In Tampa today and tomorrow only looking at apartment communities and areas (Clearwater: apartments, rental market)

[TangleWeb]

My wife and I are in Tampa for a couple of days at the tail end of a Disney vacation and will be looking around in preparation for a move here in mid October.

We just want to get a feel for various areas and communities, so when we start looking we have some idea of how we like certain areas.

I don't know where I'll be working yet, so that leaves us looking in a pretty general way. Again, we're just getting a feel for things as much as you can in such a short time.

I'm looking for any advice that will help us eliminate areas and maximize what time we do have to explore.

We'll be looking at 2-bedroom apartments under $1400 month and 1 bedroom apartments, no more than $900 a month.

We're staying in the Westshore area now.

I appreciate any and all advice.

[MortonR]

You'll be hard pressed to find anything in that area for the amounts you mention.

More importantly, where will you be working?

RM

[TangleWeb]

Originally Posted by MortonR

You'll be hard pressed to find anything in that area for the amounts you mention.

More importantly, where will you be working?

RM

I don't know where I'll be working yet, so by necessity, that makes the search pretty general at this point.

We're just getting a feel for various areas.

What areas do you think would be in that price range, that would be safe (low crime).

We're looking at Rocky Creek Apartments early this afternoon. They're on West Hillsborough Avenue
in 33634.

We just happen to be staying at a hotel in the Westshore area, we're not specifically looking to live in Westshore however.

[MortonR]

Your question is so broad it's difficult to address. Looking for apartments around the area based on prices gives a huge latitude when it comes to choices. Also understand that the rental market here is extremely hot, meaning what you look at now probably won't be available in a couple of months and the price could be higher.

Are you coming here without a job? If so, what discipline do you work in? That might give us some idea where you should look, as some jobs might be more concentrated in a particular area.

RM

[TangleWeb]

You're right, it is hard to be specific at this point. It's preliminary at this point.

I'm in IT, most recently customer software support. I have extensive experience in various support roles in an enterprise environment and will be looking for an opportunity in this field.

We may extend our stay by an additional day, to better explore the area.

We'll be looking for a new church home as well. We're currently attending Hope Community Church in Raleigh, NC a non denominational church and would like to find something similar here.

[Candh07]

My husband and I are relocating to the area this july, and found our apartment by searching apartments.com. There are tons of complexes on that site, with pics, specs etc. Several other apartment search engines can be really helpful, as you can search by criteria such as price range, location, even amenities (hotpads.com, rent.com, etc). We made a list of the promising ones, and just went to visit them when we came for 1 week to explore the area. Then we applied for our top choices (2) and thankfully got the one we loved! There is also this service called "apartment hunters" that helps newcomers find apartments free of charge. Not sure how good they are though. You can PM me for more info if you wish. Good luck with your search!

[TangleWeb]

Thank you for your post.

I'll PM for details, but can you tell me the area(s) your top 2 choices are located?

We spent all day yesterday looking at apartment communities and have some pretty good ideas about areas we like and some specific communities.

We saw 2 Hillsborough deputies parked, so I spoke with them and one deputy in particular was very helpful in describing areas we might want to avoid, in terms of crime. He also described areas with regards to traffic and access to other parts of Tampa for the daily commute.

I mention this because if you find a police officer who appears to not be working a call, this can be an invaluable source of information. Like any profession, some are more talkative than others, and you shouldn't interrupt if the officer is actively working a call, but if you find the right opportunity, this can be helpful.

[marc3565]

We ended up in Clearwater not far from the causeway into Tampa. We are at The District. You can google it. It fits the price range but commuting across the causeway can be problematic..
Up the road is a church we like Cypress Meadows. There is another one near the St Petes airport call Feather Sound Church that might suit as well.
We tried a lot of churches that were not a good fit..

[TangleWeb]

Funny, we just looked at the District online and may visit today. We're looking at City Park as well. The reviews are very good and room sizes are large. We have a house-sized bedroom set that we have to fit and that's been a bit of a problem.

Is the causeway always bad at rush hour, or is it when accidents occur?

Thanks for the tip on churches. We like a church with a modern music ministry. We also like the small group concept used in many larger churches.

[Eeko156]

You will not find a 1 BR for $900.00 in a desirable area. $1200.00 will you get you something pretty nice in a safe area.


Churches are everywhere, you will have no trouble finding one that fits what you are looking for.