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Decided to make the move south to Florida and the Sarasota area. Not knowing a whole lot about the area, am open to advice and suggestions from those who live in this area.
I have a friend that lives in Parrish, FL. and he speaks very highly of this community. I want to be on the west coast, but inland somewhat due to fear of hurricanes. It would be just me and the wife but want room for kids to visit and stay. Seems like new homes are being built all over the Sarasota areas. I would probably buy a new single family house vs. a condo.
Make sure you get Flood Insurance.
Last year was bad all over SE, Central
and SW Florida. It is a great place to live.
Florida will be a lot different for you. Roll
with it and you will be ok.
Good luck
Decided to make the move south to Florida and the Sarasota area. Not knowing a whole lot about the area, am open to advice and suggestions from those who live in this area.
I have a friend that lives in Parrish, FL. and he speaks very highly of this community. I want to be on the west coast, but inland somewhat due to fear of hurricanes. It would be just me and the wife but want room for kids to visit and stay. Seems like new homes are being built all over the Sarasota areas. I would probably buy a new single family house vs. a condo.
TIA - BC
Lakewood Ranch is the single family planned development just east of Sarasota. Lots and lots of new homes being built.
Generally speaking, going east of I-75 will yield the better flood insurance risks and rates. I am in Lakeland, halfway between Tampa and Orlando.
Check out the Venice area directly south. Very nice town and less crowded and traffic is bearable. Very nice area with great access to airports and interstate highways.
I'm from Pittsburgh, PA been in Lakeland 21 years. Car insurance in Florida is among the highest in the nation. What year Vette do you have ? Who do you have it insured with ?
Winter here (December - May) is paradise.
I'm from Pittsburgh, PA been in Lakeland 21 years. Car insurance in Florida is among the highest in the nation. What year Vette do you have ? Who do you have it insured with ?
Winter here (December - May) is paradise.
Yeah, well the winter here outside of Philly (Southampton) is what we want to get away from. Too old to be shoveling snow and I own over an acre. Plus the wife is cold in August. The Vette is a 1998 insured with Hagerty. The regular cars are with The Hartford... Thanks a lot for the advice.
We moved from TN to Palmetto FL 6 years ago and love it down here. Lately we have noticed that the new subdivisions are being built with the homes less than 10 ft apart. We bought in an older subdivision (homes built around 2002) but they were built under the revised Miami-Dade hurricane codes and have lots of room between neighbors.
Be prepared for homeowners insurance shock (very expensive mainly due to the age of the roof and certain zip codes being "too costly" to insure). Flood insurance is not required in our area (Ellenton, Palmetto, Parrish) but for certain areas that are right on the water it is required.
Don't worry about hurricanes. This area is either very protected or very lucky. In 6 years no damage. Some of our neighbors have been here for over 20 years and have not had any damage at all. For hurricane Ian we never lost power and even with Dish Network we never lost our signal.
The humidity is a killer from June-November. With temperatures averaging 90 and dew points in the mid 70's it can get uncomfortable by 8am. You either stay inside or jump in your pool. Forget the beaches..nasty, smelly people, too crowded and no places to park.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. Good luck with your search.
We moved from TN to Palmetto FL 6 years ago and love it down here. Lately we have noticed that the new subdivisions are being built with the homes less than 10 ft apart. We bought in an older subdivision (homes built around 2002) but they were built under the revised Miami-Dade hurricane codes and have lots of room between neighbors.
Be prepared for homeowners insurance shock (very expensive mainly due to the age of the roof and certain zip codes being "too costly" to insure). Flood insurance is not required in our area (Ellenton, Palmetto, Parrish) but for certain areas that are right on the water it is required.
Don't worry about hurricanes. This area is either very protected or very lucky. In 6 years no damage. Some of our neighbors have been here for over 20 years and have not had any damage at all. For hurricane Ian we never lost power and even with Dish Network we never lost our signal.
The humidity is a killer from June-November. With temperatures averaging 90 and dew points in the mid 70's it can get uncomfortable by 8am. You either stay inside or jump in your pool. Forget the beaches..nasty, smelly people, too crowded and no places to park.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. Good luck with your search.
Lots of good information. I'm in touch with a realtor in Parrish. Thank you...
I moved from northern IL to Sebring FL. It's about dead center in the middle of the state & half way between both coast and Orlando and Miami. Makes hurricanes much less of a problem, so home & auto insurance is reasonable. The best part is the Sebring international raceway is only a few miles outside of town. Always action going on there and I manage to hit the track a few times a year. If you haven't checked out Sebring please do.
Make sure you get Flood Insurance.
Last year was bad all over SE, Central
and SW Florida. It is a great place to live.
Florida will be a lot different for you. Roll
with it and you will be ok.
Good luck
Folks moving to Florida, and there are a lot of them these days. I have lived in Seminole County for over 25 years. I dont need flood insurance.
But I have it. I never thought I would need it ,really. 2022 I got flooded. Down here, if a Hurricane goes through, and you have flood damage. Your
home insurance wont pay for water damage. My buddy had water damage, from water coming up from under the building slab. He had to pay for
damage. Sewer back up, you better have flood insuracne, home insurance wont pay for water damage. 18% of Floridians have flood insurance.
A lot of my neighbors did not have flood insurance. Your talking about 150,000 to 200,000 dollars worth of damage.
You will hear a lot of talk, from the other 80% of folks, that say, they are not in a flood plane, they dont need flood insurance. They should talk to my buddy,
down the street ,who just paid out $250,000 to rebuild his home, out of his own pocket.
You have been warned.
Good luck , enjoy the sunshine
Make sure you get Flood Insurance.
Last year was bad all over SE, Central
and SW Florida. It is a great place to live.
Florida will be a lot different for you. Roll
with it and you will be ok.
Good luck
Consider a floodquote for 'Selective Ins.' out of Philly provided your agent writes for Selective. If not, explore 'Wright Insurance' through your agent. Again, if the agent writes for them. 250K is the max for FEMA. Of course you can get more flood coverage if needed through private (non-FEMA) for your Mega Mansion if you're buying the likes of Casa Lauren below, but which they already tore down after just 20 yrs. Sold @ $25Million, now $65M per fresh MLS 932871 & that's for only the vacant land, w/o any mansion. Google the address below to review the orig listing at $25M bySomers. Video shows it was nice as could be. Worth watching.
^^^ before & after That pile of rocks was once was the mansion above. Proof that "One persons mansion is another persons tear-down".
Now back to Insurance... My premium effective Sep 1, 2023 is $1,730. as follows: 250K dwelling & the detached garage is covered for 10% max of 250 but claim totals cannot exceed 250. Dwelling contents 25K; Deductible 1250 dwelling & 1K contents. I'm in AE-7 flood zone (at higher risk).
OP: also review the "Official Florida Relocate Thread" in the Southeast Forum.
Last edited by cor28vettes; Jan 30, 2024 at 10:23 PM.
Reason: Huge MLS price reduction... was $65m, now $48m 10.69 ac (but w/o any mansion)
The fastest growing county in Florida may not be Sumter County, led by The Villages, which was increasing 32.8% between 2010-2017. This one in NW FL appears to be.
Making the move
