Rent in Tampa Folks (Lutz: sales, renters, insurance)

[JimKing]

Rent if you are moving to the Tampa area. The home prices will be lower in a year and much lower in two. Don't fall for the realtor spin.

From Shannon Behnken at the Tampa Tribune::

'TAMPA - The Tampa Bay area experienced its steepest home price slump in recent memory in January, while the number of home sales continued to drop. Sales activity in the area stands in stark contrast to national data that showed sales of existing homes rose by the largest number in two years.

"The housing market in Tampa doesn't look good at all," said Per Gunnar Berglund, senior economist for Moody's Economy.com. "This is the sharpest drop in pricing since the early 1990s."'

[MIgal]

My husband is being transferred to Tampa from West Michigan this summer and we had thought about buying in Land O Lakes or Lutz, but have decided to look at renting/renting to own for the first year to 2 years....reasons being:

We don't know the Tampa area well at all and we want to end up in an area that we will like on a long term basis. We don't want to end up paying a huge price for a home and not be happy and then not be able to sell with the current market.

The rentals I have researched online are pretty reasonable and in nice neighborhoods, some of them new homes..I don't mind paying into rent for a year, especially since maintenance is much less than a homeowner, also no h.o. insurance to pay - I've got to believe that renters ins. is a lot less - it is here in MI because you only have to insure the contents.

If we don't like a rental, we can always find something else and by that time we should have a pretty good idea what neighborhoods are nice and family friendly, etc. and also as you said prices may come down in the next year or two..I am not worried about possibly having to re-move at a later date, especially since I am initially making a huge relocation from MI..

I have read some of the other threads and I think for people coming from the Northern states, it is best to take it slow, not rush into buying right away. FL has a way higher cost of living than MI, but my husband and I are looking for change and we know there will be downsides to the Tampa area, but you know what there are downsides to MI as well...there is no perfect town or city anywhere..