Affordable water front living in St Petersburg/Tampa Bay Area (Clearwater: 2013, for rent)

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by FlaNativeGrl

Before you go bashing my professional rep why don't you check out my reviews on Zillow? Also see that I sell homes ALL OVER the Tampa Bay area. I know St. Pete and Clearwater well and scoured south of Downtown St. Pete. I'm not the only one who thinks Coquina Key is run down. All because you linked some nice homes you found on Zillow does not mean there are business all around like I mentioned. I would suggest the OP use Google Street View to check it out and verify what I'm saying.

Wasting your time with him.

[Roscoe Conkling]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

Wasting your time with him.

Wasting your time with him,Jim.
Or have you given up your asinine rhyming after everyone on here made fun of you ?

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Roscoe Conkling

Wasting your time with him,Jim.
Or have you given up your asinine rhyming after everyone on here made fun of you ?

Better check out the 275 bridge thread jed. I did lots of rhymes without the grime.

[FlaNativeGrl]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

Better check out the 275 bridge thread jed. I did lots of rhymes without the grime.

I happen to like the rhyming.

[FlaNativeGrl]

Originally Posted by Roscoe Conkling

You obviously don't know Waterside at Coquina Key very well otherwise you'd know there are very few properties for sale on the development.
The OP wanted affordable waterfront living not some realtor giving them the yuppie spiel based on ignorance -
there are no tattoo parlos or pawn shops on Coquina Key.

The various business I mentioned are just outside of Coquina Key. Do you live there and that's why you're vehemently defending it? I'm not saying it's a terrible place to live but it's more for the trailblazers than someone looking for a more gentrified environment. I've been to Coquina Key several times to see various units, including one that was used as a grow house.

[FloridaSunShell]

Originally Posted by Daisy Grey

Another alternative is Dunedin, just north of Clearwater. It's an upscale small town right on the Gulf with a tight knit business community. The town offers lots in the way of activities, dining and the arts and is very walkable.

I'll be retiring to Pinellas County myself in a few months. Next week I'll be staying in Gulfport and checking our the area for rentals.

Good luck in your search!

Daisy Grey - I love Dunedin too, although I live in Palm Harbor. When my friends and family come into town, we hang out downtown for dinner and walking around. We also hit Clearwater Beach and the pier, where my ex-husband just moved into a great condo on the water with amazing views for $250K. Most of my friends prefer Dunedin after visiting! Always something fun going on in the parks or by the marina.

[Daisy Grey]

Originally Posted by Daisy Grey

Another alternative is Dunedin, just north of Clearwater. It's an upscale small town right on the Gulf with a tight knit business community. The town offers lots in the way of activities, dining and the arts and is very walkable.

I'll be retiring to Pinellas County myself in a few months. Next week I'll be staying in Gulfport and checking our the area for rentals.

Good luck in your search!

Originally Posted by FloridaSunShell

Daisy Grey - I love Dunedin too, although I live in Palm Harbor. When my friends and family come into town, we hang out downtown for dinner and walking around. We also hit Clearwater Beach and the pier, where my ex-husband just moved into a great condo on the water with amazing views for $250K. Most of my friends prefer Dunedin after visiting! Always something fun going on in the parks or by the marina.

I should take my own advice.

I just got back from staying a week at an AirBnB in Gulfport and hunting for that perfect apartment close to St Pete Beach which by now seems like a second home to me.

It was the week from hell.

I won't go into detail--maybe later in a separate post--but suffice to say that I'm seriously rethinking "Plan A." This third trip to FL began to reveal all the "bugs" in my paradise. In a nutshell: bugs, traffic (incessantly long traffic lights ), getting lost, bugs, affordable housing that looks like prison internment camps, uninspiring architecture surrounded by unlandscaped jungles, bugs, and just forget parking at the beach on the weekends (did I mention bugs??) It was as if every bad thing that could possible happen DID happen. Even the trip back to CT included a 7 hr. delay at the Charlotte airport resulting in my 4:15 flight going out at 11:15 PM instead.

I've resisted in considering Dunedin because it's a little too far from downtown St. Petersburg and a little too "manufactured" (read: "upscale") for me--and with that probably out of my price range. I'm more comfortable in the "hometown" vibe of St. Pete Beach and it's hard to let go of that. But I came to realize that there are far too many people on this planet and they all seem to live in Pinellas County Maybe I need to find a place further away from the congestion.

So without FL in the mix my options are: 1) stay in CT or 2) move back to WNY--both of which are high tax states.

I'm too burnt out to think about it now. Next week I meet with a financial planner and I'll have a better idea what my options are, and by then I will have "debriefed" enough to look at my trip with a more dispassionate eye.

This trip has really thrown me into an existential crisis. I'm not sure whether I should rethink my retirement plans or if I'm overthinking them. As a friend wisely pointed out:

"A one year lease would give you an entire year to get to know west FL and discover where you really want to be. It’s just a year. You don’t even have to unpack everything right away."

I've approached retirement in the "breach" position (so to speak) which typically how I do things (you'd think by now I'd know better) but things always seem to work themselves out--it's just getting there that's so disconcerting.

[FloridaSunShell]

Definitely unwind and give it thought. Even if it is retirement, a move later in life is still stressful. I moved my family, changed careers, started over at 45. Not easy, but I had the bigger picture to focus on. You say rent for a year, would you keep your place up there? If so, why not find a seasonal rental and do 3 months - less commitment/time invested and more time to explore than just a week. Yes, the bugs suck! Slowly getting used to them after 7 years. lol

[ilikepizza]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

Better check out the 275 bridge thread jed. I did lots of rhymes without the grime.

Keep up the rhyming, I likes 👍

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by ilikepizza

Keep up the rhyming, I likes 👍

No prob tike.