Thinking of going to Tampa? (Miami, Jupiter: insuring, crime, mortgage)

[alexander59]

If you plan on moving to Tampa research very carefully, my family and I are leaving. I thought nothing would get my ill mother out of her house but the rise in insurance means she can not afford to live there any more. She has lived there for 32 years. You can get the Tampa Tribune on line, it will give you information from surrounding areas also. I would not move here,nor send my kids to school here unless private school. We have a beautiful stadium but lousy roads and schools with many portable classrooms. We have no code enforcement unless you live in higher end areas. Within 2 miles of my house there is 4 used car lots on peoples property, code enforcement just drives by. Apartment rentors don't realize they are passed on the high cost of insurance and taxes from thier landord. There is no cap on taxes if you don't live in the property. I have 494 sex offenders living within five miles of me. I have been hit and run at least once a year. The weather here is hot most of the time, although the last couple of days have been unusually nice, low humidity, but still in late 80,s.I do not have a house for sale and won't for a while and I worry that it will sell.The traffic is terrible.Tampa has a great mayor and I hope her vision for the future will make Tampa a more livable city.

[sharon2329]

ev314 I agree with you.
Everything that's written here sounds like nothing compared to what we have going on where I live in North Bergen NJ. You can't get a "old house" that needs at least 100k in renovations for less than 300,000 and the property taxes alone are anywhere between 8k to 12k. I rent an ATTIC and my landlord pays 9k in property taxes on a house that has not been updated since 1980!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The salaries are not going up but everything else is!!!!

Not to mention the NYC traffic everyday. It takes me 30min to drive 9.5 miles to work every morning!!!!!!!!!!! There are street thugs everywhere! The schools in Tampa can't be worse than the school I went to!

[Shores9]

Muggy,

Monster trucks… What roads do you travel?? Every area/state has it’s issues – many far worse than here and BTW I’d rather take mine with nice warm sunshine than with 20 degree weather and snow!

PS what’s with the realtor paranoia thing.

[Rebecca in Tampa]

I love it. I live in Tampa, I am from Michigan, so this weather is awesome compared to the snow.

My kids go to private schools, so I don't have to deal with the portables and school rating, but there are quite a few A rated schools in and around Tampa that you would be happy with.

Yes there is crime, yes there is a lot of sex offenders, yes the property taxes are high, but I believe that is EVERYWHERE!!!!!

My parents are currently looking for a place here also. They have visited enough and love it also.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[pixiewytch]

Hi there, I am a Florida native and have lived in Tampa for most of my adult life. We can't wait to get out. We love a lot of things about Fl like the weather and being somewhat close to the beaches. After all it is our home, but Fl natives (and a lot of transplants) can't afford to live here anymore.

I would say it all comes down to money. Do you have a lot of financial security? A decent amount of disposable income? If so, you may enjoy living here. Most people moving away are moving because they can't afford their housing costs (insurance, taxes, utility bills). Even my parents who have lived here all of their lives are leaving. Someone else had mentioned that people in apartments have it easy because they don't have to pay taxes but I beg to differ. We have been renting for a number of years now and the increasing costs to homeowners is passed down in high rent prices to renters. Ours has doubled in the past five years.

Will it get better? Maybe. I don't have the confidence or optimism some people do but anything is possible. All I can tell you from experience is that the cost of living here has skyrocketed in the past ten years. We are in a lower middle class tax bracket and we live on one income so we have been hit particularly hard, my family is in an upper middle class tax bracket (just to give you an idea). My guess is that folks who aren't complaining are making more money and not so much affected. It is true that we have no state income tax but I still know plenty of people who can't pay their insurance or other bills. I would rather live someplace with a state income tax with affordable housing. I guess I just think this state income tax thing is really a moot point right now.

I can't compare the job market here to anywhere else but I wouldn't say it is fabulous. None of my friends can find work right now and if they do they are being severely underpaid. Hillsborough County has epidemic proportions of working homeless right now and there are huge waiting lists for shelters. I see these people on the news every day. I'm not talking about some dirty hobo walking around with a quart of beer in a paper bag either. I'm talking about a single mom managing a school cafeteria making minimum wage and living out of her car with three kids. This sort of thing is becoming very commonplace here and I find it sad. If you are a CEO or working for some large corporation though you probably won't be affected by any of this.

As for schools, again, it is all about what you can afford. My son is four so I don't have a lot of experience with the schools but common sense tells me that the better neighborhood you can afford the better the schools are going to be. Plus, we have this little thing here you may have heard about called the FCAT. Schools get money based on how students score on this standardized tests each year. Instead of teaching a well rounded curriculum, teachers have to spend the entire year preparing kids to take this test. Schools who score poorly get no money, schools who do well get money. I have several cousins your child's age who have had nightmares and panic attacks because of the pressure to take this test every year. Elections are coming up and the FCAT could be changed or eliminated but I don't see that likely since the candidate in the lead for governor now supports it. Again, if you have lots of money and can afford to send your kid to private school you can probably avoid the FCAT too.

The beaches here are beautiful and I love visiting them but I honestly only get to do it once or twice a year. Only the wealthy (or a single person living in a 400SF studio apt) can afford to live conveniently close to the beach. I believe that compared to most places it is still a luxury to only have to drive an hour to get to the beach but that is about how long it takes from most non beach communities.

So there you go. I believe your income is a deciding factor here. If you are making more than the aforementioned tax brackets, I say come on down. That is exactly what is being catered to around here. If you can afford a brand new half million dollar house, condo, or townhome, come on down. You'll love it here. Otherwise, I would research the cost of living here seriously and determine whether or not you will be able to get by. Best of luck to you.

