Another moving to the area thread! Have a little one, with a twist! (Tampa: real estate)

[vecchioni]

So, I have done my due diligence and did my research but a lot of it seems to indicate that most areas being built up such as Lakewood Ranch, Wesley Chapel, Fish Hawk, Lutz, New Tampa, etc, seem to hit a decline soon after being built up? Schools, however, if we plan to stay where we move into first would be very important. I have noticed the only place according to greatschools, that scores well across the board, is Fish Hawk. Seems to be 10/10/10's! However, it is quite a hefty commute to where my wife would have to get to being the 8000 block of MLK in St. Pete, and to the Gulf. I also want to mention that private schools are not out of the question, so being in the St. Pete, Clearwater area is not out of question. I also know that we want what everyone wants in this scenario, great schools, close to the beach, and a commute less than 30 minutes! However, that just doesn't happen! So our order would be schools and commute, then the beach. Can always travel a bit to get to the beach on the weekends. The twist to all this is that I am a real estate investor. Buy and hold mainly. So, I am not looking for new construction, even though that is what the wife wants! But I am looking for something to move into and fix over the course of a year just to get into the area and see if we even like it. But a head start on which areas seem to have what we are looking for would be great! A lot of the threads I read were from mid last year, so this is some verification into everything I read and maybe some new insights into what would be best for us based on our circumstances. The max budget I am looking to spend on a house to get into is $225k. Hopefully, sub $200k. Thanks in advance for all the help!

Tim

[MortonR]

You won't get close to a house (freestanding home) anywhere in or near Fishhawk for that kind of money. You're better off staying in Pinellas County, but your housing budget will still be a major impediment to being in a good school district.

I wouldn't consider commuting to St. Pete from Fishhawk or anywhere near there. That would be insane unless you enjoy alone time in your car...

RM

[vecchioni]

Originally Posted by MortonR

You won't get close to a house (freestanding home) anywhere in or near Fishhawk for that kind of money. You're better off staying in Pinellas County, but your housing budget will still be a major impediment to being in a good school district.

I wouldn't consider commuting to St. Pete from Fishhawk or anywhere near there. That would be insane unless you enjoy alone time in your car...

RM

Thanks for the response! Have any actual recommendations?

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by vecchioni

Thanks for the response! Have any actual recommendations?

Not for Pinellas County based on your housing budget. I don't know it well enough to comment, but there are others in the forum who do.

Understand that St. pete Proper will have lousy, awful schools. I may be wrong and hopefully someone will correct me, but I believe just about any of the areas around it that are gentrifying (where you could pick up a fixer-upper in your price range) are in school attendance zones that are less than stellar, to put it bluntly.

RM

[tanyasellstampa]

Have you looked at the Palm Harbor area? There is the Palm Harbor University High School that has high rankings on most sites. (you didn't specify age range so I started there). I can't pretend to know that much about the FL schools, I've homeschooled my daughter her whole life - but I just helped out a buyer who wanted to stay in that area for the school system, that is why I suggested it.

There are a lot of fixer uppers all over Tampa and the 3 counties, that is why we have so many investors (US and foreign) buying up properties around here. I've been working with investors for years and have noticed they have been changing their focus a bit lately due to the big demand for properties and the multiple offers. You might try some of the national auction sites .. they seem to be the best source lately.

If you need more ideas, just contact me. Hope this helps.

[vecchioni]

Originally Posted by tanyasellstampa

Have you looked at the Palm Harbor area? There is the Palm Harbor University High School that has high rankings on most sites. (you didn't specify age range so I started there). I can't pretend to know that much about the FL schools, I've homeschooled my daughter her whole life - but I just helped out a buyer who wanted to stay in that area for the school system, that is why I suggested it.

There are a lot of fixer uppers all over Tampa and the 3 counties, that is why we have so many investors (US and foreign) buying up properties around here. I've been working with investors for years and have noticed they have been changing their focus a bit lately due to the big demand for properties and the multiple offers. You might try some of the national auction sites .. they seem to be the best source lately.

If you need more ideas, just contact me. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the help. He is just about to turn 1 actually so we have awhile. But it never hurts to get a head start! Also, what are they changing their focus to exactly?