Retiring to Venice, FL (Sarasota, North Port: real estate, houses, buying)

[JJGittes65]

Grand Palm.....no threat of address change out of Venice, great amenities, more reasonable fees, more natural spaces, center road more sane compared to 41. Best choice for Venice IMO

[Jklgolfers]

Thank you for all the comments. I do like both the Neal Communities. Looking at the pictures and information on the Neal websites, it seems like Gran Palm is geared more for families?? Any thoughts on that?

JJGittes65 will you clarify what you mean by address change and the pros/cons if that was to happen?

[NorthofHere]

Originally Posted by logybogy

Wow, what in the world are the amenities to cost over $3500 a year?? That's ridiculously expensive.

From what I read it includes lawn and irrigation, basic cable, Guard Gate, maintenance of lakes, access to club area, fitness, pools. If you think about it at a minimum lawn maintenance would be $60 a week, that is $2880 a year, add to that the water bill and the HOA fee doesn't seem all that high.

[JJGittes65]

There was talk about certain west villages communities being changed to "north port" addresses instead of Venice. That has apparently been pushed to the side however.

But Grand Palm is only part of the west villages for marketing purposes, or some such, and was never slated to be changed out of a Venice address.

Grand Palm has a mix or retirees, near retirees, and families with kids. Most people seem to like the mix.

Originally Posted by Jklgolfers

Thank you for all the comments. I do like both the Neal Communities. Looking at the pictures and information on the Neal websites, it seems like Gran Palm is geared more for families?? Any thoughts on that?

JJGittes65 will you clarify what you mean by address change and the pros/cons if that was to happen?

[blueherons]

Golf courses are insanely expensive to own. I was in the business for five years.

I wouldn't trust any course not to be sold to developers that isn't named Augusta or Pebble Creek.

[shokwaverider]

Aren't there any communities with good amenities and newer homes (Post 2010) that are closer to the beach? The problem with most of the communities mentioned here is that they are way to far inland. It is OK if you like living in a Sauna, but that gets tedious after 3 months of it. We are looking for something within 5 - 10 mins from the beach.

Also we want a concrete block home way West of I75, closer to 41, preferably on the West side of 41.

[choff5]

Originally Posted by shokwaverider

Aren't there any communities with good amenities and newer homes (Post 2010) that are closer to the beach? The problem with most of the communities mentioned here is that they are way to far inland. It is OK if you like living in a Sauna, but that gets tedious after 3 months of it. We are looking for something within 5 - 10 mins from the beach.

Also we want a concrete block home way West of I75, closer to 41, preferably on the West side of 41.

Check out Rapalo by DRHorton, New Homes in Rapalo | Venice, Florida | D.R. Horton. It meets your requirement of new home, near the beach, west of I75 and west of 41. I believe they are concrete.

[MattMN]

Originally Posted by shokwaverider

Aren't there any communities with good amenities and newer homes (Post 2010) that are closer to the beach? The problem with most of the communities mentioned here is that they are way to far inland. It is OK if you like living in a Sauna, but that gets tedious after 3 months of it. We are looking for something within 5 - 10 mins from the beach.

Also we want a concrete block home way West of I75, closer to 41, preferably on the West side of 41.

Simply based on location and new home request, you could also check out Taylor Morrison's Bellacina by Casey Key. Under 10 minutes to Nokomis Beach.

But really, if you give yourself a 15/20-minute drive to the beach, you'd have a ton more choices. "Way too far" inland is quite relative, and to be honest, most people hit the beach at most once a week, while you spend much more time in your neighborhood and surrounding area. Better for many to find the right home/neighborhood without the 5-minute-to-the-beach requirement.

[shokwaverider]

Originally Posted by MattMN

Simply based on location and new home request, you could also check out Taylor Morrison's Bellacina by Casey Key. Under 10 minutes to Nokomis Beach.

But really, if you give yourself a 15/20-minute drive to the beach, you'd have a ton more choices. "Way too far" inland is quite relative, and to be honest, most people hit the beach at most once a week, while you spend much more time in your neighborhood and surrounding area. Better for many to find the right home/neighborhood without the 5-minute-to-the-beach requirement.

Unfortunately we are spoilt as we are just in walking distance from a beautiful beach, 2 miles. We are in an A flood zone, but are high so no hurricane issues so far (fingers crossed). Our community is quite nice but we want to down size and the smaller homes are not concrete block. The community is great access to everything but not crowded at all in comparison to SW Florida.

You are correct about the community itself though.


Search Homes for sale in Marsh Creek Country Club, St Augustine, FL

[shokwaverider]

Originally Posted by MattMN

Simply based on location and new home request, you could also check out Taylor Morrison's Bellacina by Casey Key. Under 10 minutes to Nokomis Beach.

But really, if you give yourself a 15/20-minute drive to the beach, you'd have a ton more choices. "Way too far" inland is quite relative, and to be honest, most people hit the beach at most once a week, while you spend much more time in your neighborhood and surrounding area. Better for many to find the right home/neighborhood without the 5-minute-to-the-beach requirement.

BTW Bellacina is way to close to mobile and manufactured home parks for our liking. From experience we do not like the areas they are built in.