Best area in Manatee/ Sarasota for homeschooling family (Bradenton: renting, employment)

[crystaljh]

Having grown up visiting family in Bradenton and living with them during my college years, my husband and I are looking to relocate our family from Charlotte, NC to the Manatee/ Sarasota area. We are familiar with the area in a short term/ vacation aspect but are now needing to find housing and activities for our kids to get plugged into.
1) Suggestions on what areas to look in for housing.
Need no deed restrictions/ HOA
An acre of land or more.
Reasonable driving distance to “downtown” Bradenton area for employment
Less than $350,000 and would consider a housing needing updating but not a full renovation

2. Along with the housing location we are looking for suggestion for these activities for our kids that would also be a reasonable driving distance.
Homeschooling groups and classes
Horse riding lessons or hippotherapy
Church with larger children’s group and activities

[newtovenice]

Stick to Sarasota or Bradenton areaas. Lots of homeschool opportunities. Check out Learning and Families group (LAF). https://www.learningandfamilies.org/

They can help get you started. There are lots of little groups and activities besides that. There area also a bunch of classical conversations groups.

I'm not religious, not a member, just know of them.

[Sunshine Rules]

There are a few subdivisions with at least a one acre lot in your price range, but those will have HOAs. Many of the areas without deed restrictions and acreage will be at least 2 - 5 acres in size and price tags will start in the upper $300's to low $400's.

You might want to search in the Parrish area of Manatee county. Other options are in north Sarasota county, such as DeSoto Acres or Racimo Ranches. All of those will be a rather lengthy drive time to downtown Bradenton when you factor in traffic, speed limits and traffic lights.

Why downtown Bradenton? It's not exactly a mecca for employment in our area.

If you need to find employment here, I would suggest renting until you sort everything out, learn the area from the perspective of living here vs visiting. Give yourself more time to decide which locations in our area appeal to you and best fit your family's needs.

[crystaljh]

Thanks for the advice. We have employment lined up if we chose to move. Won’t go into detail but employment is set and is near downtown Bradenton area. Because of having 3 dogs and 3 kids, buying would be easier and cheaper than finding an appropriate sized rental. Not being in a subdivision and having more than an acre would be awesome. We will keep an eye on the Parrish area.