Ready to make the move, but scared..need info please! (Tampa: apartments, renting)

[skyfamily]

Hi everyone! My hubby and I along with our three daughters (2, 5, 8) are ready to make the move from NY to Florida. We recently toured the area in Sarasota..very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it was child friendly..maybe somewhere in Hillsborough/Manatee Cty would be better?

Employment - My husband is a Criminal Justice teacher and is applying to several technical schools in the area.

$400-500 range

Schools - our main priority

Also, to add a twist, I currently have a mother/daughter home and would like to have the same set up with either a guest house or apt within the home..not sure if those exist in FL or can be added on.

Change is hard for me, but NY is expensive and winters are harsh..I'm so nervous!!Thank you for your help!!

[lavender]

If you are planning on public schools, you need to pick your areas carefully.
If you are going private, Ithink you would like to consider Old NE St Pete.
It has a lot of older homes with garages at the rear, many of which have been converted to apartments. It's an eclectic kind of place, I think it's more cosmopolitan than other areas. Pinellas I'd choose over Manatee and S Hillsborough as there is more going on , better amenities and possibly better choices for jobs -but I stand to be corrected on that one.
there are a couple of high schools in pinellas with magnets for criminal justice and there are several colleges inc SPC with several campuses around the county.
Housing is pretty easy in that budget just now, north county around Palm Harbor High (IB programme) EAst Lake High and mid county Seminole High
are good places for families, good public schools for all levels and safe environments to live, Seminole is v close to beaches, many homes within a minute or two in car. Worth looking there to start with I would say.
Most places in Pinellas are within 30 mins max of Tampa Int airport and we have our own st pete/clearwater airport that connects with NY and other cities. Understand your concerns, I moved here with 5/7 yr olds, we all survived and we came from a different continent! Good luck to you. If you have questions DM me.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by skyfamily

$400-500 range

Are you talking about housing? The reason I'm asking is that I see a lot of posts where people from up north plan to spend 1/2 million on a house and I wonder why they don't just spend half and put the rest away. Housing in FL isn't as expensive as it is in New York. Then you can have a nestegg in case things don't work out the way you planned. Sorry if I seem a bit nosy, but I've seen what happens to families who have high expectations and end up losing everything.

My advice is to wait until the job situation is decided. Sarasota is quite a haul to Tampa. In this economy it's important to follow the job, not the other way around.

[jambo101]

If you are thinking job in Tampa i'd suggest living in Tampa as the rush hour traffic for the whole area can be brutal.Last week i was traveling from St Pete to north of Tampa at 5pm,got to where i needed to go by 7;30pm. from the beginning of the Howard Franklin bridge to the first toll booth on the Suncoast/Veterans Parkway (20 miles) i never once got out of first gear..
Just something you might want to consider when looking for housing or job..

[skyfamily]

Thank you for the advice! Yes to "justnancy" we were thinking of housing and you make a very valid point. While doing internet searches for homes, I can see that they are less expensive than NY. We are planning another trip in July and trying to find a target area to "tour". I am thinking of perhaps maybe even renting until we learn the area well enough to buy. It sounds like Tampa can be very congested at times, not a big fan of that...but if thats where the jobs are theres not much you can do.

[Innertuber]

Agree with justNancy - "follow the job". Get that and start looking nearby.

[nickbosy]

Florida's unemployment rate is still in the toilet so as other posters have said, make sure you have a job before you move. Tampa can be very congested, which is why as another poster mentioned, I would consider living in Tampa proper rather than outside areas or in the suburbs. I came here from California so I never thought Tampa traffic was much of a problem (still don't) but we have a lot of people that seem to have trouble adjusting. You get used to it though. Wherever you end up landing a job, do that first and then search neighborhoods around that area to cut down on commute. Then we'd definitely be able to help with safety concerns, activities for families, schools, etc. Hope to call you a resident soon! Welcome!

