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Old 11-04-2010, 02:05 PM
 
28 posts, read 66,171 times
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Hi we are a military family looking for a great location close to MacDill AFB. We are moving from Kailua, Hawaii, a great little beach community. We are a big sailing family and would like to live somewhere close to the Bay. Can someone please help point me in the right direction for location. We are looking to buy in the price range of $400-$500,000. We have an elementary and middle school aged child. Looking for great schools in great family oriented area. NOT INTERESTED in Brandon area, does not sound like our fit. Fish hawk is too far of a commute, we would like no more than a 20-30 min commute.
Thank you!
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Old 11-04-2010, 02:35 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,463,216 times
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Must be tough leaving Hawaii - it was for me.

Harbor/Davis Islands? Hyde Park (very close the MacDill - down Bayshore Blvd). Not sure how far Westchase is to MacDill.

On post housing at MacDill looks pretty good and is safe - nice views. Nothing available for your family?
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Old 11-04-2010, 02:43 PM
 
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I am not in the military but I live in a new development near the base in Port Tampa. The developer is Ashton Woods. The neighborhood is The Landings of Port Tampa. Check out Ashton Woods website. The homes are brand new, very nice and definitely in your price range. The only issue in this area for you might be the schools. The public schools in this district are not very good.

As far as sailing, Davis Island which isn't terribly far from the base has a yacht club and I notice tons of sailboats in the bay every Thursday evening.
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Old 11-05-2010, 06:55 AM
 
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Check out south Tampa - South of Kennedy/North of Gandy if you search by map. Highly rated schools and its a penninsula so you are very close to the water. There are a few neighborhoods west of Westshore that you may be able to get on a canal in that price range - prob an older/smaller house though.
Good luck and welcome to Tampa!
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Old 11-05-2010, 04:45 PM
 
28 posts, read 66,171 times
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Thanks for the responses. I would love to live Davis island, looks like it would be about the same feel as where we live in Hawaii. What is the market their? How do we go about finding foreclosures? We keep hearing that bargains can be found. Is that just the suburbs?
If we are not sure about staying past 3 years, is it considered risky to buy in the suburbs, if we do choose that path? I mean there are way too many houses in the burbs available. It seems like if you by in the suburbs, you could easily have a home that you can't get rented or sold after your time is up. And I am talking in the more desireable areas of the suburbs.
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Old 11-05-2010, 05:33 PM
 
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I live in Brandon. My subdivision is FULL of people stationed at MacDill. You can google it for comparison if you would like. Hickory Lakes Estates South. We are in the perfect spot for easy access to the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway that when taken all the way across drops you off right outside the MacDill gate in 30mins. No probs. Also, Brandon is in the Suburbs but here you won't have to worry about being in a flood zone or evacuation zone for Hurricanes like you will on Davis Island and the MacDill area... Just so you have a comparison.
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Old 11-06-2010, 08:43 AM
 
428 posts, read 1,244,074 times
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We moved from Kauai last year (was working at PMRF for a few years.) We found St. Pete to be the ideal place for us- more laid back and some great historic neighborhoods where the trees are actually older than 5 years old..

We really had culture shock when we came back. The areas we thought we might like really rubbed us the wrong way. It is jarring the first time someone honks their horn at you for no reason, or the first time a person is rude to you in a store after you've given them nothing but aloha. And lets not talk about what it is like to sit in your first traffic jam.

We rented in the Clearwater area and found it too busy for our tastes. We made several trips to various places on the Tampa side and found them too crazy as well and really not that aesthetically pleasing.

OTOH I've known people who were stationed in Hawaii, and they couldn't WAIT to get back to sit in traffic, shot at strip malls, eat at chain restaurants, and live in a subdivision where all the houses look the same. Personally, I really enjoyed the uniqueness and non-conformity of the islands.... and I'm still having withdraws from not being able to get fresh Ahi right off the boat for a few bucks a pound!

Good luck!
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Old 11-06-2010, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,463,216 times
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sometimes when walking through downtown St Pete - I feel like I'm in the downtown Honolulu area - but less populated, less crowded, and of course, less tourists. I like the area, but wouldn't really raise children there. Nice yacht club, running areas, parks, etc.
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Old 11-06-2010, 12:35 PM
 
28 posts, read 66,171 times
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Well we definetley are not looking for TRAFFIC or rude people! We lived in Seoul, Korea for 3 yrs then moved to Oahu, lived in Mililani (suburb) and HATED the traffic and the 45min-1 hr commute for my husband each day, which by the way was a good day! Miliani was not the right fit, driving all over the island for activities is not my cup of tea, and then the lack of community feel that we felt living there. Also the demographics were off, that is another story, plus being a haulie and spending a fortune to put my girls in private school because one of the top 5 elemenatry schools in the whole state of HI, had a teacher who made my 2nd grader miserable on a daily basis and other problems that come with being haulie in HI! We decide to move to Kailua,aka HAULIE town, and I think the haulie locals are far more rude than ever, they are not very happy with the growth of the Marine Corp base that economically supports the quaint little town, harrassment, horn honking, to name a few! Definately no shakas or aloha spirit here! But we love living at the beach, sailing on weekends, watching sunsets, etc.! Back up 4 yrs and we lived in Korea, 22 million people lived in Seoul, we lived on the miliarty post, but still had issues, just a different culture altogether, one I hope to never have to go back to, talk about rude! That is another topic for another day!!

So fastforward to now, we are once again (sigh) moving, 3 yrs left to retire, and we get Tampa. I am very happy about it as I am a South GA girl and have not lived so close to home in 12 yrs!! I am ready to drive home for a weekend or have my family visit often, compared to one time a yr if we are lucky! What I want is sunshine and lots of it! Korea was a blistering cold that still makes me shiver when I think about it, yeah would like to see spring and fall, but am used to hot temps yr round as HI has been very hot and humid! I want a short commute for my husband, as he is a much happier person when he is not in traffic with a lot of "stupid idiots"! we would like to live in slower pace, as we have wound down a bit, we definetly want the best schools, as HI has been a huge challenge and we are paying ALOT of money for private school in hopes to get them an elementary education so they will get a scholarship for college, yes we had to reverse the education fund!! I am crossing my fingers that we will find the right home in the right place, but really I am so excited that I can "drive" to my HOMETOWN on any given weekend that if we do end up in the suburbs, life could still be alot worse!! just want to make sure it is the right suburb for us!
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Old 11-06-2010, 02:22 PM
 
17,538 posts, read 39,154,399 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tankerwifega View Post
Thanks for the responses. I would love to live Davis island, looks like it would be about the same feel as where we live in Hawaii. What is the market their? How do we go about finding foreclosures? We keep hearing that bargains can be found. Is that just the suburbs?
If we are not sure about staying past 3 years, is it considered risky to buy in the suburbs, if we do choose that path? I mean there are way too many houses in the burbs available. It seems like if you by in the suburbs, you could easily have a home that you can't get rented or sold after your time is up. And I am talking in the more desireable areas of the suburbs.
Davis Islands or another neighborhood in south Tampa would fill the bill for you - beautiful area surrounded by water, more expensive here but worth it. Not sure of foreclosures, this area tends to keep its value, as it is just about the most desired area of Tampa to live, as well as some of the best schools.

Good luck to you!
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