Riverview or not to Riverview, that is the question... (Tampa: insurance, condo)

[rperreta]

Hello everyone,

I've been looking around Tampa - LOL, Spring Hill, Wesley Chapel and now Riverview. Anyone have any feedback on Riverview? Travel time to tampa, insurance costs, taxes, sinkholes etc... please contribute by all means...

thanks...
-rich

[Kwanger]

Hi, I live there - please see my other post as related to Fish Hawk Ranch.

The best way to say it is that Riverview is a suburb of Brandon, which is a suburb of Tampa. Lots of new development going on, lots of choice, lots of incentives to buy in the current market climate. I see several new builders offering new cars with reasonably priced homes ($230k).

Riverview itself is largely a bedroom community. Stores and restaraunts are going up to match the demand from the residents, who all drive to Brandon for the most part, which can be very busy. I personally prefer living in Riverview to Brandon as it feels slightly less chaotic.

Commute times to downtown Tampa are not too bad (unless you live in Fish Hawk); the opening of the elevated fast track direct to downtown part of the crosstown expressway has made a huge difference, both in the morning and evening.

If you stay to the East of the I-75, choice of insurers will be greater and costs will be lower, but the fact of the matter is that insurance in Florida anywhere these days is not cheap. Hillsborough County property taxes are also quite nasty. Sinkholes are not really prevalent to my knowledge.

In my opinion Riverview is a much better location than Spring Hill and Wesley Chapel, the commute from both of those is fearsome. I work in North Tampa a lot and go against that traffic, and I am glad I'm not in it. The Alafia River which runs through the town is very pretty and a great boating waterway that runs out to Tampa Bay.

[Tampaman]

I live in riverview too. and own a condo in riverview for investment purposes. Its a very up and coming area with a great mall and not yet too congested. Ideally i want to get a place on the alafia river which is the " river- view " hahaha.. it flows into the bay and you can see dolphins everyday..


Daniel holliday
www.gratehomeloans.com

[MTAS]

My daughter and son in-law live in Riverview. I think the community is Rivercrest? Not totally sure about the name. Their house is around 1600 sq ft on a very small lot, and the neighbors are easily 10' away on both sides. Their property taxes last year were $4500. Nice huh?

[rperreta]

Originally Posted by MTAS

My daughter and son in-law live in Riverview. I think the community is Rivercrest? Not totally sure about the name. Their house is around 1600 sq ft on a very small lot, and the neighbors are easily 10' away on both sides. Their property taxes last year were $4500. Nice huh?

Not really what I'm looking for... I'm looking for 2 story single family 4 beds at least 2,400 sqft on a nice size lot. Pool would be a plus but not required.

taxes seem a bit high too...

[The_NY'er]

Originally Posted by rperreta

Not really what I'm looking for... I'm looking for 2 story single family 4 beds at least 2,400 sqft on a nice size lot. Pool would be a plus but not required.

taxes seem a bit high too...

Hi there,

I recently relocated to Tampa from NYC and made the mistake of not doing enough research before my move. I currently live in Brandon and work in Bradenton - not a good move. I am in the market for homes in Riverview and found that you can get precisely what you seem to be looking for in the Summerfield community. There is a golf course and there are lots of plans to enhance the community (hospital, mall etc). The market value seems to average out in the mid 200's - but I can almost guarantee that it is a sound investment to look into Riverview / Summerfield.

Besides, this is Florida - taxes are taxes. They don't have a "state" tax per se - but they ensure that you pay for things in other ways. Being centrally placed as the hurricane bait of the US isn't helping insurance costs either. Either way you look at it - it's a trade off...

One of the things I have learned though is this - when you buy...try to ensure that there is 1) a hydrant and/or 2) there is a fire station in close proximity to your choice of new home. You would be amazed at how much that affects your insurance rates!

[Floridasunshine]

Summerfield is growing, A new mall is sited for that corner I75 and big bend road, it was in Tampa tribune yesterday. which is a mile from summerfield.
They will be there own community soon.
My stepdaughter lives there, there are community fees.
check that out.

[espressobean19]

My husband is in the military and we will be transferring next month to Tampa from St. Louis Mo. We spent a week house hunting and are still confused. We started looking in the Riverview and Valrico area. The homes were beautiful and we have a teen daughter and heard the schools are great. However we we surprised at the extreme "diversity". We were specifically looking in the Somerset subdivision of Valrico and the Southfork or Panther Trace neighborhood in Riverview. That really threw us off. So our agent then took us to Fish Hawk Ranch which seemed very nice too. Does anyone have any advice for us. Our daughter likes to bike everywhere and we are concerned about safety crime etc... Where should we move. We want a safe family oriented location. Thanks!