Homebuyers yearning for peace, quiet and a whole lot of land—a minimum of five acres, to be exact—often look east of I-75 at Gator Creek, Saddle Creek and Saddle Oaks, says Lee Byron of Michael Saunders & Company: “They’re especially appealing to buyers from Connecticut, Virginia and other parts of the country who are accustomed to an acre or more. The 60-foot lots [common in Sarasota] blow their minds; they can’t handle that at all.” All three communities are zoned for horses (which makes Saddle Creek especially appealing because of its many riding trails), but Byron says fewer than half the residents are into the equestrian lifestyle. New buyers often “turn the barn into a guesthouse,” she says. The current “live and play downtown” mindset and the rising price of gas are keeping acreage sales slow, says Byron. “But we still have people looking, and they’re getting very, very good deals.”

BY THE NUMBERS

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280

Number of Gator Creek, Saddle Creek and Saddle Oak properties

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7

Total number of sales in 2011

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$275,000 to $800,000

Range of sale prices

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2,000 to 4,680

Range of square footage

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