today we're going to speak about the number one selling multi-generation community in
lakewood ranch is a master planned community located on the west side of florida and is in
manatee and sarasota county so this is somewhat confusing to people lakewood ranch is not a city
or town but rather a census designated place that feels like a town which means lakewood ranch is a
community that resembles a town but does not have a municipal government and it's not incorporated
in terms of where it falls within counties there's an easy way to look at it and it's really a rule
of thumb and that is if lakewood ranch is north of university parkway it will fall within manatee
county if it is south of university parkway it will fall within sarasota county there's some
exceptions to this but for the most part this is a really good way of starting to look at it
lakewood ranch is a relatively new community the first neighborhood was developed in 1995
and is called summerfield and since then the area expanded into this master planned community which
now has over 42 000 residents and over 18 000 homes and it continues to grow because of its
popularity so homebuyers appreciate the newness of the area and because lakewood ranch is a rather
new community and evolving people there tend to be very friendly and open to making new friends since
it's likely that they do not have an established network as of yet which makes lakewood ranch
a very welcoming place to move to with all the activities that lakewood ranch puts on throughout
the entire year it really does facilitate making friends more easily for example on the first
friday of the month you can enjoy music on main with a dj dancing there's plenty of dining options
there's also a farmer's market which is every sunday at waterside place you could also enjoy
seasonal polo events there are plenty of holiday celebrations throughout the year when it comes
to activities the list goes on and on lakewood ranch is also a very self-sufficient community
so it's built on approximately 50 square miles with two main downtown areas that offer plenty
of dining shopping entertainment options there's also movie theater and the lakewood ranch medical
center so all the essentials are just a short drive away within lakewood ranch lakewood ranch
is kind of like a bubble within manatee county in sarasota county but if you wanted to venture out
of lakewood ranch to say downtown sarasota the ringling museum or the world-renowned beaches
such as siesta key it's within reach right just a car ride away the university town center which
is the premier shopping destination sarasota also known as utc is adjacent to lakewood ranch
and so very close and perfect for somebody that just loves a good shopping experience
lakewood ranch has a very open feel and if you take a car right through it you'll get
a feel for it there are lots of trails and nature preserves in the area approximately
40% of lakewood ranch is designated for recreation so if you're a cyclist
a walker or hiker you could appreciate approximately 150 miles of multi-use trails
and when it's not so hot outside you'll see many cyclists and active people just taking advantage
of all this open space the area is also very well taken care of and reminds me of the neighborhoods
in the movie pleasantville and if you've seen the movie you'll probably know what i mean
because of the popularity of lakewood ranch and the massive growth in residence over
a short period of time lakewood ranch is fast evolving there's been plenty of new construction
communities that have sprung up over the last few years but most exciting to me was the opening of
the new waterfront area called waterside place which opened towards the end of 2021
waterside place sits on a 36 acre peninsula when all business tenants are established there will
include all sorts of restaurants stores cafes and its own lifestyle activities coordinators
so when we look at downtown lakewood ranch i would say that's going to be the premier
downtown area in lakewood ranch once all tenants are established within waterside place now i've
been to waterside place often but it was the holiday celebration in december that was
very special and extremely festive i know we're really far away from december but once we get
closer to it make sure that you go to waterside place and experience the festivities there
there are plenty of different communities in lakewood ranch as a matter of fact there are
over two dozen villages which vary in types right so you can choose from non-gated communities
to gated communities they're resort style living options 55 plus communities and
golfing communities to get a good feel for these villages refer to the lakewoodranch.com website
and go to the villages page it will provide you with the entire lineup
and detailed information when you click through it as a matter of fact this entire website
is a great resource for you to study if you're seriously considering living in lakewood ranch
i'm going to put a link to the website down in the description section now here's a tip for you if
your best interest and someone you can lean on for support while you're not in town and many
of you are probably not going to be in town now if you choose a realtor make sure though that
you conduct the first point of contact with the new development with your agent present right
so if it's a person or let your agent be the first point of contact and register you at the community
online because if you register your name with a new community and the realtor is not present or
listed so let's just say you walk into a community you excited you talk to the salespeople you give
them your name and you don't register your agent it is likely your realtor will not be able to
assist you in the new construction process anymore that's unfortunately how this works
lakewood ranch primary secondary schools are consistently a-rated but these ratings
are somewhat subjective depending on what you believe is a good educational approach now to
obtain initial school information you could refer to niche.com just for directional information
but i truly believe that there's nothing better than speaking directly to a school representative
and learning the teaching approach and how the school stacks up to other schools in florida
how much does real estate cost in lakewood ranch as of april the median sales price
for a single-family home was $950,000 that's a staggering 85% price increase from the same time
last year it's crazy now i prefer looking at the median price which is the middle of the data set
but if we look at the average sales price it was $989,000 in april up by about 49%
versus april of 2021. now single-family homes are very sought after in lakewood ranch
and prices have shut up especially over the last few months condos will be more affordable in
april the median sold price for condo was $445,000 which is almost 59% higher than the same time last
year the average sold price was $550,000 up by 27% from the same time last year so lakewood ranch has
gotten very expensive very fast and many of those buyers that waited for the market to crash in 2021
are now priced out of the market now some of these buyers are instead looking at places
such as parrish which is more affordable and about 20 minutes north of lakewood ranch
so if you've considered lakewood ranch but you now feel like you're priced out of the area you may
want to consider parrish and i suggest that you just look into it it might actually work for you
why would you want to live in lakewood ranch lakewood ranch is great if you have the budget
if you can afford living there and if you want to live in a place where everything is close by
in the neighborhood you will have two town centers to choose from like we talked about there's plenty
of family-friendly activities there throughout the year there's a healthcare facility close by
shopping on university parkway but also because of lakewood ranch's northern location versus
sarasota to the south if you needed to commute to st petersburg or tampa it's actually very doable
and a lot of those people who live in lakewood ranch will commute up north however a drive to
the beaches depending on traffic could be over 45 minutes so then for those of you who want to
be closer to the beaches perhaps the better option to look into is south sarasota especially palmer
ranch which is sarasota's largest master plan community palmer ranch is approximately 15 minutes
away from siesta key and is in the sarasota county school system which is highly rated this video was
intended to provide you with some guidance and information to help you explore further now if
you learned something new if you enjoyed this video do me a favor and like this video also if
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you know when i have new videos uploaded now if you're looking for a realtor in sarasota county
or manatee county i would love to be your realtor of choice call me text me anytime thank you so
much for watching today especially until the very end i always appreciate it when you do take care