Country Club of 

Sarasota  

With gorgeous weather the year round and over 50 public and private golf courses, Sarasota is a golfers dream. You might even want to live closer to your dream, in a beautifully manicured golf course community. Numerous communities with impressive homes offer challenging golf courses; golf courses weaved through beautiful woods and lakes.  

Most Golf Courses in Florida feature a unique, natural layout that embraces the topography, creating an almost seamless transition from course to countryside.

The Way Country living should be…..

The average size of a little ranch in Sarasota/Sarasota County runs between 4 – 10 acres, with some of them 10+ acres. Most of the ranches are located east of I-75, nestled among century old majestic oak hammock, lush rolling pasture, and an abundance of ponds and creeks.

The majority of the ranches are part of a “ranch club” with miles of bridle paths and a variety of wildlife, including deer and tropical birds. It does not really matter if you plan to keep horses or not, because both, the horse lover and the nature lover alike will revel in the serene country setting.

There are a number of well established ranch clubs; some are very high- end, like the Sarasota Polo Club, some are in a medium price range, and quite a few ranches are not in a ranch club setting at all. For some of the future ranch owners this can be a relief because ranches in such locations have very little monthly fees or no fees at all.

Most ranch locations in Sarasota/Sarasota County have one thing in Common: the proximity to the city, the Gulf Coast's beautiful white sandy beaches, casual and fine dining, shopping, challenging golf courses, numerous marinas, schools, and all sorts of cultural events.

The sugar- sand beaches are probably the area’s main attraction, but in the summertime us white skinned creatures need to be a little careful with the Florida sun; we have a tendency to look like a cooked Maine lobster after a while.  

So as you’re deciding to take a break from the sun, sand and surf, there is plenty to keep you amused in Sarasota, and maybe even amazed. Check out our web site for things to do in Sarasota/Sarasota County/ Manatee County and Charlotte County. You will find a lot to discover and if you are hungry after all you’re sightseeing, there are much more than 100 different restaurants in Sarasota.

Of course, there are tons of excellent chain restaurants, and they are just as good as the ones you‘re use to back home. But there are also locally owned restaurants that stand out, ones with special deserts, or where you can sit outside and watch the sunset, ones where you can meet the locals, and where you can get a taste of what it might be once you’ve moved down to Florida part or full time. 

For many years the national media have proclaimed Sarasota/Sarasota County as one of the best places in America to live and work. That just confirms what all of us (and the gentle dolphins in Sarasota Bay) already know.

With about 600,000 people living in Sarasota and Manatee Counties combined, this is a thriving place to live and vacation.  The area is located only 220 miles from Miami, 130 miles from Orlando, and 55 miles from Tampa – therefore Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice are perfectly situated for business and pleasure alike. 

The center of the theater and arts district offers a world of experience. Art festivals, opera, famous restaurants, or the ever popular Sunday morning Farmers Market – the heart of the city has something for everyone. This is the ultimate downtown living.

Walk or bicycle to Main Street with its variety of shops, restaurants, pubs, and movie theaters, the Library or the Whole Foods Retail Complex. Just walk to the County and City administration buildings or our numerous banks, or visit Marina Jack's, Island Park, and Sarasota Opera, or the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Whether you walk,  or use your bike, you are only minutes away from everything. Even the white sandy beaches of Lido and Longboat Key are only a short drive away.

If you want to go a little further and don't want to use your car - no problem at all. There are plemty of bus stops everywhere and with the public transportation system (SCAT) you can go as far as North Port/Englewood. 

When crossing the John Ringling Bridge at 6:00 a.m. in the morning in June, a time when traffic is almost nonexistent in Sarasota, the sky and water are showing the first hint of pale and blue. You will be overwhelmed by the beauty of nature and the skyline of the city. When you roll down the windows the warm, balmy air is petting your skin and you can smell the water and the mangroves, you can actually taste the salt from the Gulf of Mexico on your lips. The higher the sun climbs the more you will be surrounded by a firework of colors. You will hear sea gulls communicating with each other and from time to time you will hear the sound of the awakening city.

The incredible natural environment and quality of life have always been the economic engines of this region. And that’s not just because they pull in affluent retirees who want to relax in the sun. We do have to admit that still a significant portion of the newcomers are retirees, but it is not the majority anymore. These days a lot of retirees get stuck halfway between the north and the south. When you don’t have to work anymore but want to be close by your kids some states like the Carolinas or Kentucky seem to be a decent alternative to Florida as well.

The majority of the newcomers are younger people again, company employees and their families relocating from other places, and entrepreneurs who move here because they believe they’ll be working in paradise. Most often they’re introduced to the area when they visit family members or come for a beach vacation. They are not employees of big corporations; they work for smaller, more agile companies.

They all fall in love with our warm, sunny cities stringed like pearls along Florida’s Gulf Coast. However, it’s not all about weather, golfing and beach when you have to make a sound business decision:  Many of them find Florida’s lower taxes, affordable labor and utility costs appealing. Also,  the quality of the workforce and our international airports all make the move worthwhile. 

We are in the year 2011 AD and times are really difficult for a lot of companies. The hiring process is down to slow or "no". At this point more peaple with a steady retirement income are moving down to Sarasota. 

Coral Cove      

Living by the water represents the highest level of luxury.

Discover waterfront living at its beautiful best. It is the Gulf Coast’s Barrier Islands from Anna Maria Island to the seclusion of Gasparilla Island where Sarasota and Charlotte County meet the seashore with style, excitement and abundant natural charm. Here is where the newcomer discovers the sweet blend of sunshine, a relaxing tropical lifestyle, and the gentle turquoise waves of the Gulf of Mexico. A home on the water – a dream comes eventually true. Explore some more lifestyle options as well - Downtown Lifestyle, Golf Course Lifestyle and Country Lifestyle.  

Do you Dream of an Estate along the Secluded Beach?  Boating and fishing from you backyard dock, spending an afternoon on the Gulf of Mexico?  Relaxing on your patio while the sun sets beneath a tranquil lake?

Sarasota has a wide selection of beach front housing opportunities. From simple and affordable beach front villas on Siesta Key to magnificent Gulf to Bay estates with private and secluded beach on Casey Key, there is a wide range of options. It simply would not be fair to suggest that there is a beach front property for every budget. At least in Sarasota County are no reasonable beach front properties for sale priced well below $500,000, but compared to the “crazy years” (2004-2007) they are a lot more affordable than they used to.

If island living doesn't suit your lifestyle, mainland Sarasota has endless choices of Bay front or Canal front waterfront living, and you would not even miss the island. The beach is a little further away, but if you don not care about driving a mile or two the choices of mainland waterfront real estate in the Sarasota area are basically without limits. The choices run from quaint bungalows to luxury bay front condos to private residences along the bay and the properties are much more affordable than their counterparts with beach view or beach access.