Escaping Northern New England to Sarasota, Where should I move my family? (Tampa: real estate, rentals)

[PeteTheCat]

Hello,
My wife and I are selling our house in New Hampshire and relocating to Florida. My wife and I have endured 34 new England Winters and we are DONE! I've been researching and I keep seeing Venice, Naples, and Sarasota as the 3 "top" Gulf areas. I think we both are falling in love with Siesta, Lido, and Sarasota in general. That said, I could use all the input and advice I can get.
I hope if I list our "wants" here, maybe I can get some guidance or advice on where to look for rentals? (not looking to purchase another home right now).
Must have:
- Good schools, 4yo going to PRe-K and Kindergarten and 1 yo who will be in school before we know it.
-Low crime/safe neighborhood/ community area, Budget for a rental home is around $2500/month.
- Closest proximity to the beach as possible. We are water bugs!
-Community stuff; library, kid's playgrounds, YMCA-type places for kids lessons, etc.


What neighborhoods or areas within Sarasota or Venice should we tell our rental realtors to focus on?
Any and all info is MUCH appreciated.


Pete in Bedford, NH

[craigiri]

Sarasota - south of downtown - anywhere from Paver Park down to Gulf Gate and even below. Most of these places put you within 12 minutes or less of the beach and/or bay.

Seems a shame to waste all that money on rent...not a lot of properties for year-round rental.

Others can chime in on Venice, etc.

[kiggy]

Yeah, how long do you want to rent? For that money you can get a decent house in those areas. Most rentals are seasonal, as these are very much retirement areas.

[Sunshine Rules]

There are annual rentals in that price range, your agent can help you but I would also suggest looking on the obvious rental property sites as well, as a lot of landlords post their listings directly on those sites.

Since you want to be closer to the Sarasota beaches, I would suggest trying in the Gulf Gate area (34231), such as Gulf Gate, Gulf Gate East, Gulf Gate Woods. Palmer Ranch would be another suggestion, but rents do tend to be higher there. A really nice YMCA is located by Palmer Ranch, near the mall. That area would put you fairly close to the south bridge to Siesta Key but also near Nokomis Beach, which doesn't have the white sand of Siesta Key but has good amenities and is often less crowded.

South Gate, which is located more central, would put you fairly close to the northern bridge to Siesta Key. The South Gate area (zip codes 34239 & 34231) has a number of small neighborhoods that all blend together. Arlington Park has great recreational facilities, very popular local park. Some of the neighborhood names include Hyde Park, Loma Linda, Grove Lawn, Battle & Turner, Cottages in the Pines, South Gate. Slightly east of there is Forest Lakes Country Club (not a country club community).

You might also want to consider the Osprey - Nokomis area, which is just south of Sarasota & north of Venice.

[MIKEPOTE]

Im in similar shoes with a slightly lower budget. We move down in a month from the Chicago burbs. We chose Gulf Gate do to its proximity to basically everything while still having good schools. Good luck in your search.

[PeteTheCat]

This is great info and much appreciated, I'm going to be working with a real estate agent and property rental people to try to find a place in those areas. I'm getting out of a money pit right now and I just don't want to rush into a mortgage again.... so we plan to rent for a couple of years and then decide where to purchase our next house.


Does Osprey /Nokomis have a different School District than Sarasota?

[JazzmanLI]

School districts in the state of Florida are ran by the county school board. Therefore, Sarasota county schools stretches as far north as Sarasota and as far south as North Port (Venice, Nokomis, Osprey are included). Sarasota is one of the better school districts in the state. In my opinion, if you're looking for something more family centered, I would look little more north. Venice is a huge retirement town.

[Fiddledidee]

A good realtor should be able to help you drill down into a neighborhood that has what you're looking for.

A word of caution - the largest influx of baby boomers in the country are found from Manatee County (Parrish/Bradenton) to North Port (as per the chamber of commerce). We're looking to get out of Manatee; my husband is retired and even he feels like there are too many old people here.

If you prefer a very active, family friendly city I'd look north to Tampa Bay. The job market is great, too. Fort Desoto park/beaches, found in Pinellas county/St. Petersburg, have been ranked the best in the country.

[blueherons]

I hate to sound like a broken record but make sure you already have a good job lined up or someone in your family does.

People from the NE that have good paying, skilled jobs making $20-$40 an hour move down here and find these same jobs only pay $8 an hour here. They run through all their savings and end up moving back way in the hole financially.

Not saying that it you but just want to put that out there.

You should live near where your work will be.

Good luck!

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by blueherons

I hate to sound like a broken record but make sure you already have a good job lined up or someone in your family does.

People from the NE that have good paying, skilled jobs making $20-$40 an hour move down here and find these same jobs only pay $8 an hour here. They run through all their savings and end up moving back way in the hole financially.

Not saying that it you but just want to put that out there.

You should live near where your work will be.

Good luck!

^^^ Exactly and add in heat & humidity. We are having a very early hot summer right now, if you think winters are difficult, you have no idea what it feels like to be hot & "not on vacation".