Moving and Buying Help! (Sarasota, Bradenton: house, safe neighborhood, construction)

[surfgirl87]

Hey yall!

My husband and I are moving down to the area in July. My Husband is in the USCG stationed out of St. Pete. We are excited to finally be down south again after 4.5 years up in NY. When we found out we were going to St. Pete we looked into buying and are starting to narrow down the areas we are looking in. We don't want to be in the city and are as of right now looking in Bradenton, Ellenton and Parrish areas. I am trying to get others opinions on which area may be good for us.

We are outdoorsy type people but want to be more "country" than city. He will be working in St. Pete, and I will hopefully working from home. I should be teaching online college courses so it won't matter where I am located. If that falls through I will be working in the environmental/ geological field, and do not really know where I would be for that. My husband will be gone for weeks at a time, so a safe neighborhood is important. We do have a large fluffy dog so I need a fenced in yard and would love to have a pool. Anyway, close to the beach is a plus.

We have really been looking in Bradenton, but any pluses or any place near by that we havent looked at, but should? Our range is really$200k to $250k. Nothing fancy, could maybe go higher, but only for a really awesome house.

My brother and sister in law are moving to Boca Grande about the same time, so we are excited! Cannot wait to get down there. Sorry if I broke any rules, just getting really excited cannot wait to be somewhere we appreciate.

[Michael Koester]

My wife and I have a sweet, fluffy mutt named Daisy. We were deciding whether we should add on to our 1600 square foot house or move because our possessions were starting to climb the walls! We soon found out that most planned communities do not allow fencing between properties which right away ruled out many options. We opted to stay in our 1960's ranch house and do an addition. we are very happy that we went this path, even though newer construction was a very attractive option.

If you do choose a house where you cannot put up a fence, it would be nice to have walking trails and a dog park nearby. We have been down to the dog park in Venice many times. It is like a giant dog party right on the beach! it is really a sight to behold!

Wherever you end up choosing, there are tons of nature trails and preserves all over.

[bbronston]

Surfgirl87, use our MLS website for your search --www.MyFloridaHomeMLS.com-- and take a look around the areas of I75 and SR64, and I75 and SR70. I lived in Braden Woods for many years and drove to St. Pete every day across the Skyway bridge. Braden Woods is just to the east of I75 and SR70 and it is about a 40-45 minute drive. There are homes in your range that can be found that meet your criteria but just understand that most will be at the upper range. There are many other things to consider but I think I'd start with these areas. You could stay north of the Manatee River (Parrish, Ellenton, Palmetto) but that will probably be further from the beach. As it is, the areas I mentioned are still about 30-35 minutes away but we never thought of that as too far.

[surfgirl87]

Michael,

Yeah, we need to be able to put up a fence, our baby is good, but she would love a fenced in yard. I would like an older home, not a cookie cutter home. So we shall see what i can come up with.

[Michael Koester]

Yes, fencing her in was not really an option.

[dpbarr2000]

For 200-250K price range you would do much better in Sarasota or Venice than Bradenton.