Whether they want me or not.
The wife just got a job in Sarasota so we’re moving to the sunshine state!
I’m certainly not worried about the employment prospects, but I will definately take any advice from locals.
Anybody here living in that area? What can I expect as far as pay range? (high-end finish carpenter who has in the past owned his own business)
Any contractors shine above the rest? (there seems to be about 600 of them in the sarasota HBA) Any to avoid?
I notice that most of the houses down there have cement block ext. walls, aren’t those kind of hard to nail together? Sheesh, you’d think people were worried about wind or something. LOL
Sooooooooo any of you have some words of wisdom for ol’ Mark?
.
Replies
Don't forget the Sunscreen & Drink lots of Water!
Can you say "Hurricane".....this is barely a cat1.....no thanks for anything bigger....
my neice just moved down to Sarasota with her finance ....
he just hired on to their police force.
if U get pulled over by a young kid with a pittsburgh accent ... ask if his uncle-to-be is a carpenter. Might get off with just a warning.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Mark
Your headed south again!
When are you going? I thought your wife was a teacher? Or maybe works for Iowa Basic Skills...... anyhow, I thought it was hot here, at least we don't have the Florida humidity to deal with.
Doug
Bone up on your Spanish.
>>I notice that most of the houses down there have cement block ext. walls, aren't those kind of hard to nail together?
Get a bigger hammer <G>
Well, you won't need to worry too much about "boning up on your spanish".. Sarasota is the wealthiest county in the state, I believe. A giant retirement community. Old, rich people. Old, rich, slow driving people. But English speakers.
Sarasota is a congested (but attractive) sprawl of gated communities, older, over-taxed, over-priced suburban neighborhoods, beach paradises and country clubs..with the occasional projects here and there (look for the MLK boulevards).
Homes are predominantly conc. block construction. Roofs usually tile. Interiors are drywalled and orange-peel textured. Tile floors. Aluminum porches and awnings. Lots of pools. Very few decks or woodwork. New construction is (as everywhere) big. Competition is cut-throat. As a trim carp, sell yourself well and you may earn $15+ an hour.
Summers are hot and humid. Winters are pleasant. Beaches are first class, but crowded. Venice beaches are choice (and least afflicted w/ throngs of fat tourists and wrinkled up, leathery retirees from New Jersey.) Casperson beach on the island is above all. Be sure to eat at Sharkey's on the Pier. You'll enjoy a Corona and a grouper sandwich on the deck at sunset. In the '80s I washed dishes there. Right across the street is the airport where the alleged terrorists trained to fly airplanes into towers. Across the street from the airport is a condo in which I once allegedly grew a pot plant in the closet on the lanai.
Last I was there (well, about a year ago), things were about the same. Like every wealthy metropolis on the FL gulf coast, the place is rapidly becoming an ant-hill. Property values are outrageous. Property TAXES are ridiculous. Forget about buying a house (mean price for a 2/3 is 275,000). Vacant land is all but gone. Rents are high.
Good luck. And watch out for my gramma, OK? She's out there somewhere. Driving slow in the fast lane at rush hour. Oh, and do get used to THAT.
Well now that you mention it, we've already been to Sharkeys. I think we've found our happy hour spot!
We decided that we really liked the Venice area and wound up renting a house in Nokomis. The funny thing about the housing market is that rental prices don't seem to have kept up with home purchase prices. we found that we could get a lot more house by renting than what we could get for a comensurate payment amount if we were to buy. Our plan is to rent for a year and then build or buy when we are more familiar with the area.
