Relocation Advice (Tampa, Orlando, Lakeland: property taxes, insurance, maintenance)

[Duffy2710]

I am moving my family to the orlando area, from the UK, so have no idea about the property market in the US, my wife and I have two young girls one of which is school age and have approx $2,000 to spend on rent pcm, any recommendations on areas with good schools and nice communities. Preferably between Orlando (easy access to International airport) and Tampa, where I will be based with work?

Also I am getting confused about property taxes, I assumed I would be liable to pay these but have just been told that as a long term rental I would not be responsible, is this true?

Any and all advice about the Orlando/Tampa area will be appreciated, as I said we will be new to the area/country.

Thanks again,
Dean

[TBKeys]

If you are planning on renting you don't have to worry about any type of property tax you leave that to the landlord but if you ever decide to buy then get ready for the property tax, home insurance and who knows what else would the local government gives you.
For under $2K you can find a nice home with good schools I myself planning to move in that area so my advice do a lot of research and try to look for A or B schools., good luck.

[Prichard]

Lakeland is right inbetween Tampa and Orlando. It is a little cheaper to live there than in either of those cities, and it's a nice small city.

Leases can be structured a variety of different ways. Some leases, usually longer term (over 1 year), can make you responsible for taxes and insurance, and even repairs. These are called "tripple net" lease. These leases protect the Landlord from losing his butt if taxes go way up, something he has no control over.

But, most 1 year leases factor tax and insurance into the rental amount. That's because its easy enough to adjust on a yearly basis. Almost all leases will make you responsible for electric, water, cable, sewer, and gas if applicable. Sometimes they include lawn maintenance, other times they don't. You can figure that if you don't do your own lawn, it will cost you roughly $80/month.