Recommendations on areas to look for buying...

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by margaritachick1

Hi everyone. I am also thinking of moving to the Sarasota area. I found a home I can afford and that looks fairly nice, but I have no idea what the area is like. I am moving from Maryland, right smack between Baltimore and DC. The home I found is on 43rd Street. The realtor that responded to me from Realtor.com said that it's an up-and-coming neighborhood...this usually means it's not that great of an area. I am 37 and my BF will be moving with me. He will be working nights and, while I'm used to being alone at night, I want to make sure that I'm not cowering under the covers until he gets back, if you know what I mean. I just want to know whether it's safe to walk down my street alone. If anyone could give me any input, or if anyone knows of another place that is reasonably priced (between 100-200K) for at least 2 BR and 2BA, with a fair amount of privacy- I don't want a condo and I don't want to live somewhere I have to pay a HOA fee (gated communities are not my thing). Thanks!

If you have not visited Sarasota and do not know the area at all, my best suggestion is to rent first, take the time to learn your way around, then you will have a much better idea whether particular neighborhoods will suit your needs. If you can rent in one of the neighborhoods you think you may like to buy in, it will give you the opportunity of taking that neighborhood for a "test drive" to see if what looks good on paper actually works for you.

That being said, there are a number of neighborhoods that might have listings that would fit the criteria you gave here. Here are some (but not all) of those neighborhoods within Sarasota. If you are willing to go into south Manatee county, I can suggest more neighborhoods such as Whitfield Country Club, Woods of Whitfield. Keep in mind not all communities with HOAs are gated, some like Tamaron in Sarasota are older neighborhoods with basic deed restrictions and minimal HOA fees.

Within the city of Sarasota there are a number of neighborhoods in the Arlington Park/ South Gate area you might like - the zip codes are 34231, 34237 and 34239:
Alta Vista
Hyde Park Terrace
Loma Linda
Rustic Lodge
Battle & Turner
South Gate
South Gate Ridge
Paver Park

Outside of the city limits, within the metro Sarasota area (county):
Gulf Gate
Tamaron
Lake Sarasota
Sarasota Springs
Ridgewood
Brentwood
Colonial Gables
Georgetown
Glen Oaks
Forest Lakes
Forest Lakes Country Club (this is not a country club neighborhood)
Colonial Oaks
Desoto Lakes
Kensington Park
Deer Hollow
Cedar Hollow
Sun Haven


As I said, there are lots of neighborhoods you may wish to consider. Right now the inventory of homes priced under $200,000 is very low. Many homeowners won't list now until after the holidays as January - April is our main selling season here in Sarasota.

If you wait just a few weeks you may have more of a selection of listings to consider. Meanwhile, please think about my suggestion of renting before buying, until you know the area better.

[Parrish Florida]

Parrish florida has some nice developments with less land, but there are also a couple with more land. We recently moved here and saw a home in a development with larger lots, like 1/2 acre or so. I forget the name of the development. Try Faith Pennybaker at Keller William Realty. She was our agent and really went the extra mile for us.

[siestachica]

I have a number of properties in South Gate and Gulf Gate, I really like both areas. I like them because you can walk to amenities if you wish, I would stick to developments south of Fruitville Road, renting is a great option. If you can wait till after Easter though you will get a better rental rate as you'll pay top dollar in the season.

Also if you have kids or are thinking about having them in the future it may be a wise idea to think about schools

Good Luck in my eyes Sarasota is perfect!

[kmachine]

Thanks everyone for all the help. I'm going to start taking a look and once my house gets listed and I can gather how fast it will go, I'll start bugging a realtor .

This may be the better time to buy as I'm seeing more sit on the market. I'm guessing because not many move during the school year as much as the summer. I look at sold history in the neighborhoods and I see many that have sold in the last 3 to 4 months are about 30 to 60K less than comparable houses. But I don't mind taking my time and finding the right deal. Even a foreclosure or short sale would be great as I remodeled my current house completely.

I do see Mill Creek has several houses. They seem cheaper than most areas so my only question is the area nice for families from anyone's experience?

[Californianz]

Originally Posted by kmachine

I do see Mill Creek has several houses. They seem cheaper than most areas so my only question is the area nice for families from anyone's experience?

That's the one off of the 64 - north of Lakewood Ranch? When we were looking I noticed some newish developments in the LWR area that really went bad fast in the crash (foreclosed/squatter/vacant houses) - I think some haven't recovered. One neighborhood even had a developer putting the AC units in the front yard (due to tiny lots), which was hideous.

Since you are here - drive the areas and see what you like! See how far out you can tolerate for commutes - generally speaking the further out you go (Parrish etc) the more house (and land) you get for the money. I'm pretty sure that myfloridamls site also lets you search by lot size...

[bbronston]

You are right that the lots in LWR tend to be smaller. Mill Creek, Braden Woods, Braden Pines, Greyhawk, and Country Meadows might have properties that work for you and all of them would probably check off all of your boxes. The odds are, though, that homes in these communities will have been built prior to 2003 (with Greyhawk as an exception) so insurance will be more costly.

[Sunshine Rules]

Mill Creek, located off of SR 64 about 4 miles east of I75, has approximately 900 homes located in 2 parts -- the older part is to the NW of Rye Road, the newer part to the SE. The newer part has some homes that were built into the 2000's. That is the section that seemed to have a lot of the foreclosures in Mill Creek, but those are mostly sold now and the neighborhood looks much better kept then it did for awhile back about 5 years ago when there were a number of vacant properties. The HOA has become more agressive in the past couple of years regarding past due HOA fees, and they now have an attorney to pursue collections.

Mill Creek is a deed restricted community, there are approximately 8 sections, each has slightly modified versions of the deed restrictions. The deed restrictions do cover things like parking of RVs on the lots, and paint colors of the exterior of homes, so buyers should take that into consideration before purchasing. Larger lots does not necessarily translate into "do your own thing," the association does do periodic inspections for violations.

Most of the homes in the newer section are concrete block, the homes in the older section are both block and frame construction. Most of the neighborhood looks well maintained, but there are a few homes in the older section that kind of stand out like a sore thumb. I don't know if the HOA is dealing with them (the process can take time) or ignoring them.

I like that the streets are not set up in the grid pattern that is used in so many neighborhoods. Instead, the streets curve and wind their way through the neighborhood. The community is popular for the lot sizes, school districts and location that is fairly close to I75.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by kmachine

This may be the better time to buy as I'm seeing more sit on the market. I'm guessing because not many move during the school year as much as the summer.

My understanding is that the busy season in Sarasota for real estate sales is January through April when all the snow birds are in town. Also a very high percentage of buyers are not families, They are new retirees.

The areas you are looking in may be more family oriented so the above may not apply. But it seems that common wisdom that applies in the rest of the country does not apply here.