Was that "old carts, or old farts"?

It's good that you are doing your homework on this subject now rather than after you buy. Some people at the end of our street bought a house that is on the corner of Odell and our street. They were in it for only a couple of months before putting it on the market to be sold - they couldn't tolerate the road noise.

As you can tell, the road noise does not bother some people and for others it is a deal breaker. I think the strategy that Russ Boston used is a good one - rent in various locations until you find the right trade-off of cost versus location. It seems that the pecking order of costs ranges from lots on championship golf courses down to executive courses to lots that back up to streets to interior lots, with a lot of options in between these broad categories.

The amazing thing to us was the huge variance that exists between some lots that are virtually identical. For example, our next door neighbor's lot has essentially the same view of a golf course as ours and is only marginally larger (perhaps 2 feet wider). Yet, their lot premium was $50K more than ours. To this day I can't figure out why this was the case. The moral of the story is that there are some unexplained bargains out there so when you get ready to buy, find an agent who is patient and willing to help you find them.

Our home in Sunset Pointe backs up to a busy street, but we love the view and feel that it is worth the sometimes noisy conditions. Also, during the day, we find it interesting to see all kinds of people pass by in their golf carts, sometimes filled with interesting looking kids and dogs. In my business (communications/public relations), the adage has always been that a picture of a building without a person in it has no life. When things calm down in the late evening, our view is spectacular, and the lanai offers a very special place in which to sip a glass of wine -- with apologies to Longfellow, it becomes a "pause in the days occupations known as" our family's hour. Oh, and after nearly five years of ownership, no break-ins that I know of in this neighborhood.

If a private lanai is a priority, one option might be to consider a neighborhood on the northside. We have a private (backyard) lanai thanks in part to mature landscaping and a deep corner lot on a quite interior street.

Not everyone would want this, to be sure. I bring that up because it disheartens me when posters seem to deride other peoples' home choices. Some people love the "buz" of the 'hood, others prefer more privacy. For some, money is no object and compromise is unnecessary. For some, cost is more of a consideration and tradeoffs make sense.

Can't we just explain our own preferences without stepping on our neighbors' toes?

Good for you Pturner. With all those homes that I seen with kissing lanai's, I was wondering when somebody was going to say something.

What are we saying here. Are you saying that using the term 'kissing lanai' is stepping on someone's toes? It's just a term to indicate that a lanai backs up to another. Some people like that and some people don't care because they don't spend much time on their lanai. Nothing wrong with it and nothing wrong with the term in my opinion. If that's not the beef then what's the issue?

This has been a good thread (and a few others lately about lanais) about the pros/cons of lanai location. I don't read anything negative in 99% of the comments.

Please elaborate.

find a courtyard villa that has golf view or wide open space and a low fence and you will have a private area, no one right in your backyard., There are some 0good buys with no other homes close to you I just got one with a pond view and no houses in sight. do your homework

drd

Help me out here Russ. On a subsequent post you said you don't see anything negative on 90 percent of the post on this subject... are you counting your own above post?

Well said, P.:beer3:

***HIJACK ALERT***

Hey Gracie...did you notice that your member status is now "SAGE" (as in wisdom, not the spice). Looks like admins have been messing with the titles again.

Sage for More than 2500 posts

Soaring Eagle (RussBoston) for 2000-2500

Platinum for 1500-2000

Gold for 1000-1500

and on and on.

We now return to our regular programming....

Views, lot premiums, house styles....something for everybody's taste and budget. To each his/her own!!!

The shoe fits!

HIJACK OVER AND OUT

Yea, we don't want to get negative, do we Russ?
__________________

pturner, you are spot on (btw I back up to a lesser traveled street and love it, although i can see how you could live on a more traveled street and still mitigate the circumstances very easliy with landscape)...gn

Those aren't negative towards anyone. Those are MY feelings. In other words NO GOOD for me and my wife. As I mentioned some people like back to back lanais. Some like street lanais. Some like water lanais. Some like golf lanais. And some like villa fenced lanais. I'm just trying to find what we like. I didn't put anyone down. If you read a negative tone into my words then that's on you. If you read the majority of my 2000 posts you'll see I'm not a negative person. If you knew me you'd know that as well.

What bothers me more is that instead of helping the question that was asked about pros/cons of a lanai on a street you hijack the thread and say we're being negative. I did rent on a street and voiced what my findings were for me. My posts were not negative and I stand by that.

FWIW I didn't see any of your comments as being negative.

I don't live in TV so it might be a more sensitive issue to those that do. Just a thought.