jopottie

Hi guys

My husband and I together with his business partner and his wife (who happens to be my sister!) are planning a move to Florida towards the end of the year and are in the process of house hunting.
I've spent a lot of time in Sarasota and Naples and love both areas but as I'm sure most of you know the prices in both are sky high!
I am looking for somewhere in the middle and have been looking at Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Englewood and Rotonda to name a few areas. All these areas appear to have very expensive parts but also reasonable housing close by (which looks to be in good areas but one can never tell without checking out the neighbourhoods fully!)
I just wanted some advice really, any thoughts on areas in the South West / South East - preferably quiet area suitable to bring up kids etc. I don't mind being a little "stuck out" as long as everything is within half an hour drive etc
Any thoughts / recommendations would be great

Thanks

Joanna

ian-mstm

Since you don't say, I'll ask... do any of you have a visa to live/work in the US?

Ian

Bill_S

You were asking about E visas back in February. Did you get the visas?

scrubbedexpat099

Rent. Market is in the shitter and wil give you time to decide.

AQUAMAN

Hi Joanna

From a personal view point, our children's education was our main priority....you may wish to check the schools out first.....some areas have average schools, some have bad schools....and the house prices are not always an indication of the school's standing in the community.....many of the bored little rich kids do "drink & drugs too"!!

This link may help...
http://www.greatschools.net/

The urban growth in the counties are controlled partly by local councils & powerful businesses, some choose to let it grow out of control and thus there are areas with 100's of unsold homes, others chop down the first signs of new growth and thus you have areas of few houses, few jobs & sandy empty beaches!

jopottie

It was recommended we considered an L-1a visa rather than the E's which has turned out to be the best option for us (going through the whole process at the moment and have been advised we wont have any problems as we've got a team in the UK who'll be keeping the UK side of the business up and running).
I realise the property market in the States (and UK!) is rather poo at the moment although surely that's why it's a great time for us brits to buy? Surely prices can't drop anymore in Florida?! Would have thought it was a good investment with the market the way it is!

tetleystea

I have just moved back to the UK after living in Naples. It is a great place to live - a much nicer place to live in than vacation in.

Property is at an absolutely rock bottom price at the moment (I know as I have a house and a condo up for sale at really low prices and no serious offers received). Therefore, you can definitely pick up a real bargain at the moment. Choose a really good realtor that can sort through the thousands of properties for sale at the moment for you and you can pick up a purchase (brand new, re-sale, foreclosure or short sale property) for the same price or less as 5 years ago. (Something like 1 in every 250 homes is in foreclosure). Realtors and home sellers are absolutely desperate for business so you won't have a shortage of choice! The rental market is really struggling in Naples due to the glut of properties so there are loads available and at really cheap prices. However, you will more than likely have to commit to a 12 month lease. Again speak to a realtor.

As I am sure you are aware the economy in the Naples area is definitely not great at the moment - so be careful with your the money you invest in your business.

If you do decide on the Naples area and need any info please feel free to PM me.

Good luck with your move.

lisa67

Just something about realtors that we didn't realise when we first moved here is that you chose a realtor to work with and he makes the appointments for you regardless of the realtor who is advertising the property that you are interested in and then "your" realtor shows you around the property.

MsElui

also bear in mind - that if your banking on getting a US mortgage then this could take months in the current climate. Its taken us at least 2-3 months and we have had to jump through several hoops to get it. So to look through all the properties on offer - make your mind up and do all the back and forth negotiations they seem to do over here (its not a simple 'we offer x amount for your property' - they seem to add on all manner of costs and stuff! - all of which is negotiated about in several rounds lol) - could take a fair while - so a rental to get you out of hotel prices may be a good idea.

Our first rental was for 4 months and our second can be ended after 8 (when we expect our new build to be finished) so they can be quite flexible. we used our realtor to find us rentals. it has helped as we could try certain types of property/area/etc out before making a final choice - which was quite different to our initial thoughts on what we would buy.

jopottie

Thanks for all your advice on realtors and length of time it's taking to sort out mortgages etc.
I bought our condo in Tampa the back end of last year and remember that taking 3 - 4 months (and 3 different mortgage brokers) until that actually went through and I'm sure since then it's got even worse!
I wasn't aware you could deal with just one realtor rather than several as in the UK - that's certainly useful to know. We may consider the rental option, at least until the mortgage goes through (we should have a healthy deposit to put down which will hopefully help)
tetleystea, it's good to hear from someone who's experienced Naples life - I've PM'd you and look forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks all

scrubbedexpat099

Sounds like its the visa first.

scrubbedexpat099

Sounds like its the visa first.

Michael

Generally school ranking can indicate the protential for crime as well as the desireability of an area.

The following is the School Performance Maps for all schools in Florida.

http://schoolperformancemaps.com/fl/...11%2C1%2C2%2C3