How is the IT Job Market in Tampa? (Wesley Chapel: mortgage, relocating)

[cunparis]

Like many others here, I'm considering relocating from Paris France to Tampa. Why Tampa? Housing and salaries are not bad, good weather, beaches, no state income tax, on the east coast, want to escape the big cities of the north (boston, NY, etc.)

I'm curious what the IT job market is? I'm an IT architect, mainly J2EE architectures but also SOA and integration. I have searched Monster.com and tried to compare with other candidate cities such as Charlotte. It seems Tampa is a bit less high tech than Phoenix (where I'm from initially) but still not bad. I do a lot of freelancing, anyone know freelance rates in Tampa? I'm going to contact some IT staffing companies to see if I can get some ideas but I thought I'd ask here as well.

[ManFromMissouri]

I'm not sure but I'd like to know as well as i'm skilled in J2ee development... From what i can tell on dice.com, it looks as though tampa definitely has the most IT jobs out of any city in Florida.

I don't know what you're used to getting hourly but I've seen up to 60/hour W2 which is pretty good in this state with no income tax. 55-60/hour is average in St. Louis, MO

[mquintana]

We are on the east coast, but on the west coast of Florida. The Gulf is different that the Atlantic. As far as I know IT jobs are in demand here. He have a lot of corporate offices to huge companies here, so I am sure you will have no issue finding an employer here in Florida!

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by ManFromMissouri

I'm not sure but I'd like to know as well as i'm skilled in J2ee development... From what i can tell on dice.com, it looks as though tampa definitely has the most IT jobs out of any city in Florida.

I don't know what you're used to getting hourly but I've seen up to 60/hour W2 which is pretty good in this state with no income tax. 55-60/hour is average in St. Louis, MO

This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. 60 per hour comes out to about $47/hour after taxes (assuming 22% for the taxes, I got that from an income tax simulator). Here in Paris I get 47 euros per hour which due to the weak dollar comes out to be $68/hour. However, a $350k house in Tampa would be about $1.5 million at the least here in the Paris area. So it looks like our cost of living is going to be much better in Tampa.

[mquintana]

This is a buyers market right now. Everyone is trying to sell and houses are going for lowert han what they are worth. Property taxes and home owners insurance will be the only concern. But making what you make an hour, you will be just fine!

[WC_dad]

This is a buyer's market where homes are still going for considerably more than what they're worth, but it's certainly a better time to buy than 3 years ago.

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by WC_dad

This is a buyer's market where homes are still going for considerably more than what they're worth, but it's certainly a better time to buy than 3 years ago.

You hit the nail on the head. This it what I was going to say/ask. The question is, will the home prices continue going down? The earliest we can move would be July. But even then, we have the equivalent of an extra $4k every month that we stay here (we have a small 2 bedroom apartment with low rent so our costs are low and with the weak dollar my salary is high). So I'm thinking if home prices stay the same or go down (basically as long as they don't go up), we can stay here saving $4k/month.

I know no one knows, but I'm always interested in what others think.

[Keeper]

I can tell you my son works as a IT contractor doing network admin and programming. He makes between 40-50 an hour, the last I heard. He has been doing computer work for 20 years off and on, but does not have a college degree, which many companies prefer.

[cunparis]

Originally Posted by Keeper

I can tell you my son works as a IT contractor doing network admin and programming. He makes between 40-50 an hour, the last I heard. He has been doing computer work for 20 years off and on, but does
not have a college degree, which many companies prefer.

Does he have a perm job or is he contracting? I'm particularly interested in contracting rates. I did contracting work in Phoenix and am currently doing it here in Paris and would like to continue contracting in Tampa.

I'm an enterprise architect specialized in J2EE architectures.

[WC_dad]

Rent to housing price ratio is at an all time low. When we moved to the area in 2006 we sold all 3 of our properties in our previous hometown and rented a nice 4-br home in a quiet new subdivision in Wesley Chapel. We recently renewed the lease until mid-2009, when I'll begin looking for a home to buy. Can't beat paying $1250 per month for a house that my neighbors are paying $2000 mortgage + tax + CDD + insurance on.

It won't be a dreamworld for renters forever. I fully expect housing prices to come down a bit more (although not drastically from these levels). Rent prices however will skyrocket in the next 5 years nationwide as fewer people can afford/qualify for a home purchase. That's just my opinion, but the rental market has to catch up at some point.