[scamutz]

This is about the tenth post that I have read about adult, healthy people not being able to afford it living in FL. I seriously have no comprehension. (NOT directed at anyone in particular) What is keeping them from working more, getting a better job, going back to school, etc. etc.?? I am not wealthy. My parents were never wealthy. My father was a full time police officer and drove truck on his days off so that we could afford a nice home.

My wife an I have gotten no special privileges... I joined the Marines at 21, and finished up a BA degree over the course of 12 years with the GI Bill while working full time...my wife got a nursing degree.

Neither of us are in high powered jobs, we haven't won the lottery....we just work hard, watch what we spend, and are able to afford a nice home in Wesley Chapel and our kids go to "A" rated schools and do fine with the FCAT's...no panic attacks, no fears of not doing well. Granted, we work with our three children every night on their homework etc...which I can't help might be another place where people just aren't putting in the time necessary to succeed.

This post may come off as arrogant or accusatory, I apologize...that is not my intention, but I don't know how else to say it. I just can't imagine how people can sit at their computers typing to city-data about how they can't afford to live. Maybe you should be working, or training for a higher paid position instead of surfing the net? We're in our early 30's now, and struggled through our first 6 years or so of marriage, but are just beginning to enjoy the fruits of our labor a little bit, but we're still working hard.

I have younger sister that moved down about 2 years ago. She just had a baby and is a stay at home mom. They purchased a mobile home when they moved down for 85k, and are living on my BIL's income from his warehouse job...and things are definitely tight for them. But it's NOT because Florida is expensive....it's certainly a heck of a lot more affordable than NJ where they moved down from. It's because she isn't working (she needs to be home with the baby), and he lacks the drive to improve his position by training or working more than 40-50 hours a week. But the opportunities are there...he works 12 hours shifts, and could easily be going to school to be an Orderly, Nursing Assistant, LPN, whatever and take advantage of the need for medical staff at all of the Hospitals.

We were even able to purchase a small old farmhouse in N. Florida this year for brief respites from the fray. Believe me, if we can do it, any average person without extraordinary obstacles can do it as well. It's no different from any place in the country...you just have to work for it.

[pixiewytch]

Hi Scamutz, I hear what you are saying a lot...pull yourself up by the bootstraps, get an education, climb the corporate ladder a little bit more. I'm sure that works for some people but it is a real challenge for some. Education costs money and some don't qualify for student loans, grants, etc. Some don't have time and/or money to work a full time job, then go to school at night, and never see their kids.

As for my situation, I'm a stay at home mom to a special needs child. My husband works for a top engineering firm and works 50+ hrs a week. He is a hard worker and has had many promotions within his company. We still can't afford the housing here. We don't have cable, we have one car (no car payment), and typical monthly bills. I think you are absolutely right that if I went back to work things wouldn't be so tight. Then my child would be stuck in a daycare all day without the special needs services he gets now. Which sacrifice do I make?

I know you aren't attacking anyone personally but it hurts to try to do the best I can as a mother first and foremost just to have someone say I am lazy or don't want to further myself. My child comes before furthering my own agenda whether I like it or not. Therefore I must move someplace with a lower cost of living. Please remember that not everyone has the same opportunities, circumstances and luck as the next person, regardless of how hard they work or how much they want it.

Plus, I've been here my entire life so I have witnessed firsthand the cost of living skyrocket and Fl natives being pushed out. I'm not alone here. I say let the tourists, retirees, and other folks with money have it and I'll go look for a place that still values single income working families (if such a thing still exists).

[scamutz]

Originally Posted by pixiewytch

As for my situation, I'm a stay at home mom to a special needs child. My husband works for a top engineering firm and works 50+ hrs a week. He is a hard worker and has had many promotions within his company. We still can't afford the housing here. We don't have cable, we have one car (no car payment), and typical monthly bills. I think you are absolutely right that if I went back to work things wouldn't be so tight. Then my child would be stuck in a daycare all day without the special needs services he gets now. Which sacrifice do I make?

Agreed. Extenuating circumstances. But is there really someplace that will provide you with the resources for your special needs child, and provide your husband with the income that you require to stay home, and have reasonable housing and a family friendly environment? Someplace better than here?

Seems like you'll be sacrificing somewhere....but maybe you have someplace in mind?

[pixiewytch]

Well, we are looking at buying cheap rural land somewhere (possibly TN or NC) and building a modest home mortgage free. I know here in Fl you can't get an acre of land under 100K but there are other parts of the south where you can still find an acre of undeveloped land (not in a subdivision) for under 30K. So I guess you could say the sacrifice we plan to make is to live a much simpler lifestyle without all the bells and whistles most people are used to nowadays like two brand new vehicles, a brand new home, widescreen tv, and so forth. The problem for us is that even doing that is out of our price range in Fl due to land prices.

So I guess to come full circle and not steer the thread too far away from the original poster's intent, I feel like one's economic status should definitely be a huge deciding factor for coming to Fl. I'm sure a lot of places are as much or more expensive than it is here but folks coming from places with cheaper housing could be in for a shock. To me 100K vs. 30K for an acre of land for instance is a huge difference and even if I had the money I don't know that I would rather pay that much more for it to live here.

[LUISBV]

I bought a house in Tampa and is very nice...I got help from a girl she is very nice if you want I can give you her information...let me know...Newport richey is nice and Hudson too and very close to tampa and clearwater.