Florida Options (Sarasota area)

[Andrew D Stendahl]

Greetings BP Family!

This is my first post - thanks for your patience. I tried the search option and most responses seem to be from at least a year ago. My wife and I are from Madison, WI and I work remotely. My wife is interviewing for a position in Sarasota, FL mid January. We're very outgoing, active, in our early 30's and have no kids/pets. We've only vacationed to Indian Shores one time with family and spent a few hours in St. Petersburg. Everything else in the area is unknown to us. I know the market is hot everywhere, but I'm seeing trailers for 200k, this is wild to us. We did Air BnB for 3 years out of our Madison home and are now renting it long term (currently traveling to see friends and family while we search for what's next). We're flexible on options and have a few questions if anyone has advice on these topics:

1. Is there a part of Sarasota (or near it) you'd recommend renting if she is offered the job? We'd like to rent for a bit before buying

2. I haven't seen a lot of multifamily units in this area - is there somewhere else nearby I should be looking at?

3. How are short term rentals viewed in this area? Madison (and I believe with the support of hotels) cracked down hard on STVRs and restricted it so much it wasn't worth doing anymore. 

4. We're open to flipping, buy and hold, BRRR, living in a multifamily with renters, etc - do you have an agent you'd recommend that is flexible and creative? Our budget is somewhere in the 350k ballpark (unless the right multifamily came a long, then we'd be willing to spend more).

Thanks all - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Karen A.]

@Andrew D Stendahl  There are no easy answers to your questions, but I'll try.

The market is super hot right now.  A well-priced house does not stay on the market for very long; maybe just a few days.  The same thing with rentals.  House prices and rental prices are very high, even higher than they were at the last 'peak' in 2005/2006.  Since you mentioned trailers, the prices range from $20K in not-so-good areas to $300K+ on the island.

I am more familiar with Bradenton neighborhoods than Sarasota, but there are areas in both that are great and also not so desirable.  You'd really have to narrow it down to ask opinions on a specific area.  Overall though, Bradenton is a bit less expensive than Sarasota.

Short-term rentals vary by town and/or neighborhood. AMI (Anna Maria Island) is cracking down on vacation rentals and have many restrictions. It will also depend on whether a specific neighborhood has an HOA or not. You have to follow the rules of the HOA. Again, you have to be more specific to get a good answer.

I have a wonderful agent who has done many transactions for us.  PM me if you want her information; she's the BEST.