Letter from Florida:
Sarasota, FL. It’s not trendy, but I like Florida. I’ve liked it for a long time. It’s familiar. It’s warm in February, the month Texas can be cruel. It’s fabulous all winter, especially if you are one of the sorry souls who live in places like Massachusetts or Michigan.
In Florida if I wear more than boat shoes, shorts and a T-shirt, I’m overdressed. And at age 78, well, I fit right in. In Florida there are places where the only visible hair color is white. Seriously.
I’m here to cruise with my friend Walt. I’ve done this before, acting as short order cook and docking line handler as we motor from Clearwater to Sarasota to Venice to Boca Grande and back to Sarasota.
His boat, a 42-foot Nordic Tug, is designed for long distances at a relaxed pace. Its single engine can push it to 10 miles an hour. Its bow and stern thrusters, small electric motors that can move the boat sideways, make it pretty easy to dock in spite of its size.
But an odd experience in Venice worries me
Fisherman’s Wharf Marina is a good stop if you’re traveling “the ditch” — the Intracoastal Waterway that is the Interstate Highway of Boating. It has pretty good showers and a nearby restaurant. A short walk over the bridge and you’re in old downtown Venice, with its many restaurants and shops. That includes a favorite: The Upper Crust. Amazing scones with clotted cream. Crumb cake to die for.
But the source of my new angst is closer. Harbor Lights Cooperative, a manufactured home community, is just across a canal from the marina. Indeed, many of the homes are on the water and have slips for boats. It’s also a resident-owned community, something I’ve written about before as a good way to downsize for retirement.
Hunting waterfront real estate
At the Realtor’s office I pick up a set of listings and am blown away. Small homes, none larger than two bedrooms/ two baths, are being offered in the mid-$300s — if they are not on the water.
Yes, you read that number right. More than $300,000 for a manufactured home that occupies virtually all of its lot.
Walking down one of the waterfront streets, I say hello to a man who, it turns out, has a waterfront house for sale. He offers me a quick tour. It’s very nicely remodeled and improved.
It’s the price that stops me: $499,000.
The half-million dollar manufactured home
A voice in my head shouts, “Can you say 2008?”
Yeah, I know it’s waterfront. Yeah, I know they aren’t making it anymore. (Except that in Florida, they can and do.) Yeah, I know the Great Recession is 10 years behind us.
But really? Half a million dollars for real estate that is, maybe, only six feet above high tide? Half a million dollars for real estate that is only one tidal surge away from being a crumpled morass of sheet aluminum?
This is Florida. Money comes here to tan.
It starts to look plausible a day later when we dock in posh Boca Grande. There, houses are in the millions. Ditto many of the boats. We’re tied up across from a 44-foot Hinckley Picnic boat, about $1.5 million in floating Fiberglas. Nearby, an MJM 50-footer, also well over a million dollars.
Searching for a reality check
Maybe I need to adjust my thinking. Maybe the 10,000 people turning 65 every day are driving Florida into a place where no prices have been before.
Back at Marina Jack’s in Sarasota, Annie helps us dock. She’s now the manager of the docks, but she still has her splendid manicure. I think how interconnected the world is, knowing that Marina Jack’s, along with many other marinas, is now owned by SunTex, a Dallas company, and that some of its database/software work is done by a friend on Cape Cod.
Looking for a toehold in the world of people who still work for a living, I visit the Trulia website and check what they have to say about the Sarasota residential real estate market. It’s prime season and the market has had an uptick in February. But their stats still show a year-over-year price decline.
Yes, the real estate market topped out 12 months ago. While larger homes (four bedrooms plus) have continued to rise in price, the average of all properties is down 6.6 percent.
The recovery is over. Or 10,000 people turning 65 every day isn’t enough. Let’s hope the reality check isn’t too harsh.
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “The Secret of Crystal Bay,” 2/27/2015 https://scottburns.com/the-secret-of-crystal-bay/
Scott Burns, “Two Ways to Own a Manufactured Home,” 3/6/2015 https://scottburns.com/two-ways-to-own-a-manufactured-home/
Scott Burns, “You, Too, Can Live Near Water,” 3/13/2015
https://scottburns.com/you-too-can-live-near-water/
Sources and References:
Fisherman’s Wharf Marina, FL website: http://www.fishermanswharffl.com
Harbor Lights Cooperative, Inc. website in Venice, FL https://www.veniceharborlights.com
Marina Jack website: https://www.marinajacks.com
Suntex Marinas website: https://www.suntex.com
Trulia: Sarasota Market Trends https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Sarasota-Florida/market-trends
Yachtworld listings of 42’-44’ Hinckley power yachts: https://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp?is=false&sm=3&searchtype=homepage&Ntk=boatsEN&type=%28Power%29&pricderange=Select+Price+Range&slim=quick¤cyid=100&fromPrice=0&luom=126&toLength=44&cit=true&fromLength=42&man=Hinckley&No=0&Ns=PBoat_sortByPriceDesc|1
Yachtworld listings of 42-50 MJM power yachts: https://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp
This information is distributed for education purposes, and it is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement of any particular security, product, or service.
Photo: Scott Burns/Dolphins tease the Sea Gypsy in the Intracoastal
(c) Scott Burns, 2019