Narrowed down Apartments-Question is, are they in a good/safe area? (Tampa: apartment complexes, rental market)

[paradiselost]

St Pete had some shady ads even in the ST Pete times. . About 10 Years ago this guy was advertising a furnished apartment in the area around 49th street and 38 Ave N area, but it was actually an old furnished camper in his back yard and the guy had an extensive criminal record. You got to watch in Pinellas and Hillsborough on Craig's list and even sometimes the newspaper tons of scammers.

[BeachnSun08]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

I hae used Craigslist for an apartment on three different occasions and I have been burned on three different occasions.

First was the guy who turned his house into "apartments." Essentially, every bedroom was it's own room with a shared living room... Up until he decided he was going to rent out the garage and live in the living room.

Second was a duplex and the woman needed someone to rent it out so she could afford her bills. Utilities included... Until that money went to supporting her drug habit. Needless to say, the utilities never stayed on. We weren't there long.

Third was just another house-turned-apartment. Had a tiny room, was told that I'd get the much bigger apartment when it became available. Came home one day to find someone moving into the bigger apartment.

Moral of the story: Stay off of CraigsList.

Wow, that is horrible!! I'm so sorry you went through that. Yikes! Yes, that's kind of what I was thinking unfortunately is to avoid Craigslist. If I do use Craigslist I do it with a grain of salt and lots of research on top of it. I also look to see what the phone number is because I've noticed totally different area codes for the location it's at, to me, is a red flag. Not to mention usually, if it's too good to be true, it most likely is. Not saying all Craigslist is fraud, but there are a good amount of them that are.


If people put half the time & effort into being good people, they too could have a better shot becoming successful instead of trying to get a quick scam. Thank you for the advice!!

[BeachnSun08]

Originally Posted by paradiselost

St Pete had some shady ads even in the ST Pete times. . About 10 Years ago this guy was advertising a furnished apartment in the area around 49th street and 38 Ave N area, but it was actually an old furnished camper in his back yard and the guy had an extensive criminal record. You got to watch in Pinellas and Hillsborough on Craig's list and even sometimes the newspaper tons of scammers.

Yes, I'd have to agree with you on that. It's unfortunate this is the time that we live in now days. Everyone trying to scam someone and have no regards on who it hurts. However, that is why I'm thinking of legitimate Apartment Complexes and Property Management if I can find one...I will say my experience years ago however I did look for a place in another state, did it all online only to find out the bedroom was nowhere near as big as in the pic. I then realized what they did was put the bed in the living room for it to appear to be bigger than it actually was. And that was a legitimate apartment complex, but that's okay because after a year I found a much much larger apartment with a fireplace so it all worked out. Thank you for your input and if you can think of any Property Managers, please feel free to share.

[rvdweller]

Craigslist does require some caution and diligence. I rented two places off craigslist; no problems with either.


It's sad that no one can be trusted anymore.

[BeachnSun08]

Originally Posted by rvdweller

Craigslist does require some caution and diligence. I rented two places off craigslist; no problems with either.


It's sad that no one can be trusted anymore.

Yes, I'm not saying that all of Craigslist is bad by any means and that there aren't good and honest people out there. However, you definitely have to use due diligence now days, especially in these kind of situations for sure. However, you area absolutely right that it is very sad nobody can be trusted anymore. I guess I'll never understand why people need to be that way.

[FarmGrrrl]

If you are open to living this far north, I met a young woman a few months ago who lives by herself in the Somerset apartment complex on Vonn Road in Largo just north of Walsingham. She said the apartments are safe and clean and they seemed pretty affordable. There's a management office I believe so you'd be dealing directly with them. It is pretty far from downtown (40 minutes) if that's where you're working but it's very close to beaches.

[BeachnSun08]

Originally Posted by FarmGrrrl

If you are open to living this far north, I met a young woman a few months ago who lives by herself in the Somerset apartment complex on Vonn Road in Largo just north of Walsingham. She said the apartments are safe and clean and they seemed pretty affordable. There's a management office I believe so you'd be dealing directly with them. It is pretty far from downtown (40 minutes) if that's where you're working but it's very close to beaches.

Funny you say that because I saw those apartments as well. Thought about looking into them anyway. They are nothing fancy, but they will work for me. I don't think it's too far from St. Pete Beach or Clearwater either. That's always a plus. Thank you for giving me a name to work with!! That's exactly what I'm looking for.

[kdubose]

If I had a choice out of all of the ones you listed, I would choose Costa Del Sol...I actually used to live right down the street from there...you really can't beat the location, you would be in Seminole, right near the Pinellas Trail...5 minutes from the beach, 2 minutes from the rebuilt Seminole mall, a block away from the Seminole city park where they hold their concerts in the park and other activities and right down the street from another great park with a dog park and more (Boca Ciega Millenium). You would also be within a very short commute to St Pete and about 20 minutes from Clearwater. Seminole is a very safe area with great schools.

[BeachnSun08]

Originally Posted by kdubose

If I had a choice out of all of the ones you listed, I would choose Costa Del Sol...I actually used to live right down the street from there...you really can't beat the location, you would be in Seminole, right near the Pinellas Trail...5 minutes from the beach, 2 minutes from the rebuilt Seminole mall, a block away from the Seminole city park where they hold their concerts in the park and other activities and right down the street from another great park with a dog park and more (Boca Ciega Millenium). You would also be within a very short commute to St Pete and about 20 minutes from Clearwater. Seminole is a very safe area with great schools.

Thank you so much!! That's EXACTLY the kind of information I was looking for. Although they aren't the "nicest" looking apartments, they are reasonably priced and if they are in a good location that means the most to me. I really appreciate it.

[kdubose]

Originally Posted by crasenda79

Thank you so much!! That's EXACTLY the kind of information I was looking for. Although they aren't the "nicest" looking apartments, they are reasonably priced and if they are in a good location that means the most to me. I really appreciate it.

Yeah they arent a huge, luxury complex or anything but theyre a small, well taken care of complex pretty much nestled back in a decent little neighborhood where youll be able to walk to pretty much anything you need if you dont feel like driving. If youre into any kind of outdoor exercising, it really is in an ideal location to access the Pinellas trail (which runs from South county to North county) or even just walking around the lake at the city park that is maybe 2000 feet from the complex...Id feel totally safe walking that entire area (as I have with my kids lol) at any time ...though there are some mean ass geese at the lake in the city park that might potentially attack you if you dont have any/enough bread .
Some of the ones you mentioned though are in either central St Pete, Gandy area or in Pinellas Park and as the same demographic as you, I personally wouldnt want to live in some of those areas...the ones that are near Gandy are in a decent area but its apartment complex central over there and youll definitely have to drive to anything you want to do and there is no sense of community whatsoever. The complexes have also switched names a few times, Im assuming because of new management companies...but so Id do some extra research on just using the addresses. If I make it back down to Seminole anytime soon, Ill take pics of the apartment complex for you...I know everything looks like gold online, but it might help to have a sense of what a place really looks like in person and unless youre expecting the Ritz Carlton, I think youd be pleasantly surprised and satisfied with Costa Del Sol

Having lived here my whole life and having fam in law enforcement, I can honestly say there are not many "affordable" areas I would recommend in south county aside from Seminole or SW Largo (south of Walsingham Rd, West of Seminole Blvd- which turns into pretty much Seminole). I mean of course they have some amazing areas in St Pete but Id consider them more affluent and Im assuming youre looking for something reasonable based upon the complexes you listed.