Bradenton, Sarasota, or Venice Area? (Tamiami, North Port: short sales, real estate market, apartment)

[Scots]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Can anyone tell me about Gulf Gate? It looks quite nice.

And another question...why do almost all pools have those UGLY cages over them? I assume it is to prevent constant cleaning?

I was very interested in buying in Gulf Gate and probably looked at every single house that was on the market in there, and in fact made an offer on one house, so I can probably answer some specific questions if you want to ask. It's a very nice neighborhood in a great location, but many of the houses are overpriced in my opinion, in part because a lot of people who are selling are older and are not willing to face the realities of the current market. In the end I bought a newer and nicer house in Palmer Ranch. But if you can get a good price it would be really nice there.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Can anyone tell me about Gulf Gate? It looks quite nice.

And another question...why do almost all pools have those UGLY cages over them? I assume it is to prevent constant cleaning?

Like someone pointed out, they keep the bugs and debris out but the main reason is for insurance purposes. They keep small children and animals from wandering into the pool and drowning. You will find very few homes without them. If the home is new it will have a baby gate around the pool as well as the cage to give extra protection against drowning-it's code now.

As far as the HOA's go, if you wanted to build a koi pond you'd have to check with each specific one to see what the rules stated. Or you could go the other route and avoid them all together.

I think Scots observation of the Gulf Gate area is pretty accurate. We are seeing a foreclosure occasionally in there so you might want to keep an eye out for them.

On a side note, I've been getting LOTS of orders from the banks to give opinions of price on new homes coming on the market. We have quite a few in premarketing right now. Just got two yesterday. It's interesting the varied properties we are getting as well. There in all areas, all price ranges and all styles. A home for $899K on Manasota key on the water, a home for $29K in Port Charlotte, several homes under $100K in North Port, a home in south Venice, a duplex in Englewood, a couple in Sarasota.

I think we're goning to see more of the higher end properties coming on the market with many of the "A" paper ARM borrowers.

[loves2read]

these "new homes" would be foreclosures that the banks are putting out there then?
just the trickle down of unemployment, company closing offices that are showing up and probably will continue to...

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by loves2read

these "new homes" would be foreclosures that the banks are putting out there then?
just the trickle down of unemployment, company closing offices that are showing up and probably will continue to...

Yeah, the "new homes" are recent foreclosures. It's kind of sad really when you think about it. But on the flip side it gives opportunity to new buyers. Judging by the amount of new BPO's (Brokers Price Opinions) I have been getting in the last week or so, we might be seeing another wave hitting in the next month or so.

[Ladywithafan]

Originally Posted by TamiamiTrailBlues

Thanks. It appears to be a dumb idea to rent, when most of the places I see are several thousand a month. I could throw away over 10% of my home purchase by renting for a year.

Just keep looking...

It's really dumb to get stuck with a house when you don't know the area and decide six months/year later that you hate it here & are now stuck with house payments.

[Peter the Brit]

But looked at who all got sucked in !!
Lets await the denials

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

It's really dumb to get stuck with a house when you don't know the area and decide six months/year later that you hate it here & are now stuck with house payments.

Your right, but we are planning on paying cash for our house, as I stated in my original post. We won't have a house payment, only taxes, utilities, groceries, and whatever fun stuff we decide to do. But we don't want to buy something somewhere we will regret. I am just tossing around lots of thoughts.

[SoFLGal]

Your best bet is to come down here and look at the area extensively, whatever that means to you. A long trip, maybe rent until you get a feel for which area you like best.

I think it's good to toss around ideas and get another persons "take" on what you're trying to do.

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Originally Posted by Peter the Brit

But looked at who all got sucked in !!
Lets await the denials

What do you mean?

[TamiamiTrailBlues]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

Your best bet is to come down here and look at the area extensively, whatever that means to you. A long trip, maybe rent until you get a feel for which area you like best.

I think it's good to toss around ideas and get another persons "take" on what you're trying to do.

Thanks. Hopefully we can find a place a tad cheaper than the prices I am seeing for rents. One could drop $10K for 3 months time.