Rent a home or apartment??? (Tampa, Lake Magdalene: real estate, apartment complex, foreclosure)

[jdvalle]

Hi all. My family (wife and 2 year old) is looking to rent a place in Tampa until we're ready to buy (probably in a year or so). We want something quiet, but not too rural, and are willing to pay up to 1600 or so for a good 3 bedroom apartment. But the apartment reviews around tampa are downright scary! Even for the more expensive complexes. I like the idea of having apartment amenities but we are definitely not into hearing upstairs neighbors peeing at 3am, dealing with student parties, and car thefts galore.

We hadn't considered it until now because we thought it would be much costlier, but we're looking into renting a house. We've seen some seemingly very nice options in Carrollwood and Northern New Tampa (I'm working near USF). Are there any major downsides to renting a house given our situation? I find it hard to believe that the cost of renting a 4 bedroom home in Carrollwood (for example) would be the same as a 3 bedroon apt in some crappy complex. Is there a catch here that I'm not seeing? Are these home rentals generally not as good as they look? What can 1400-1600/mo really get you in Tampa. Any suggestions/ideas would be gratly appreciated.

[Keeper]

You can list the apts you are considering and get opinions from the good folks here. While you shouldn't discount bad reviews, most folks who like living some place never write a review.

Carrollwood and New Tampa are both good areas. Carrollwood is closer to some things, CW was 'the place' to live for years. New Tampa homes are newer.

[LoganFL]

Housing prices aren't making perfect sense these days, and can be really out of whack. The reasons have to do with the real estate bubble bursting and the market is in the middle of adjusting for that. Without getting into too much detail, let's just say I've seen condos of the same size in the same building offered for rent differing by as much as 70%-80%.

If you are patient and don't mind spending some time looking, $1600/mo could get you a really nice place. Carrolwood has some very nice parts and some not so nice parts, which is why you're seeing such price variance there. However, a single family 3br/3ba ~2500 sf house could easily be had in New Tampa or there about. There really isn't anything weird about renting a house.

The downside, as opposed to renting an apartment, is that it doesn't come with a maintenance staff. You might have to mow your lawn, clean the pool, and so on. Also, you'll be dealing with a private landlord instead of a property management company, which may or may not be a bad thing. And by the way, a house might be part of a residential development that comes with its own community center and amenities the same as an apartment complex. Something to keep in mind if this sort of thing is important to you.

[jdvalle]

Great advice. Thanks.
I guess one other drawback is that I assume home rentals are minimum 1 year (as opposed to apt rentals of 7 months). I'm a little worried that it's better to buy sooner rather than later and not be locked into a longer lease.A year from now home prices could be back up and we will have missed the boat. RIght now it seems like you can get a VERY nice home in CW or NT for between 300-400K.

Some of the apt complexes we're considering are:

The gRand Reserve at Tampa Palms
Berkshires at Citrus Park
The Hamptons
Vista Grande at Tampa Palms
Arbors at Carrollwood

Anyone know if these are quiet and clean places for a family with a 2 year old?

[jdvalle]

Anyone here very familiar with Carrollwood? Can someone tell me the nicest zip codes in Carrollwood. I'm guessing 33624 and possibly 33618 are very nice areas. Is that right? A person here also said that some parts of Carrollwood are not really that nice, hence the lower home prices. Which parts are those? It seems like there are some very good deals to be had in Carrollwood between 300-400K, but maybe the neighborhoods aren't all they're cracked up to be.

[Keeper]

You have the right zip codes. Tampa_Karen lives in CW but from what I know of CW there aren't really any bad nabes in that price range.

There are some much older subdivisions that have had problems but the prices are much lower than what you are looking at.

If you know the subdivisions, maybe someone can tell you more.

[TampaKaren]

Your Carrollwood zip codes are correct. IMO, the nicer parts of Carrollwood are south of Ehrlich (aka Bearss) and north of Busch Blvd. The Lake Magdalene area is also nice and close to USF. It's located east of Dale Mabry, West of Florida, South of Bearss and North of Fletcher (Zip 33613).

[BucFan]

JDVALLE,

I'm in a similar situation - house vs apartment. I don't like the idea of having to maintain a yard -also the watering bill that goes along w/ having a house. I think you owe it to the home owners that you're renting from to keep the grass alive. So I think the h20 bill will be higher.

Don't think you're responsible for HOA as a renter. Owner should be - but may inflate the rental rate somehow to include it in the price. Not sure, but utilities are also probably higher in a single home?

[bentlebee]

Moderator cut: no ads outside classifieds, please Carrolwood is also great but more expensive due to the fact that the proeprty taxes are higher in Hillsborough County and that brings the rental amount up. Wesley Chape is very close to Hillsborough but still Pasco.

The advantage of a home is that you don't have to worry about the noise from your neighbors upstairs or downstairs or next to you!

If you rent a house, you have to maintain a yard but for not too much money you can have some one have it mowed every week in the Summer and maybe once every 2 weeks in the Winter.

[bentlebee]

By the way check out the owner of the apartments or homes you look at just as the Landlords will check your background....I have seen rentals listed, that are in foreclosure right now!