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Old 07-13-2009, 09:25 PM
 
4 posts, read 6,035 times
Reputation: 10

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Hello everyone.

This is the first post on this forum. Everyone seems to have some pretty good insight, so I would really appreciate some advice.

My husband (28) and I (27) are relocating to the Sarasota area for work from the Austin,TX area. I've been to Sarasota only once, so I am not very familiar with the areas.

Let me tell you a little about us. Were active, love to be outdoors-jogging, tennis, biking. We have a dog, love small live music venues. We occasionally like a trendy bar or lounge, but for the most part, we prefer hanging out at low key places. The beach is just a plus We are both young professionals and we will both be attending the University of South FL for our MBA's. No kiddos and no plans for kiddos, so schools and such are not an issue.

The only time I was there, I visited what I think was main street (there were cafe's that lined the st and there was a farmers market on the cross st) and St. Armands circle.

From what I could see, the cafe lined st had a good array of people-young, old, couples, families. I liked the vibe.

Is there places to live that are in walking (biking) distance from the street with all those cafe's or an area like it? I would really like to be close enough to walk most places but I also want to feel safe. Ideally, I would love to rent a small house/cottage where we have a small yard and some privacy. Apartment complexes are out of the question and so are fancy gated communities. I would consider a condo in a mid rise.

What's the average rent for a 1 or 2 bedroom residence?
What areas do you suggest for a hip ( ) young couple with the listed interests?
Where do we even start to look for available rentals?

Eh, the questions are endless....

Thanks in advance...
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Old 07-13-2009, 09:40 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,870,418 times
Reputation: 2877
Well, if you are looking at being close to downtown then you would want to look in Southside Village, which gets a bit confusing. Here's why-Southside is comprised of many small little areas and some are only a few streets. If you look in the MLS you will not find Southside Village so you would need to look under all the little areas. I'll list some here:

Poinsettia Park
Hartland Park
South Highland
Burns
Hansen
Bayview
Granada
Moller
McClellan Park
Cherokee Park
Pine Shores Estates
Avondale
Laurel Park
Floyd & Cameron
Oyster Bay
Pomelo
Morton Terrace
Mandarin Park
Aqualane Estates
Harbor Acres
Graham Heights

Most of the above are in Southside Village and a few are on the fringe.

Other areas of Sarasota worth investigating are Gulf Gate and South Gate. Not really that close to downtown though.

Ladywithafan rents in the downtown area so she can probably give you some pointers there. And Gypsychic always has some good info to add as well. They will probably post in the next day or so.

Here's a link to the public MLS website where you can search for rentals in the area:
http://www.myfloridahomesmls.com/

Good luck
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Old 07-14-2009, 05:29 AM
 
Location: Sarasota
190 posts, read 762,958 times
Reputation: 146
Hi Jimipop,.....I live in Wisconsin and I'm moving to Sarasota the end of July. I found a nice little rental house through Craigslist. There are numerous listings added daily but you need to be careful with who you may be dealing with. There are definitely scams listed some are fairly obvious others not, "if it sounds to good to be true it probably is"! Once you get accepted try to verify the landlord before you send any money. You can do that through public records, see if he owns the property and see if his/her address is listed in their name. You can check out rental address's by getting on to "Google street view" and check out the neighborhood, a most handy tool if there ever was one.
I have noticed with my searching that the downtown rentals are higher in price and also can be rather dumpy at least in my price range, and if it did look nice it was in a sketchy hood. One listing that looked nice actually requested that people interested should drive by the house before they ask to see it......there was a very good reason for that! Another way to possibly find a rental is check into a property management company, something I was going to do but never had to. Sometimes you will see one in a listing on craigslist. So good luck with your search and move and school.
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Old 07-14-2009, 06:05 AM
 
Location: Nokomis Fl
1,008 posts, read 2,628,523 times
Reputation: 475
See Manasota Track Club for running
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Old 07-14-2009, 07:39 AM
 
17,503 posts, read 38,979,826 times
Reputation: 24195
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimipop View Post
Hello everyone.

This is the first post on this forum. Everyone seems to have some pretty good insight, so I would really appreciate some advice.

My husband (28) and I (27) are relocating to the Sarasota area for work from the Austin,TX area. I've been to Sarasota only once, so I am not very familiar with the areas.

Let me tell you a little about us. Were active, love to be outdoors-jogging, tennis, biking. We have a dog, love small live music venues. We occasionally like a trendy bar or lounge, but for the most part, we prefer hanging out at low key places. The beach is just a plus We are both young professionals and we will both be attending the University of South FL for our MBA's. No kiddos and no plans for kiddos, so schools and such are not an issue.

The only time I was there, I visited what I think was main street (there were cafe's that lined the st and there was a farmers market on the cross st) and St. Armands circle.

From what I could see, the cafe lined st had a good array of people-young, old, couples, families. I liked the vibe.

