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Old 11-07-2010, 06:55 PM
 
60 posts, read 163,291 times
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Is it crazy expensive to live in the Tampa area? Right now we live in Colorado Springs and our house was about $200k.....our taxes are only about $1000 a year and we have no HOA fees so we basically only pay $1300 a month (mortgage/taxes/insurance/no hoa fees). I'm really worried if we will find something in the New Tampa area that will be under $1300 per month including HOA fees and taxes and insurance. Can anyone local give me some insight on that? I would really appreciate it very much! We want to move to Tampa this summer but I need to do my research to make sure we can afford what we are looking for. I would want a 4 bd/2 ba house (or 3 bd if it has a den we can use as a "man cave", lol), prefer at least 1700 sq ft and a decent yard....would LOVE to have a small inground pool as well. Am I being realistic for wanting to find this all under $200k? Would have to be less if there is HOA fees involved though, I really don't think we can afford more than $1300 total a month, would rather pay closer to $1100-$1200 but not sure how possible that is. Thanks for any info anyone can offer me
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Old 11-07-2010, 06:56 PM
 
60 posts, read 163,291 times
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Maybe we should rent first even though i hate doing that, would rather buy and get settled, but if we rented we could maybe look for a foreclosure or short sale and might get more bang for our buck?
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Old 11-07-2010, 07:00 PM
 
Location: Sacramento CA
1,342 posts, read 2,067,140 times
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I would suggest Tampa 1st. St Pete I am a little more reluctant to do.
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Old 11-07-2010, 07:20 PM
 
30,432 posts, read 21,255,233 times
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I would rent as home prices will keep falling a rock.
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Old 11-07-2010, 07:27 PM
 
Location: Tampa, fl
109 posts, read 325,525 times
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I rent a 3/2 about 1300 sq ft for $1245/month... I pay all utilites including trash removal... That's for a "decent" neighborhood.... home prices ARE falling but your best bet would be a foreclosure, of which there are a TON in the Tampa area.... I hope you already have jobs lined up or you may be looking for quite a while...

I live on the far west side of Tampa and really don't know much about the New Tampa area...
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Old 11-07-2010, 08:10 PM
 
60 posts, read 163,291 times
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My husband's going to retire from the military. We probably won't move until he finds a job....i work for USAA and there is a corporate office in Tampa so I'm going to try to transfer, so with any luck we will both have jobs when we move. His retirement will at least pay our mortgage so that will help. I just hate renting......I like to paint whatever I want and it's a nice feeling knowing it's all yours. But renting will probably be better so we can try to find a short sale or foreclosure. I just am ready to make our final move, we've moved over a dozen times and i'm tired of packing and unpacking! lol Thanks for the advice!!
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Old 11-07-2010, 08:44 PM
 
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Not sure if this helps you, but on the renting aspect, we live outside of tampa over in Brandon, FL and rent an awesome 3 bed (large bedrooms), 1.75 bath house, 2k sq feet and we pay 1300 a month, but no pool.
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Old 11-07-2010, 09:13 PM
 
Location: Northern NJ
156 posts, read 486,123 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindalou76 View Post
My husband's going to retire from the military. We probably won't move until he finds a job....i work for USAA and there is a corporate office in Tampa so I'm going to try to transfer, so with any luck we will both have jobs when we move. His retirement will at least pay our mortgage so that will help. I just hate renting......I like to paint whatever I want and it's a nice feeling knowing it's all yours. But renting will probably be better so we can try to find a short sale or foreclosure. I just am ready to make our final move, we've moved over a dozen times and i'm tired of packing and unpacking! lol Thanks for the advice!!
Well as you probably know, the USAA offices are in New Tampa. BUT...they are literally right next to I-75 so that gives you an advantage that you might be live elsewhere and have a relatively easy commute to work. New Tampa can be a little pricey in some areas but you might be able to find a rental in that price range you are looking for. There's a LOT of housing out there and as someone already mentioned there are a lot of foreclosures in the area.

Wesley Chapel is an option...a little cheaper usually and you get more house for your money. Only consideration is driving on Bruce B. Downs, the main drive. The traffic can get pretty hairy at certain times of the day.

Or there's always Temple Terrace, just 2 exits down on I-75...around 15 minute drive or less, depending on where exactly you live and what time of day it is. The section of it that's right next to I-75 is pretty nice (meaning within a couple of miles) There are some older homes mixed in with new, it's mixed. But overall a pretty quiet neighborhood and it's going to be cheaper than New Tampa for sure.
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Old 11-07-2010, 11:59 PM
 
515 posts, read 1,348,101 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindalou76 View Post
Is it crazy expensive to live in the Tampa area? Right now we live in Colorado Springs and our house was about $200k.....our taxes are only about $1000 a year and we have no HOA fees so we basically only pay $1300 a month (mortgage/taxes/insurance/no hoa fees).
$1300 a month on a $200,000 mortgage? Principle and interest alone on that kind of loan is going to be almost $1100 per month if you get a 30 year fixed rate and a 5% interest rate. Get yourself a 40 year loan and you can knock about $100 per month off of the payment but that's about it. Without any other information such as how much you're going to put down or what kind of a mortgage you want to get it's difficult to attempt to give you any idea of whether or not what you want is feasible. I'd say it's doubtful though if you're going to be taking out a $200,000 mortgage.

Insurance is going to be more here than it is in Colorado. If you get a newer house and are not in a flood plain then you may be able to get insurance for under $1000 per year. There are many communities that do not have HOA fees or the fee is minimal. You just have to look for those places. As to taxes, look at the millage rate that you have on your house in Colorado and then look at the millage rates here. My guess is that they will be at least double. Florida has no income tax (which you should also take into consideration), so the money has to come from somewhere.
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Old 11-08-2010, 06:50 AM
 
Location: Tampa
1,246 posts, read 4,655,639 times
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You mentioned New Tampa. I live in Tampa Palms (south if I-75) and we only pay $200 HOA fees a year. You can probably find a forecloser for $200 or less. You may not get a pool, but we have a nice community pool with a small gym. We have a nice size pool on our property. The first year our kids played in it almost every day. Each year they got in it less and less. Last summer, they got in maybe 5 times. Then you have the expense of the pool whether they use it or not. It raises your electric bill and the chemicals you have to buy. If anything breaks down, that is an added expense. We just put in a new pool pump. We put in the cheapest solution (sand filter) and it cost us almost $500. That should last us around 10 years (or even less). There is a house behind me that the bank was made an offer for $135k. I don't know if the bank accepted this offer. Another neighbor bought his 5 bedroom, good sized pool home for $300 (foreclosure). I think it is possible, but you have to be patient. You may have to rent for a time until you find that house. There aren't any 4 bedroom apartments that I am aware of, so you will be stuck with a 3 bedroom place until you find that house.
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