[NALEXAND]

Dont be scared. I think the move will be the best decision for your family's budget and for the kids! I truly believe your kids will love all the fun things to do in Florida. I live in the Tampa Bay area (Riverview) and have children in your girl's age range and they absolutely love it here. We moved here from Northern VA 5 years ago and we were scared too initially but looking back now, it was absolutely the best decision ever! Our money goes A LOT further here and we have so many FUN things to do all of the time. It really is awesome now that we are seeing our glasses half full vs. half empty.

Originally Posted by skyfamily

Hi everyone! My hubby and I along with our three daughters (2, 5, 8) are ready to make the move from NY to Florida. We recently toured the area in Sarasota..very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it was child friendly..maybe somewhere in Hillsborough/Manatee Cty would be better?

Employment - My husband is a Criminal Justice teacher and is applying to several technical schools in the area.

$400-500 range

Schools - our main priority

Also, to add a twist, I currently have a mother/daughter home and would like to have the same set up with either a guest house or apt within the home..not sure if those exist in FL or can be added on.

Change is hard for me, but NY is expensive and winters are harsh..I'm so nervous!!Thank you for your help!!

[KCGator]

Originally Posted by skyfamily

Hi everyone! My hubby and I along with our three daughters (2, 5, 8) are ready to make the move from NY to Florida. We recently toured the area in Sarasota..very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it was child friendly..maybe somewhere in Hillsborough/Manatee Cty would be better?

Employment - My husband is a Criminal Justice teacher and is applying to several technical schools in the area.

$400-500 range

Schools - our main priority

Also, to add a twist, I currently have a mother/daughter home and would like to have the same set up with either a guest house or apt within the home..not sure if those exist in FL or can be added on.

Change is hard for me, but NY is expensive and winters are harsh..I'm so nervous!!Thank you for your help!!

I've lived in S. Tampa, Old NE St Pete and work in Bradenton. I wouldn't say that Sarasota is child un-friendly, it just caters to an older population. The schools seem to be better there than in Manatee, although there are some very nice areas in Manatee. If you choose either of these you need to be cognizant of the seasonal population. Between Oct-April the population of the Sarasota-Manatee area literally doubles. Traffic is a nightmare and it takes forever to get anywhere. I would rather commute 45 minutes from St. Pete than fight that on a daily basis.

I agree with the other posters about waiting for the job first before you pick an area. Jobs are very hard to come by here these days. Its also quite a hike from one side of the bay area to the other due to there only being two interstates (which connect to each other on the north and south sides), and large body of water in the middle.

You can buy a beautiful house in the area for 400-500K, but how much house is going to be very much dependent on where you live. We recently started looking in the 200-250K range. I can get about 1600 SF 3/2 in a nice area of Pinellas for that, or I can go out to Riverview and get a totally updated 2500 SF 4/3. Location dictates price here in a very striking way.

As for schools as a main priority, you may need to clarify exactly how/why. I'm sure you understand that Florida has one of the worst school systems in the country, its been that way for at least a decade now. That having been said, there are options within the public system and you can always go for private schools as well. Private will run you probably 6-10K for elementary/middle and then between 12-20K per year per kid for high school. If your kids are smart and qualify for bright futures, you will make some of that money back by being able to send them to UF or FSU for free. I don't know about FSU, but at UF admission pretty much required a 1400 SAT and 4.0+ GPA, almost everyone there is out of state or bright futures.
Many of the public schools have magnets. I know in Pinellas, where I live, we'll be looking at fundamental schools when the time comes. They're stricter than regular public school and parental involvement is a requirement of your child's attendance. We'll be going this route because friends of ours who grew up in the system strongly recommended it. Definitely check the FCAT scores at the schools you're looking at, but by no means should you base a decision on them.

I really love living here. We've been here about 3 years and I can't imagine being anywhere else. I really wish I could have grown up here. Being able to be outside playing 8 months of the year and going to the beach on weekends would have been incredible.