Boomers Relocating to Sarasota: House Selection & Maintenance Tips

Whenever you're buying a home, you need to do your own due diligence, but you may not know about these quirky features of Sarasota, especially if you're moving from a different eco-system:

1) For any house you're interested in, make sure to check its position on the Sarasota Flood Map. There are inland waterways that wind through neighborhoods in Sarasota, sometimes diagonally. One part of the street has houses that are required to carry flood insurance, and on the other part of the street they don't have to get flood insurance. All homeowners are required to carry 2 policies: Wind and Property. Flood insurance is only required if you're in a flood zone.

2) Anywhere there's fresh water--inland waterways, ponds, and lakes--there can be alligators. Especially if you have pets, you won't want them running off-leash near fresh water, and you'll need high fencing around your property to protect them. Buying a house in an upscale, gated community doesn't protect you from wildlife such as alligators, so do your homework on this one.

3) If you want to check the crime statistics for a particular neighborhood, you can search for incidents at this CrimeMapping site.

4) Drive by properties you're interested in right after a rain storm, to see if and where water collects in the yard and driveway. You won't want to wear waders to get into or out of your car every time we get a summer storm.

5) Some residential streets have a sidewalk on one side of the street only. If you want more privacy, choose a house on the side without a sidewalk, so you don't have to deal with pedestrians--and pets--walking in front of your house.

6) Drive-by in the evening and on weekends, so you can get a sense of the neighbors and neighborhood. 

7) This handy Sarasota Neighborhood Map shows you the names and locations of designated neighborhoods and parks in the City of Sarasota. It's a good way to narrow down the neighborhoods that are close to the shopping and daily activities you plan to do.

8) Make sure to require a home inspection before you buy a house. Make sure to check for termites, along with typical structural and mechanical issues.

9) If you're planning to make Sarasota your "primary residence", you're eligible for a Homestead Exemption, which can greatly reduce the taxable value of your house and limits how much your taxes can increase per year. More info at the Property Appraiser Web site.

10) Start looking for reliable local service providers that you will need for maintaining your Sarasota home.

For example: One year shortly after I bought my house here, I was away for the summer, and a surprise storm blew over a tall palm tree that took down part of my fence, pulled out an electric line, and yanked off the fascia on my roof. My house-checker had to scramble to find a tree trimmer to cut and haul away the felled tree, the power company to restore electricity so my house wouldn't get mold from lack of A/C, a handyman to fix the roof fascia so bugs, critters and water wouldn't get in, and to fix the fence. That taught me to have a list in place, so I can administrate repairs whether I'm here or out of town.

For your convenience, I've included photo-links on the right side of this blog to local Sarasota service businesses that I've found reasonable and professional to work with. (I list them as a courtesy. Not paid ads.)

Minimally, you'll need a lawn service, a house-checker, and a pest control company if you plan to be away for extended periods of time, especially during storm season (May 31 - Nov 30).

Boomers Relocating to Sarasota: A Complicated Real Estate Dance

Many Boomers dream of relocating to the Sarasota area when they retire.  

Sometimes they're ready now to leave their "up-north" lives behind and reside here full-time. Others look to buy a Sarasota home they can rent out for part of the year and occupy for a few weeks or months, until they're fully retired or done with caring for elderly parents. 

What's true for all of them is that each situation is different and will require a customized plan for making their dream come true. And it really helps to have knowledgeable professionals at hand to help them execute what can be a complicated dance of selling and buying in different states.

For instance, Jane and Jack (names changed) raised their children during many happy years living in a spacious suburban New Jersey house. Now that the kids are grown and living independently, and Jack is nearing retirement in a few years, the couple visualize splitting their year between the two states where they can enjoy the outdoor lifestyle they prefer: Florida and Colorado.

However, during the past two years, they've had to prioritize helping both of their elderly mothers transition from independent living to assisted care. During this time, they found a condo nearby that they can move into, so they can realize a profit now from selling their existing large home, and simplify their maintenance costs and chores. 

But while they were waiting for their new condo to be ready, they had to temporarily move into Jack's late parents' house. This also gave them the opportunity to prepare that house for sale.

Jack will be retiring in about a year, so he and Jane will soon begin looking for a golf community home in Sarasota County. 

In order to actually move here, though, they'll need to carefully time the sale of their New Jersey condo with the closing on their new Sarasota house. While they can choose a New Jersey broker for the sale and a Florida broker for the purchase, their relocation will be smoother if they use a real estate broker here in Sarasota who already has a referring relationship in place with a coordinating New Jersey broker. 

According to Mooshi Chapel, licensed Broker Associate with Keller-Williams Real Estate in Sarasota, "I pre-qualify the brokers I use for out-of-state transactions, so I can be sure they'll provide my clients with the same level of attention and follow-up they are accustomed to in working with my team." Chapel confirms, too, that every buyer has a different set of logistical challenges to tackle in making their new Sarasota life a reality. 

While there seem to be many houses and condos for sale here right now, Chapel says inventory is very tight, since so many variables have to coalesce to fit a home to a buyer, and so many Boomers are converging on this area, ready to purchase and move in.

Jane's and Jack's objective of a Florida/Colorado next chapter is taking a circuitous route -- including several moves within New Jersey before finally reaching Sarasota. Yet it's just a matter of keeping their eyes on the goal and finding expert help along the way to smooth the bumps. Within the next year, they're hoping the only "bumps" they encounter are the fluffy snowy kind they love on the ski slopes of the Rockies.