on 41 in the Cocoplum plaza, which has a variety of stores and now a Panera Bread and 5 guys. Port Charlotte and the mall and tons of restaurants are just down the road to the south, Venice is the next town to the north, and really, many people live in NP and commute to Sarasota every day for work. They are even now running a SCAT (Sarasota County Area Transit) service for NP commuters. When we first moved to NP 2 years ago (from Manatee County) we weren't so sure about it....2 years ago NP was foreclosure city, with seemingly every other house in foreclosure and for sale. But we really like it, surrounded by nature, like out in the country, not a lot of traffic, but a newer Publix shopping center right around the corner and plenty of shopping over on 41.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

We just moved to North Port and like it - beautiful wildlife and feels like living in the country while at the same time easy to reach Venice, Port Charlotte and Sarasota if needed - tons of stores and restaurants that are almost brand new and all the common areas in town are kept very clean and landscaped

[TamRE]

No reason to stay away from North Port. It is growing once again. It is the southern most part of Sarasota County. Yes, you can definitely get more and a newer home for your money in North Port than the city of Sarasota. North Port is about 20 minutes from the beach. There are restaurants, stores, medical facilities, parks, schools and more right in North Port. It is closer to Port Charlotte than Sarasota. There are deed restricted communities but most of North Port is non-deed restricted. North Port offers newer homes built 2002 and newer, which will be less expensive for homeowner insurance.

Some Realtors only cover a certain radius or area of homes that they will sell in. That is the only reason I can think of that your Realtor doesn't want to show homes in North Port. It may be too far away and he isn't comfortable with that area if it is not an area he is used to selling in. When I show homes to customers, I refer them to another agent if they want to look in Ft. Myers for example. I cover down to the Lee County line, but I don't sell in Ft. Myers. I have people all the time that want to look in several areas such as Sarasota County, Charlotte County, and Lee County. There is nothing wrong with working with more than one Realtor if the original Realtor does not cover all of the areas that you want to see.

[sware2cod]

Sounds like your agent is is more in tune with Sarasota. You probably should use that realtor to look at properties in Sarasota.

Get a 2nd agent to look a North Port properties. You want someone that knows North Port and can guide you. If your Sarasota agent wants to steer you away, then they won't be able to guide you because they really don't know the area enough to give you professional guidance.

There is nothing wrong with having 2 different realtors as long as you don't sign an exlcusive buyers agreement.

Realtors generally aren't experts on areas that are far apart; they would spend too much time driving between the areas and would never get work done.

[ArmyChief]

What Iread on this board almost a year ago was great info. Find agents in the areas your looking !
Worked for me

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

Sounds like your agent is is more in tune with Sarasota. You probably should use that realtor to look at properties in Sarasota.

Get a 2nd agent to look a North Port properties. You want someone that knows North Port and can guide you. If your Sarasota agent wants to steer you away, then they won't be able to guide you because they really don't know the area enough to give you professional guidance.

There is nothing wrong with having 2 different realtors as long as you don't sign an exclusive buyers agreement.

Realtors generally aren't experts on areas that are far apart; they would spend too much time driving between the areas and would never get work done.

Good advice! Many Sarasota agents stick to the metro Sarasota - Bradenton area and are therefore not familiar enough with North Port's real estate market to give the kind of assistance and information you will need. Then again, many North Port agents are not as well versed on Sarasota and Bradenton neighborhoods as a Sarasota agent would be. There is nothing wrong with using more than one agent if your home search will cover a large area.

We agents here in the Sarasota area belong to the My FL Regional MLS system that serves 18 board of Realtors with over 30,000 agent members. We have MLS access to listings from North Port to the south, to St. Pete & Tampa to the north, and as far east as the Lakeland area. For example, just because a Venice agent has MLS access to homes for sale in Tampa doesn't mean that agent has the first hand knowledge to guide you in your home selection in Tampa the way a local Tampa agent can. Or that the agent knows the positives and negatives of local neighborhoods, the right people to contact with the local municipality if you have questions, what home and pest inspectors have the best reputations in Tampa, etc.

I personally have turned down opportunities to assist buyers that wanted to expand their home searches to the Tampa - St. Pete area because, while I have a basic, general knowledge of those towns, I do not have the in depth knowledge a local agent would bring to the table for those buyers. And I have been up front about why I do not feel comfortable assisting them in their search in those areas outside of my "areas of expertise."



North Port is different from Sarasota, more of a small town feel. Much of the area within the vast city limits is rural. As someone else has already posted, North Port is, in general, more affordable than Sarasota. I have friends that live there that love it, wouldn't live anywhere else.

However, North Port, like anywhere else, is not perfect. Some of the reasons why North Port is more affordable has to do with the fact that North Port was badly hit by the real estate market bust, which lead to a large number of foreclosures. There are still a number of abandoned homes in some stage of foreclosure, and the city government is trying to cope with both the disrepair of these homes and lower revenues due to the lower appraised values of homes as a result of the high number of distress sales and foreclosures.

Lower tax revenues have also contributed to North Port government's struggles with budgets vs needs of the community for services such as fire, police, trash service and road repairs. For the record, North Port is not alone in dealing with budget struggles, many FL communities have been dealing with problems associated with 5 years of declining home values. The city of North Port is facing major infrastructure needs, most of the city's homes are on well and septic, many of the vast grid of roads are in need of repair, they face pension funding issues and service needs.

I usually get a lot of flack from certain people on this forum when I post any negative information about North Port, but buyers need to know the good, the bad and the ugly about any town or city they are looking to relocate to. People are more familiar with the negatives of Sarasota and Bradenton in part due to the local newspapers, the Sarasota Herald Tribune and the Bradenton Herald. (Both have on line versions of their newspapers by the way.)

I suggest that buyers do as much research as you can on any community you are thinking of purchasing a home in. If the positives outway the negatives for your individual needs, then that community may be a good option for you. One size does not fit all, one city or location is not the answer to every buyer's needs.


ps: Other more affordable options in the Sarasota area that have not been mentioned yet would be Osprey, Nokomis, Venice in Sarasota county and NW Bradenton, Ellenton - Parrish areas in Manatee county.

[jmqueen]

Shhhhhh! I can't move until September or so, and I don't want prices to go up in NP any more than necessary! Can't wait to buy there!

[Volgirl65]

Thanks for all this information and I have been reading older posts too. I am very familiar with Sarasota, not so much the surrounding areas. I have been to NP once several yrs ago, just riding around to get a feel for what was there. I don't remember it being much at all. We are planning a trip down next week to look at homes and we will have several lined up for Bradenton and Sarasota one day, then Venice and North Port the next day. As many years as I have wanted to live in the area, just put me in a cardboard box somewhere near a beach and I will be happy.
For me, the trade off is more house vs closer beach time. I love Siesta Key and that is one of the major draws for me wanting to live there. I have memories of being on that beach when I was a little girl...lots of happy family memories there for me. But I figure that I am 9 1/2 hrs away now. Being 40 minutes or so is nothing.

[ArmyChief]

Originally Posted by Volgirl65

Thanks for all this information and I have been reading older posts too. I am very familiar with Sarasota, not so much the surrounding areas. I have been to NP once several yrs ago, just riding around to get a feel for what was there. I don't remember it being much at all.

Well, we just moved from Chattanooga (Go Vols?...)....My wife did not want North Port. Reason was 6-7 years ago we built in Englewood and North Port was undeveloped (compared to today)...I told her MUCH had changed in those 6-7 years and took her for a drive around.
Now we live her and love it.

Good Luck..keep us posted