Is there places to live that are in walking (biking) distance from the street with all those cafe's or an area like it? I would really like to be close enough to walk most places but I also want to feel safe. Ideally, I would love to rent a small house/cottage where we have a small yard and some privacy. Apartment complexes are out of the question and so are fancy gated communities. I would consider a condo in a mid rise.

What's the average rent for a 1 or 2 bedroom residence?
What areas do you suggest for a hip ( ) young couple with the listed interests?
Where do we even start to look for available rentals?

Eh, the questions are endless....

Thanks in advance...
The neighborhood most walkable to downtown is Laurel Park - immediately to the south of downtown. From there you can walk to ANYTHING downtown, including the Bayfront Park, and it's only a hop and skip over to St. Armand's/Lido. I have no idea what things rent for there, we had some friends who had houses for rent, but have not seen them in awhile. Anyway, I found this website online, and it has a general map of the area showing some places for rent: (assuming it's up to date) but may give you an idea. Also, you may find a good deal on a nice condo right smack downtown.

Laurel Park Sarasota Apartments for Rent - Laurel Park,FL Rentals (http://www.myapartmentmap.com/neighborhoods/map/sarasota/laurel_park/ - broken link)

ETA: Based on your interests, I really do think you will love living near downtown. I forgot to mention that Burns Court is just to the west of Laurel Park (south of downtown) and there are more restaurants/cafes there as well as Burns Court Cinema the art movie house. And Towles Court artist colony is to the east of Laurel Park.

Good luck to you!
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Old 07-14-2009, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Florida
4,893 posts, read 14,111,770 times
Reputation: 2329
It sounds like downtown in LP would be a perfect fit for you. Rents are down and the site GC gave above is a great start. You can look through Craigslist as well & ask me...I know the downtown areas like the back of my hand. I recently moved off Palm Ave., around the corner from Burns Court over to Southside (a whooping mile south) and am around the block from Hillview & it's the "main st." over there. Lovely neighborhoods where I'm currently residing.

I was looking at a rental back in March, Cherry Lane Studio, big hug room with a seperate kitchen/claw bath tub & it was $675 & walking distance to everything. I passed it up in favor of $200 less rent (yes, I just couldn't pass it up at $475/mo including bills where I'm at...my rent on Palm in a 1/1 was $825 plus utilities). So depending on what you find & this is a great time to be looking to rent as landlords are hungry, you should have no problems. I'm currently 5 min from Siesta Key which is a blast.
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Old 07-14-2009, 12:13 PM
 
62 posts, read 194,491 times
Reputation: 15
OMG Ladies, excellent, excellent info! As a new arrival to Sarasota I am honing in on the areas I'm most interested in--mainly the Southside Village area but I also love, love, love downtown. Hubby and I spent some time down there this weekend and had a blast but I see we still have lots of areas left to explore. Thanks for all of your great advice!
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Old 07-14-2009, 01:28 PM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,683,261 times
Reputation: 25340
my daughter moved to Venice 4 yrs ago when she married--she was from DFW area--she and her husband (except for the MBA part and the no kids planned part) are pretty close to you--OP

he has been living in Venice since he moved from Atlanta several years before--they love it here and frankly like Venice much more than Sarasota because it is even more laid back
they recently bought home in Nokomis

think that you and your husband will love it here as well--but BEWARE
there is no decent picante sauce available in grocery stores but Pace--
if that fits your appetite then maybe you won't suffer too much--Publix has started to stock pick-a-pepper sauce so that I don't have to ship anymore but I have a care package of Joe T Garcia's sauce and a couple of other brands that I have to mail my daughter this week...

good Mexican food is pretty thin on the ground--the one in Venice that they go to is just not that good--but you have to make do with what you have...
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Old 07-14-2009, 01:40 PM
 
17,503 posts, read 38,979,826 times
Reputation: 24195
There is a nice little Mexican restaurant on Main Street in Sarasota called "Cinco de Mayo." I haven't been there yet, but all the reviews I have seen are really glowing and the place is really popular. I ate at the other Mexican place on Main called Two Senoritas, and while the place is beautiful the food was just so-so.
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Old 07-14-2009, 02:50 PM
 
Location: midwest
508 posts, read 1,105,318 times
Reputation: 143
Welcome to the forum! It's nice to hear from another young couple interested in Sarasota! It was in the area you described specifically when I personally had the inspiration to move down there. It is also the last place in town that my family and I have stopped at for a day of relaxation before ending each visit we've made there.

Sorry I do not have more facts to give you until I relocate as well... my word wouldn't weigh as much without experience behind it - I just wanted to throw you some encouragement. Good luck with your search!

Quote:
Originally Posted by gypsychic View Post
There is a nice little Mexican restaurant on Main Street in Sarasota called "Cinco de Mayo."
Can't wait to try it! I love Mexican food!!!Betcha jimipop knows a thing or two about TexMex!
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