Looking for a home in Punta Gorda-Need Help

Hello,
My husband and I live in W.Michigan right now and have just retired. We FREEZE in the winters -- just too long and cold and are thinking about purchasing a winter home. We are looking both in Estero/Bonita Springs and Punta Gorda. We visited both places last year and liked them both. Both have distinctly different pros and cons.

We believe you get much more for the money in Punta Gorda which is probably key for us. We don't care about living with water access, although we'd love a water view, since we live on a lake here in Michigan and can be out in beautiful Lake Michigan in about 8 minutes so we love summers here but feel we would truly enjoy the warmth and the golfing Punta Gorda has to offer. Is there anywhere specific in Punta Gorda we should look? We are open to either a condo or a house. Want to spend probably between $180K -$250k and would like to be in either Punta Gorda Isles or Burnt Store Isles. Would these areas be out of our price range if we don't care about actual water access, just views? Does anybody have any suggestions? I have contacted a realtor on-line but she hasn't been very responsive. Thank you for any help.
Lynn

check out Burnt Store Lakes, Marina and Village...all within your range and most with a water view in Lakes and Marina

Thank you. I did check out all three of those areas on-line and they all seem lovely. We're really looking forward to being there in person to have a look around. Hard to know what you don't know!

Would you like to live in Punta Gorda? Why or why not?

Thanks again!

Lynn wrote:

Thank you. I did check out all three of those areas on-line and they all seem lovely. We're really looking forward to being there in person to have a look around. Hard to know what you don't know!
Would you like to live in Punta Gorda? Why or why not?
Thanks again!

One of the best buys I know of right now are on the Mouth of the PEace River right at the HArbor in the development called Vivante. Prices were all over $1 million and are now in your price range. I love Punta Gorda. I moved here just over a year ago. There is much to do here, lots of community events, places to hang out and meet others, etc. Vivante is on-line. Take a look and see what you think. It would be my pick.

Lynn, we just bought a house in Punta Gorda last June. I highly recommend the website: www.zillow.com . You type in the address of house you are interested in and it will give you details plus an aerial view of the property. This really helped us because it showed us things that were not visible to us on the ground.

Happy hunting. We had so much fun.

Thank you for your suggestions. I checked out Vivante on line and e-mailed them requesting some info. Thus far, no one has responded! Mostly I'm interested in the monthly/quarterly/annual fees, HOA's, Master. The price of the home is one thing but I'm so fearful of these fees really creeping up and not having any control over them. Am I nuts on this? Maybe because we don't have them here and I don't really understand them at all! The Vivante units seem really nice so I hope to take a look in March.

Blondie, thanks for the zillow.com tip. I'm using it now thanks to you. WHat area of PG did you purchase in? I've read some somewhat negative comments about Deep Creek so am staying away from there although some of the houses look quite nice. I know it is sometimes hard to tell on-line.

Also, do you find the insurance rates high due to hurricanes, etc? Again, never had to deal with this so am totally ignorant.

Should have put this in my prior post but since I didn't, does anyone know anything about Seminole Lakes in PG? Prices and fees seem reasonable. I understand it is well managed. Downfalls?

Lynn,

We bought in Tern Bay off of Burnt Store Road (right before you get to the Burst Store Marina). Our neighbor hood is no longer selling or expanding, due to the economy. We saw lots of houses and neighborhoods that we really like the but the HOA's were too much. You aren't nuts at all. A HOA is another monthly payment. We looked in Deep Creek and decided against it because we really didn't like what we saw when we drove around. Our hurricane insurance is 2% of the replacement value of our home.

Sorry about all the typos but I am at work and in a hurry!:-)

Blondie54 wrote:

Sorry about all the typos but I am at work and in a hurry!:-)

Any idea how much is the HOA fee for this community
Thanks