Help with relocating questions...Asian population, family oriented etc (Tampa: short sales, rental)

[Lely_catgirl]

Hi everyone We are debating relocating to FL within the next 6mos or so. I'm trying to get a feel for the areas so I know where to look for a house, jobs and such. We are coming from Nashville so heat in Tampa/St Pete is nothing, we reach 110 here during the summer. I checked the FBI crime comparisons for 2010 and Nashville ranked above both Tampa and St Pete but I was still wondering which areas to avoid. Neither my husband nor myself have a professional job. I make things from home and am on disability with some limited mobility. My husband has always worked restaurants or tire/oil change places. We have kids ages 3yrs and 18mo so we're looking for a child friendly area. My husband is also wanting to try and apply at police departments. We are looking at homes in 100k range and I have found tons in Clearwater, New Port Richey, Tampa and St Pete but have been afraid the prices are way too good to be in good areas. Are minimum wage jobs really tough to find?
I've read that things are higher in FL. We pay about 800 every 6mo for full coverage car insurance on a 2002 dodge dakota truck. Home insurance here is abt 75.00 monthly. we pay around 300 in utilities each month for a 1400sqft home but the heat can be 300 by itself in winter. Our internet, cable and phones are around 270mo. Is any of this comparable to St Pete/Tampa? Also what is gas like? Here it is 3.20g and I used to commute 1.5hrs each way to work (57mi each way.) Would commuting take that much time too if we had to commute from an outlying area to Tampa or St Pete?
Housing wise we are looking for:
3bdrms+
the less carpet the better
Some yard for kids and guest house/storage unit
move in ready....no major repairs
located within 30mins of beach or Tampa/St Pete depending on where you guys think jobs are
decent schools
Asian markets and Buddhist temples within 15-30mins
I would really like a place where I could walk some and parks aren't far
We aren't big on night life but would like family oriented things like cultural fairs, carnivals etc

I know its a lot and if anyone has questions since I rambled please let me know and thanks in advance

PS if my joint problems can clear up I'd like to return to work. How are jobs in nails and waxing in FL?

[gulfer]

I noticed that nobody has any comments. I am not sure I can either, but I will try. It is very hard for me to make a recommendation on where to live when I am not sure what your budget would be. Even if you told me you have no debt, solid credit, but your income is only 1500 a month + what your husband can make.

I personally like to look at mortgage(rent)/, taxes, insurance, interest - known as PITI - at 25% of your income. If you are looking at renting, just rent and rental insurance (very cheap and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) would be the number that would make up 25%. People will say you can use more, even banks and mortgage lenders say you can go more, but it changes how you live your life.

I personally would recommend something in Pasco County more towards San Antonio, Zephyrhills, or East New Port Richey or East Port Richey or East Hudson. Insurance is high here depending on where you live and if you require/want sinkhole. The further away from the last three cities mentioned get you away from the primary sinkhole area (but they can technically happen anywhere). Then normal insurance is not that high here.

Gas is higher in FL then TN.

Would recommend snagajob.com for service industry, retail, etc... type jobs. I also use indeed.com to view jobs for the local area.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions! GOOD LUCK!!

[Lely_catgirl]

We will have at least 100k in cash once our house sells here so I won't have to worry about a mortgage. I'm trying to avoid places that charge community fees so all I have to worry about is utilities, food gas etc plus the home ins and taxes. We paid 110 for our house here and I've seen nicer homes that are not short sales in St Pete, New Port Richey, Clearwater and Holiday for only 45k to 70k. I've just heard so many mixed reviews on St Pete and nada on Holiday and more mixed thoughts on New Port Richey that I wasn't sure if any of these areas were any good. It's been about 10yrs since I last lived in FL and that was when I was a kid. I've heard jobs are more plentiful in St Pete but wondered if a central town to Tampa and St Pete would be better just in case a job didn't work out. Here in TN the jobs constantly fluctuate and you may have hours one week and then nothing the next so I figured the more job options the better if a second job was needed.

So if paying in cash what areas are ok? I don't want to live in a high crime area nor in an area where tons of new people have flocked and well...are being trashy. I'm sure neighborhoods work the same way they do here down there...one good place will butt up against bad and you have some overflow of crime for a couple of streets then good and back to a bad couple streets etc. Just need to know those streets Really the big thing is if it's a child friendly area, decent schools and nice people around. A nice size Asian population would be nice but I can drive to Asian stores if needed. TN is very sprawled out so we are used to having to drive and fight traffic for everything, but walking distance would be cool too. I've seen a few online posted in St Pete and Tampa. I'm not hugely picky on houses and have found tons just need to narrow it down to a few good areas to check out before driving 15hrs, lol. We are hoping to find a house for fairly cheap so we have plenty left over to move with, pay off a few small debts and keep us going for a while in case jobs take longer to find or don't work out immediately. Don't know if any of that makes a difference or helps to clarify.

[DUNNDFRNT]

I would suggest you rent @ first. You have a huge advantage that you will have cash, you should not be looking at conventional sales, you should look at the courthouse auctions, also condos, townhouses that dont qualify for fha financing, that would require a 20% down you would pay less for those, if you really want a deal you can buy a remediated sink hole property that you can expect to buy for cents on the dollar, since most banks wont finance them. In essence with cash you are not a homebuyer you are an investor, and investor pays cents on the dollar. This opportunities wont be clear to you until you do the research after you move, for what is worth my advice would be to rent and look for the opportunities that having cash can bring