Trying to grasp true cost of living in Tampa area (Orlando: 2015, apartments)

[skorch101]

I have moved around the country a lot for my job but have never lived in FL. For budgetary planning purposes, I am hoping to gain feedback on the cost of living topic.

Here’s a little background on my family. My wife and I are in our Mid-30s and have a 2 year old son. We are looking to buy a single-family home with a budget up to $325k. I have a good understanding of some of the annual costs that come with home ownership. Property taxes, potential HOA fees, and potential CDD fees. What I don’t know is what will we end up paying for utilities? Let’s assume a 2,200 sq ft home and running the AC non-stop at 74 degrees during the hottest months. Can someone give me a ballpark idea of what we should budget monthly? Also interested in cost for water and gas. Outside of those basic utilities, the only thing I can think of that could be quite different from where we live currently would be homeowners insurance. We pay around $1100/year right now for insurance. What could we expect to pay in the Tampa area? Please include flood/hurricane insurance estimates if you respond.

BTW, I’m the person that posted the “Where should I put my office” thread. At this point, leaning towards the TPA Airport area over downtown Tampa or St Pete. Airport area would allow for a reasonable commute for me assuming we buy in a few of the areas we looked at while visiting a few weeks ago.

[Pragmaticus]

Here is my take:

Electricity/Gas: around $200/month average for the year is a great number. There are a lot of variable but that is my best guess based on the parameters you gave.

Water: Huge difference if you are in a house with reclaimed source for outside irrigation (lawn) like we are and using potable for outside. I would say $80 (on reclaimed or you have minimal outdoor because you are on zero lot ) and to $150/month (using potable water for outdoor irrigation) average for the year.

Insurance: Hazard (including sinkhole activity) I would say $2500 to $3500 / year. If you need flood insurance, like I do and you don't live close to coast or major flood source at much lower elevation (see the caveats), I would say $800 to $1200/year. These are standard FEMA backed for 250K damages.

Best of luck!

[Tim Tim Tim]

We keep our house which is about 2300sqft at 73 and our bill runs around 250 in the summer - its a 1980's home with single pain windows and its a little light on the insulation. We also have a well for water which bumps the power bill up a tad.

We pay around 1200 for our home insurance - we dont pay extra for sink hole coverage and the hurricane deductible is 2% I believe.

[ApolloBeachRetiree]

Originally Posted by skorch101

I have moved around the country a lot for my job but have never lived in FL. For budgetary planning purposes, I am hoping to gain feedback on the cost of living topic.

Here’s a little background on my family. My wife and I are in our Mid-30s and have a 2 year old son. We are looking to buy a single-family home with a budget up to $325k. I have a good understanding of some of the annual costs that come with home ownership. Property taxes, potential HOA fees, and potential CDD fees. What I don’t know is what will we end up paying for utilities? Let’s assume a 2,200 sq ft home and running the AC non-stop at 74 degrees during the hottest months. Can someone give me a ballpark idea of what we should budget monthly? Also interested in cost for water and gas. Outside of those basic utilities, the only thing I can think of that could be quite different from where we live currently would be homeowners insurance. We pay around $1100/year right now for insurance. What could we expect to pay in the Tampa area? Please include flood/hurricane insurance estimates if you respond.

BTW, I’m the person that posted the “Where should I put my office” thread. At this point, leaning towards the TPA Airport area over downtown Tampa or St Pete. Airport area would allow for a reasonable commute for me assuming we buy in a few of the areas we looked at while visiting a few weeks ago.

We live in a new home (single level) of 2209 sq. ft. We had a very hot May and our electric bill was only 111.00. We paid way more for utilities in the Atlanta area where we were for many years. Utilities here are a bargain in comparison. Our highest bill last year was for August and it was only $164.48. In Atlanta, we had a 2700 sq ft house and often our electric bill was $250.00 - $300.00 during the summer months.

[SusieClue]

Pay attention to the overall orientation of the house to the movement of the sun. Windows matter. Film matters. Vegetation matters too. Even type an pitch of roof matters. Good luck.

[Zambon]

For $325, you can get a really nice place in the Tampa Area.

My electric bill, for a 3 bedroom house, was $75 dollars for the month of May, and we keep the AC on 78. June-Sept our electric bill is usually about 10-15 dollars more depending on how hot it gets.

My water bill is usually about $120 because we have a vegetable garden and fruit trees that we use city water to irrigate. Your water bill might be less.

