Moving to North Port, any advice? (Sarasota, Venice: real estate, foreclosures, mortgage broker)

[kmtjss]

Were looking at relocating to North Port Florida this summer. My wife, due to medical reasons can't be in the cold too long. We found this area very nice. Does anyone know much about the area. We have 4 kids with 3 of them going to school.

[flanaganv]

I live in Venice and have friends in North Port and almost built about 4yrs. ago. All depends on what you are used to. Most people I know that are there aren't to crazy about it any longer, even though it is the cheapest area for housing! Until you get to the taxes. North Port is 2 to 3% higher than all the rest of Sarasota County. There isn't much infra structure in place and hasn't been for as long as I have been here. They have been trying to annex from Sarasota county since the 70's or 80's and still don't have enough revenue to do so. On top of everything else the foreclosure rates are extremely high and on the rise for the fore seeable future. The economy right now is going to pot. At least in my line of work (Construction is dead in the water). I am leaving this summer and going to South Carolina. Cheaper , cheaper , cheaper!!!!

[lisalisa4444]

Unless you have been there and you love it I say thumbs down!

[Arrgh]

This will fly against the other opinions. North Port exploded in 2003 to 2006 and continues to grow. The residential construction far outpaced commercial so you had a lopsided growth curve. The commercial sector is starting to catch up. A new Home Depot, Wal Mart are already in place on Rte 41. There are many professional suites nearing completion which will be a good draw for Doctors, lawyers and candlestick makers. The growth in population is more than capable of supporting this. A super target is being built at Price and Toledo Blade. There is also a huge 300,000SF mall being constructed at Sumter and Price. This mall will have national retailers and high end restaurants. The road widening process is already under way on Sumter Blvd. It will become a 4 lane North/South corridor. Currently the bridges on I 75 are being widened to accomodate another lane on the North and Southbound side of the interstate.

Several new Schools have been built and more are under construction. North Port is experiencing typical growing pains. The kind that are just starting in the Carolinas and Tennesse. Yes it is starting up there too, unless of course, you move up into the hills. The speculators have gone and the market took a 20 - 30% reduction in prices over the last 2 years. Many of the wannabe homebuilders, mortgage brokers et al have gone bust or moved on. Impact fees for new construction will be $20,000 by Nov 07. This will slow down new construction enough to gid rid of the backlog inventory of houses. In 2005 the City of North Port was issuing an average of 380 new construction permits per month now it is down to 35 per month.

Although up drastically as a percentage( statistical anomoly) foreclosures are having a minimal effect on the market. BTW DO NOT buy a foreclosure unless you know your way around these 100%. More often than not there are substantial leins on the property other than the first mortgage. Also alot of those houses were "spec built" using the cheapest material possible.

If you do buy in North Port make sure that you buy a house with existing City water and sewer. The well water down here stinks, literally and physically. If you do not buy with City water and sewer then start saving your money for when the city requires you to "hook up" to their system. This will cost you about $15,000 to $20,000 and the City will assess your house, (can you say lein) for that amount.

Currently you have a buyers market for another 6 to 12 months. My guess is closer to 6mos. A newer well built 1500SF house can be purchased for about 200 to 225K. THere are new houses out there for less but the quality of construction and materials are questionable. Older houses of the same size can be purchased for well under 200K. With credit scores of 680 or higher you can obtain a 30yr fixed rate mortgage under 6%. That is CHEAP money. HOI on a 200K house would be about 1500 and taxes (right now) would be $3000. The state legislature is planning immenent tax relief and there will be some sort of downward modification. Some plans call for the elimination of residential homeowner property taxes....I doubt that one will pass.

Plain and simple, that 80K house in 2001 which was 200K in 2005 is now 160K. It will NEVER be 80K again. Mortgage rates are low, compared to 2001 taxes are high, compared nationally thay are cheap. Cost of living here is about half that in the northeast, upper midwest. The unemployment rate for Sarasota county is under 3%. Put the emotions aside and do the math.....it is a nobrainer.

I appraise real estate in the North Port/Sarasota/Venice area and I am more than a little tired of all the negative, inaccurate and total BS postings that are being placed on this website. My data/opinion is based on actual reasearch of properties, contact with local builders, architects and City officials. If you want more accuarate info, please feel free to PM.

Good Luck.

[lisalisa4444]

Did you read the paper yesterday? North Port's forclosure rate has doubled in the last year! It may be a buyers market but not one I would want to buy in because you may not have much luck selling it for what you paid today. You and I both know prices are homes are still going wayyyyyyy down!

[Arrgh]

Originally Posted by lisalisa4444

Did you read the paper yesterday? North Port's forclosure rate has doubled in the last year! It may be a buyers market but not one I would want to buy in because you may not have much luck selling it for what you paid today. You and I both know prices are homes are still going wayyyyyyy down!

Unfortunately I do read the local rag. Fortunately I have learned that statistics don't lie but liars use statistics. If you were to read past the "shock" value of the headline, our local rag does love anything potentially negetive, you would have read this paragraph near the end of the story

"The increases are statistically large because they started from a low base, but foreclosures locally and nationally are building as subprime buyers are driven from the market." Loosely translated this column was/is a statistical anomoly.

I do not have a political agenda and the data I use is unbiased and not slanted to produce a desired result. The fee for an appraisal is the same if the prices go up or down, doesn't bother me either way. We are more than half way through this slump.

Re-read what I wrote earlier, double the homestead exemption? a roll back to 2003 tax levels? cheap mort $$ The backlog of inventory is slowly being reduced. Resedential construction down, commercial construction up, supply currently exceeds demand but will soon approach balance. You can wish in one hand and spit in the other but the MARKET will determine the value of property, not you, not me nor the loacal rags agenda. Property values went through the roof in 2003 - 2005 and have taken a huge correction in the last two years. If you average out the increase Vs the decreases you will find an annual appreciation rate of 8-12% per year over the last 6 years which is TOTALLY within normal appreciation rates for a growing state, if not on the low side. Every market has cyclical ups and downs, NYSE, NASDAQ etc. Just remember what Mark Twain wrote many years ago. " buy land, they ain't making anymore of it"

The window is 6 to 12 months and if you are thinking of buying I would get on the train now before it pulls out.

[mikey2]

I have to agree with Arrgh on this one.
I'm no expert on anything, but I did do an exhaustive amount of research (and looking around) over the past two years.
North Port is exploding with new development (and not just residential).
For myself, I'd like to try to be ahead of the curve, rather than behind it.
I mentioned North Port to someone last week(in Rhode Island of all places) and her exact quote was: "You're the 3rd person today that's told me about North Port".
I have a sense that between the high prices in Sarasota and Ft. Myers, a lot of people are taking a long look at North Port.
I think a lot of us will look back a few years from now and say we could have bought in cheap (relatively) in 2007.

[lisalisa4444]

I agree that the papers like to take something and twist it toward the negative. I still think we have yet to see the worst. My home is currently on the market in Sarasota and I will keep you all posted on how long it takes to sell. It will be 2 weeks this Thursday. Not a showing yet. It is in a desirable area with a desirable price tag. Wish me luck!

[kmtjss]

Arrgh, Thanks for the info. We have good friends in Port Charolette and they recommended North Port. My boys play Baseball and I was impressed with the school coaches e-mail to me that he is building his Program and that there are a lot of kids there. Do you recomend any nieghborhoods where there is kids? Middle class in the 200 K range?

[Floridasunshine]

Drive to Englewood for lunch, have Italian at MAMA's you will be hooked.
ALso I like Barnacle's in Placid.