Attention new Sarasota - Bradenton area residents (University, Fruitville: for sale, real estate)

[florida_native]

Did you recently move to the Sarasota - Bradenton area? Did you move from out of state?

If you answered yes to either question we would appreciate your feedback.

We're exploring the possibility of moving to the Sarasota area. I work in medical IT server/software support and my wife works as a school counselor. We of course want to secure jobs before we move the area.

I've searched online for opportunities and I'm not seeing much. Sometimes being in the area people know of jobs that are not found online.

We're also wanting to know the best areas to live in for both Sarasota - Bradenton. We're interested in the best school zones for our six year old daughter and areas that aren't flood prone.

Any additional information is welcome.

[TamRE]

Here are some job search sites specifically to Florida and this area:
www.jobfocus.com, www.employflorida.com, www.yoursun.net, www.heraldtribune.com

For school counselor jobs you would go directly to the school web sites for employment.
Sarasota County Schools - Sarasota County Schools, Home
Manatee County Schools - School District of Manatee County Florida

Other employment sites: www.indeed.com, www.craigslist.com, www.careerbuilder.com

Employment is still hard to find in this area.

If you want to know if a home is in a flood zone you can go to www.floodsmart.gov and type in the address of the property. It will tell you what flood zone it is in and will give you some insurance companies to contact.

Homes built prior to 2002 and homes in a flood zone will be higher for homeowner insurance.

[LIFL]

Stay, the schools are bad here.

[Volgirl65]

I haven't moved yet, will be down there by the end of this week though. Thankfully, my job is mobile so I can just bring my laptop, desk and printer for work and start working. My husband is in manufacturing and he is staying here for 4 months to train his replacement. We aren't really sure what he will find job wise so we bought a very small place just to be sure we don't end up "house-poor".
Homeowners is very high, auto insurance is even higher but that is because of my 17 yr old son. But I have always wanted to live there so the compromises will be worth it in the end, at least I hope so!
We looked in Bradenton but ended up in Sarasota. You can definitely get more house for the money in Bradenton, but it just never felt right for us. That was probably because our budget was so limited and the areas in Bradenton that we could afford didn't seem safe to walk around at night.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Florida Native

Perhaps you have already done this, but if not, I would suggest you scan the first three pages of this forum for threads covering the topics your questions address. There have been recent threads dealing with "best areas", schools, and employment. Then by reading what has already been posted, you can hone your questions. It is much easier for people to be helpful when the questions are more focused.

[touretteboy65]

Originally Posted by florida_native

Did you recently move to the Sarasota - Bradenton area? Did you move from out of state?

If you answered yes to either question we would appreciate your feedback.

We're exploring the possibility of moving to the Sarasota area. I work in medical IT server/software support and my wife works as a school counselor. We of course want to secure jobs before we move the area.

I've searched online for opportunities and I'm not seeing much. Sometimes being in the area people know of jobs that are not found online.

We're also wanting to know the best areas to live in for both Sarasota - Bradenton. We're interested in the best school zones for our six year old daughter and areas that aren't flood prone.

Any additional information is welcome.

Hello. Drawing from my experience, I gave the Sarasota area a try and couldn't commit. First off, the beaches are incredible, but that's where my positives end. I had a job there, but upon looking for a home (wife and two children), the troubles began. Many, and I mean many, of the homes up for sale at the time (within the last several months) were built back in the 50s through the early 90s, were very expensive, and needed much $$$ in upgrading and repair. Unfortunately, we hit the market when it started its upswing. Renting was not considered, because we didn't want to pull our kids out of one school and into another, again. Still, even when I did look into rental homes (few and far between), the lowest rate was $2400/month. Ridiculous. Homeowners insurance quotes were incredibly high, and for several insurance companies I called, their answer was they were not writing new policies, period. As one poster stated, check the floodsmart website. I did, and found many of the homes I checked into were in flood zones, further increasing the insurance costs. Property taxes were on the high side, simply because I was concentrating in the Sarasota area. Look out for the CDDs, they'll add more to your costs of living there (Lakewood Ranch, Palmer Ranch, and others have CDDs of over a $1,000 year. Ouch!) I did not look into Manatee County because their schools are a disaster, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Those that do tell you otherwise are simply not being honest with you. There are some schools in Sarasota that score well and I think overall, the school system is good, however, you'll pay for it through higher dollar real estate and property taxes. Of course, that's a no brainer, but my wife and I simply decided we could not afford to live there comfortably and would be under quite a bit of financial stress to live a quality life there with our children. It was a difficult decision, but one we had to make. You'll find many people here that will brag about the place and love the life there. I don't blame them, some areas are very pretty and again, the beaches are among the best in the country, if not the world. I was surprised to find many areas in Sarasota to be run down and full of tattoo shops and dumpy strip malls, many just around the corner from neighborhoods I was looking into. Didn't seem family friendly. Some neighborhoods were surrounded by commercial districts that were very congested, loud, and dirty. It was a real turn off and disappointment. We chose instead to move further inland and take the two hour drive to the west coast for our beach fix, simply because we like the beaches there more than the east coast. The real estate was much more within our means and homeowners insurance and taxes were better as well. Things there aren't perfect, and share some of the same problems Sarasota does, but it was much more affordable and in my opinion, is more family oriented. Good luck in your search.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by touretteboy65

Renting was not considered, because we didn't want to pull our kids out of one school and into another, again. Still, even when I did look into rental homes (few and far between), the lowest rate was $2400/month. Ridiculous.

Your post to the original poster's question was informative and seems accurate to me. I have a follow up question for you. What neighborhoods were you looking at rentals in?

My husband and I want to buy rental property and we find the prices to be as high as California, the taxes even higher, and to us, the rents seem low compared to what we get on our properties in CA.

I was under the impression that houses rented for about $1500/month. We can't support ourselves buying property for $250,000 and then renting it for $1,500. We could support ourselves if we bought at $250,000 and rented for $2,400.

Don't mean to be a greedy landlord-just trying to find locations that the ratio of purchase price to rent works for us. Maybe the only people who can be landlords in Florida are people who bought their properties 20 years ago at cheaper prices.

[touretteboy65]

I looked along the corridors of Bee Ridge, Fruitville, Lakewood Ranch, Palmer Ranch, Gulf Gate, South Gate, neighborhoods along Proctor and Sawyer Road, Wilkinson, Beneva and Clark, Evergreen, it goes on and on. I heard the University Pkwy is going to explode with development in the next several years, but time was not a luxury for me. Regardless, I found many of the rentals I was looking into were bought by rental corporations who, after dressing up the place, threw it on the market and charged outlandish rental prices. Some that were more in my price range were in dumpy areas with equally bad dumpy schools. Couldn't bring myself to save a few bucks and place my kids into underperforming schools and in sketchy neighborhoods. I agree with you in getting your money's worth, but I'm no authority when it comes to buying homes for rental purposes. Sarasota is a nice area, but you definitely need the big bucks to play. All the more reason why I decided to buy a home a couple of hours away and play there on their beaches during the weekends and vacations. Works for me!

[Cardiff by the Sea]

It must be very difficult for families trying to find an affordable rental in an area with a good school. Thank you for the list of areas. I am sure you made the right choice for your family and they will thrive in your new location.

[touretteboy65]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

It must be very difficult for families trying to find an affordable rental in an area with a good school. Thank you for the list of areas. I am sure you made the right choice for your family and they will thrive in your new location.

Thanks! Good luck to you.