Englewood--Bad Areas?? (Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice: real estate, insurance, sex offenders)

[lhayes1976]

We are thinking or relocating to Englewood. My BIL and SIL already have, and they live in Overbrook Gardens. They love it in Englewood. We will be visiting them this summer and would like to scope out some neighborhoods. We would like a neighborhood with an Old Florida style, but not a lot of seedy/shady neighbors. We've also thought about Venice too. I'd like to be less than 3 miles to the the beach.

[Harbor Hopper]

Englewood is, for the most part, an "old Florida" town. There are some great neighborhoods, but it's not a manicured coastal town like most are now. It's not for everyone, but we love it here! Overbrook Gardens Englewood Isles are both beautiful neighborhoods. Not really "old Florida", but nice nonetheless.

[03bluecoupe]

Englewood is certainly nice but everyones definition of "nice" is different. We had our minds set on some particular areas until we came down and spent time driving around getting somewhat familiar with the areas. Our focus areas changed following that. I can't stress first hand investigation enough. Had we bought where we initially thought prior to being here, we wouldn't have been very happy.
As always, YMMV.

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by 03bluecoupe

Englewood is certainly nice but everyones definition of "nice" is different. We had our minds set on some particular areas until we came down and spent time driving around getting somewhat familiar with the areas. Our focus areas changed following that. I can't stress first hand investigation enough. Had we bought where we initially thought prior to being here, we wouldn't have been very happy.
As always, YMMV.

Exactly!

[TamRE]

Are you looking to buy or rent? A recommendation of neighborhoods would depend on your price range and style of living. Are you planning to retire here or do you have a family with kids? There are some older neighborhoods with older homes where your insurance rates will be higher and there are some newer communities too.

Some Englewood neighborhood names are Bay Vista, Boca Royale, Englewood Gardens, Englewood Isles, Keyway Place, Manasota Gardens, Overbrook Gardens, Oyster Creek, Park Forest, Stillwater.

Venice has a variety of neighborhoods to choose from as well, again depending on your price range. If you are not looking for the larger, resort style communities you can look in Gulf View Estates, Venice East, Heritage Lake Estates, Pennington Place, Pinebrook, Quail Lake, South Venice, Southwood, Venice Gardens, Ventura Village, Waterford, Woodmere Lakes.

[imagardener]

This search wasn't available when we purchased 8 years ago but it's interesting to see where crimes are.
CrimeMapping.com - National Map
Of course Englewood is in both Sarasota and Charlotte counties and Charlotte does not have a crime map (that I've found).

A really good search map is the FDLE (law enforcement) map that locates all pedophile and sex offenders. Before looking at a property I would always look up the address and see who was nearby. One real estate agent in Bradenton got mad at me when I told her why I would not even look at one house because a sexual predator was 2 miles away.
I like the map search that shows the whole area up to 5 miles from an address.
https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/of...hoodSearchMain

Most of Englewood is extremely safe compared to other places.

[lhayes1976]

We are retiring. Nice to us is well kept homes, not necessarily expensive homes. Where people take pride in their property. We would like to stay under $150,000, but we could go up to 200,000 if it were turnkey ready. I just don't want to worry about the meth lab down the street. I know they are everywhere, including the upscale neighborhoods, but I don't want to be in what "looks" like a meth neighborhood. I hope I don't come off a snooty, because I'm far from that. I live in Louisville now, although a wonderful place, there's just some areas you don't want to be in. Also, my sister in law, says make sure you're on sewers and city water. Just how much extra is flood insurance?

[03bluecoupe]

Originally Posted by lhayes1976

We are retiring. Nice to us is well kept homes, not necessarily expensive homes. Where people take pride in their property. We would like to stay under $150,000, but we could go up to 200,000 if it were turnkey ready. I just don't want to worry about the meth lab down the street. I know they are everywhere, including the upscale neighborhoods, but I don't want to be in what "looks" like a meth neighborhood. I hope I don't come off a snooty, because I'm far from that. I live in Louisville now, although a wonderful place, there's just some areas you don't want to be in. Also, my sister in law, says make sure you're on sewers and city water. Just how much extra is flood insurance?

I don't mean to be pessimistic but finding a place within 3 miles of the beaches for under 150k is a monumental task, if it's even possible. We just bought in a very nice community for well more than that. We're about 4 miles from the Gulf "as the crow flies", 11 miles from Englewood Beach via roads but that's certainly not a bad trip.

[macrodome2]

Originally Posted by lhayes1976

We are retiring. Nice to us is well kept homes, not necessarily expensive homes. Where people take pride in their property. We would like to stay under $150,000, but we could go up to 200,000 if it were turnkey ready. I just don't want to worry about the meth lab down the street. I know they are everywhere, including the upscale neighborhoods, but I don't want to be in what "looks" like a meth neighborhood. I hope I don't come off a snooty, because I'm far from that. I live in Louisville now, although a wonderful place, there's just some areas you don't want to be in. Also, my sister in law, says make sure you're on sewers and city water. Just how much extra is flood insurance?

Somebody posted this link on another thread a few weeks ago. DEA.gov: National Clandestine Laboratory Register. Interesting to note how few there are in Sarasota and Charlotte county.

[DragonflyMom]

What the heck is a clandestine lab??? I read the definition on the DEA web site, but it was written in
government-ese