Tampa is quite possibly the most underrated city in the USA. Life here is good. Driving here is horrible (U turns, lights and intersections on 60mph highways etc) , but everyplace has its drawbacks.

[SusieClue]

Originally Posted by soursop

For $325, you can get a really nice place in the Tampa Area.

My electric bill, for a 3 bedroom house, was $75 dollars for the month of May, and we keep the AC on 78. June-Sept our electric bill is usually about 10-15 dollars more depending on how hot it gets.

My water bill is usually about $120 because we have a vegetable garden and fruit trees that we use city water to irrigate. Your water bill might be less.

Tampa is quite possibly the most underrated city in the USA. Life here is good. Driving here is horrible (U turns, lights and intersections on 60mph highways etc) , but everyplace has its drawbacks.

Having lived in WC, and around the Bay area, I wouldn't say that TPA is necessarily underrated at all, it's about rated correctly when compared to other cities in that it's rated pretty positively all around, to which I agree firmly. For the overall costs, the cost/benefit is very much positive

[paradiselost]

Life here is good? Hilarious and bad advise in my book, Everything anymore is a hassle in Tampa Bay in mid 2016 ! Lets get in reality here. It takes forever to get to the beaches, there is no parking, The employment commutes are jam logged, it clearly rains heavy all the time especially in the summer making the horrible traffic even worse. There is tepid mass transportation and the infrastructure isn't even close to keeping up with the new addition of 80,500 people who moved here since July 2014. The positive about Tampa is they got a lot for kids, good parks and good recreation programs which many areas dont have also a lot to do for adults. But its becoming every increasingly expensive and logistically harder to get to do them. The state of Florida has no income tax what is great but I would not suggest the Tampa area to take advantage of that perk.

I Lived here 15 years 5 years in Hillsborough and 10 in Pinellas. The last 2 years is where no doubt i have seen the biggest increases in prices here. Orlando area is ranked number one and Tampa 3 in the highest increase in cost of living in the entire united states!
Car insurance is no doubt Through the roof, due to extremely high accident and fraud rates. Hillsborough is the highest out of the 3 TB counties. If you are younger under 35 and buy a new car be prepared to pay very high rates.
Rent-increasing especially in the newer areas with abundant new construction such as new Tampa, West chase, Lutz Riverview, Land o Lakes. They are building way overpriced luxury apartments in these areas at a rapid pace.
Flood insurance- Through the roof especially if you live in a flood zone. Most people move down here with no knowledge of flood zone maps.
Housing Prices are on the rise but it isn't as high as northern cities yet but due to the low wages here it pretty much turns out to be the same in your pocketbook.
Food Prices are at the national average because there is a lot of distribution points in Florida, but you will get hammered at Publix if you are a newbie and dont know their pricing.
Electricity, Cable and Water are about at the national average here so is fuel for car because of a lower state utility tax..

[bellhead]

When you look at the houses look for the following.

1.) Energy Star approval. Almost all newer homes have this sticker. It will include windows, HVAC, and insulation.
2.) Age of HVAC equipment and maintenance reports a poorly maintained unit is more expensive to operate.
3.) HVAC seer rating. AC units installed from 2009 and newer are SEER-13 and above. In 2015 the SE US must be 14 or above in split systems. A house that changes from a 10 Seer to a 16 Seer will cut their bill in half.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season...ficiency_ratio

Here is a simple chart.

What SEER Ratings Mean to Atlanta Air Conditioning Systems | Mr Cool Mr Heat

4.) Insulation and roof material. Just having foam insulation and a radiant barrier for your roof and attic can cut your AC bills during the summer by 22%

https://greenbuildingsolutions.org/M...nstruction.pdf


Good luck.

[bobandsherry]

Cost for utilities and insurance will vary significantly depending on age and location. Newer home with higher energy efficiency will be much lower. As example, my electric bill runs $150/avg during summer, home built in last year. A friend who is 3 miles away in paid $350+ in summer.

Newer homes (past 10 years) are built to higher hurricane standards, insurance is therefore much less. If you buy closer to the water insurance will be higher plus you'll need flood insurance. I'm paying $700/yr for newer home, I know it would be about double if I was in older home.

Water is pretty high here. I was paying $90/qtr when I lived in Chicago area for water/sewer. I'm now paying about $150/month but also have irrigation here.

Auto insurance is much higher here. I paid $240 for 6 months in Chicago area (suburb), same car and coverage with same company (Geico) here would have been $800. I switched to Progressive and still was more than double ($500).

Too many variables to give you a true cost, and will depend on also what you are used to paying for these expenses.