Soooo..... rich old people you say? I guess that means that the wife and I will be the "cute young couple " in town. LOL
Regarding that whole 911 guys getting thier flight training there. I read an article in the Venice newspaper while we were down there about the guy that was the flight trainer. That poor guy! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His life is basically ruined now. He's broke, his wife left him and nobody will hire him. I have a lot of sympathy for him. ( MY wife has relatives named Mcveigh, Believe me, it doesn't take much for complete strangers to make a flimsy connection and make your life a living hell over something you have nothing to do with.) He was quoted as saying that if he had had any inkling of what those guys were up to he would have killed them with his bare hands. Too bad he didn't
The property tax thing is kinda funny. Several people have warned us about that. Here's the funny part. The property taxes on a $275,000 house in Sarasota are exactly half what they are on our $180,000 house here in Iowa. That coupled with the no state income tax thing makes Florida pretty attractive to us.
BTW... I'm pretty sure I was behind your Gramma,
several times ;-)
" If I were a carpenter"
Glad you found Sharkey's. Also check out the Crow's Nest up the road a bit. I miss the area sometimes, just for these two places--and the beaches in between.But do yourself a favor...Don't build there. You can get 5 times the land and five times the value just afew hours North..Central FL still has beautiful pastureland in quaint towns for under $5000/acre. The water is much better, the trees are real wood, no significant hurricane danger, slower paced living, and rivers, lakes, springs galore (beaches are still only an hour away in any direction).Oh, I forgot to mention...you think the local retirees are bad...You ain't seen the snowbirds yet. Wait till October, bro. The geriatric population DOUBLES (or does it triple?) for the next 6 months. Think 5000 Walmart greeters--one per Cadillac. In the turn lane in front of you. On their way to Perkins for brunch. Every morning. On your way to work. And, believe me, they have ALL DAY to get there (and plan on taking it). Honk your horn all you want, man...they can't hear you anyway.
Ok now you're freaking me out dude! The first 2 places we ate at were Sharkeys and The Crow's nest. The crow's nest was where we discovered the florida thing about being able to take the rest of your bottle of wine home with you from the restaurant. We just looked at eachother and said "add this to the ever growing list of reasons why we're moving to Florida." The restaurant itself was nice, and we'll most certainly go back, but the "water view" turned out to be pretty much just a view of all the big ol' boats lined up.
We also ate at a little italian restaurant right on HGW 41, I don't remember the name of it, but they had an old guy playing the guitar and singing italian songs. It was great!
I've been warned about "Season" . I guess we'll just have to learn to cope with living in the middle of a big ol' nursing home for 5 months.
Apparently Venice has a "dog-friendly" beach. I guess I'll finally get a chance to watch my malamute run through the surf. I've always wondered what he would think of the ocean.
" If I were a carpenter"
housing prices can't be too bad ...
my neice and nephew to be just closed on a condo.
forget all the details ... but the price wasn't too bad at all.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Welcome to Florida.
Be careful about the property tax thing. In our neighborhood it works something like this.
Our home (for simplicity) we bought 6 years ago for 100,000, our property tax is 1,000. It can only go up like 8% a year or something on us.
If we were to sell our home now YOU will pay the new millage, which in our area is HUGE. More than double in many cases. So when you look at potential homes they show you what they are paying and it looks great to you, unitl the bill comes. I would at least ask about that.
Also, carpenter rates are all over the place. You hear a good carpenter makes on average 22-25, and then you hear about a guy making 12-15, there's even a pair of old dudes in Tally, that work by the hour only and get $75, and they are booked solid.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWPD
Edited 8/27/2005 9:22 am ET by Sailfish
Thanks for the perspective. That's an angle that I hadn't considered, and I'll definately investigate further when we are back out looking for real estate.
It's those little suprises which is why we aren't going to buy right away." If I were a carpenter"
I was in Sarasota briefly about three weeks ago. I was on my way home after a 6,5 month FEMA deployment in the sunshine state.
Can't tell you much about the general area................my FEMA time was spent further south. I can tell you that, with any transferable, trades related skill set, and a little buisness acumen you should do well.
The biggest shortage in FLA after the '04 storms, and the new ones coming this season (Dennis, now Katerina) are skilled and concientious trades people.