Fishhawk Ranch vs Lakewood Ranch? (Tampa, Sarasota: for sale, to rent, HOA fees)

[Stefanie123]

I would love to hear your thoughts / personal experiences of the pros & cons, similarities & differences, etc of Fishhawk Ranch vs Lakewood Ranch.
We are a young family (kids ages 4 & 6) considering a relocation.
Thanks!

[LakelandFLNative]

Hi Stefanie, I wish I could offer a comparison but I only have knowledge of Fish Hawk and I know it is an awesome community. Hopefully someone chimes in that can give you a birds eye comparison of the two. Good luck on your move!

[Stefanie123]

Thanks!

[MortonR]

Don't know Lakewood Ranch, but Fishhawk is a very nice area, pretty well self contained and relatively close to whatever you might need.

It is towards the higher end housing-wise, so do be prepared for that.

Something you may not be familiar with that you will encounter here is a CDD or community development district. This is a quasi-governmental entity that is set up to manage all of the common areas of a large community such as Fishhawk.

You will have CDD fees that are paid annually for the maintenance and upkeep of the services that are provided. For example, in Fishhawk there is a community pool and recreation center. You have free use of it as a resident, which is covered under the cost of the CDD.

The CDD and HOA (homeowner's association) fees are on top of what you will pay for your mortgage, and are not excreted, I believe. Last time I checked the CDD fees in Fishhawk were around $2000/year. HOA fees vary depending on what neighborhood you live in.

You should be able to determine some of these costs on their web site, FishHawk Ranch by Newland Communities | Tampa, Florida | New Homes for Sale


RM

[Stefanie123]

Thanks for the info!

[Sunnydee]

I have toured and spent a little bit of time at Lakewood Ranch and Fishhawk Ranch and found them to be lovely, master planned communities with CDD and HOA fees that gave me pause. As others have stated, these fees can be thousands of dollars each year and they go up. I forget now what the annual cap is, but in many places it's 3% to 5% per year, which can add up if you are on a tight budget. Both of these "Ranches" are well kept, tidy, family friendly, and have wonderful amenities, thanks to the fees. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. One thing to consider is commuting time to and from work, the airport depending on how much you travel, and the beach if that's your thing. Please note that flights out of Tampa's airport are significantly cheaper than flights out of Sarasota. Many people in the Sarasota area commute to Tampa International when they want to fly. Also Tampa has a port, so if cruising is in your future that's another consideration. I'd definitely determine where you will be working and choose a community that is fairly close to your job because commuting in Florida can be challenging and annoying and the shorter the commute the better.

[Stefanie123]

I didn't know that commuting was a challenge, thanks for giving me the heads up!

[MortonR]

I can't speak for Lakewood Ranch, but commuting into downtown Tampa from Fishhawk is about 30-45 minutes depending on the time of day and traffic. Do you know where adults in the family would be working? That would allow us to give you a pretty clear idea of commute times.

Some major construction that will ease the traffic to/from the I-75 interchange in Gibsonton is just about complete which will make the commute into Tampa easier.

I can tell you from direct experience that Fishhawk has some of the best schools in the school district and the state, for that matter. Colleen Bevis Elementary has been one of the top rated/graded schools in the state since it opened about 10 years ago, and the other schools (which are in the community, I might add) are very good.

One negative that I experienced, and that was the existence of a "caste system", at least amongst the children, that is based on the area of the community that you live in. If you live in the original sections you are considered "ghetto".

Do realize that even the original sections of Fishhawk are very, very nice, so don't let that color your opinion. I just found it to be a bit strange when I was working in the schools there, as I couldn't understand what students were referring to when they talked about kids "from the ghetto."

Children can be cruel at times....

RM

[SULAW2015]

Lake St. Charles is where I live. It has a large community pool, walking paths, and community center. It also is a CDD, but is 20 minutes closer to Tampa. I drive to downtown Tampa in 22 minutes at 8am. The drive from Fishhawk is double that.

[Stefanie123]

We are very fortunate in that the commute is not a massive issue. My husband will be setting up a new office down there, so he'll work from home initially, and then will look to rent premises somewhere nearby. He has a sales partner in Sarasota, but he'll only need to be making the commute there maybe once a week, so he's ok with up to an hours drive there if necessary.

I'm happy to hear that the schools in Fishhawk get good reviews. As a teacher myself it's a big priority. And yes, children can be terribly cruel!

Thanks all for your input!
Stefanie.