Looking to Move Near Tampa (Clearwater, Brandon: short sale, real estate, apartment complex)

[kladisfamily]

My husband and I are looking to move to the Tampa area. We want to be somewhat close to Tampa for jobs but have two children so are looking for a place a little outside of Tampa (within 20-45 miles). What are some good, safe family towns in the area? We are moving from Frisco, TX. We have looked at Plant City and New Tampa. Can anyone give us recommendations? We are looking for a reasonable 2 bedroom apartment (no more than $850-900/month). Safety and schools are obviously a priority for us with children. We would also like to be within 45 mins to an hour from a family friendly beach (not Hogans Beach lol). Thanks in advance for any advice.

[ApolloBeachRetiree]

I'd stay away from Plant City, which has problems with sinkholes and, as I recall, also uses septic tanks and wells. When I was looking, I drew a semi circle around the outskirts of Tampa, because I also wanted to be no more than 25 miles away. I ended up buying in Mirabay. I don't know what your budget is but if you need a good real estate agent, PM me and I will give you the contact information for ours.

Ah, now I see that you are looking for a rental. Your range really limits what's available. Good luck to you.

[PhotoProIP]

Originally Posted by kladisfamily

My husband and I are looking to move to the Tampa area. We want to be somewhat close to Tampa for jobs but have two children so are looking for a place a little outside of Tampa (within 20-45 miles). What are some good, safe family towns in the area? We are moving from Frisco, TX. We have looked at Plant City and New Tampa. Can anyone give us recommendations? We are looking for a reasonable 2 bedroom apartment (no more than $850-900/month). Safety and schools are obviously a priority for us with children. We would also like to be within 45 mins to an hour from a family friendly beach (not Hogans Beach lol). Thanks in advance for any advice.

That's very low for areas with safety/good for kids.

Maybe somewhere in Land O Lakes? Forget Plant City...very rural, and kinda eww...Lots of RN's there! (not nurses).

New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, but that budget has to be upped to get to the better schools.

[TampaKaren]

I just did a simple search in our MLS and found plenty of options in the south county (Brandon, Riverview, etc.). It appears the prices are coming down which is good for tenants! Be cautious renting a home that's a short sale but know that tenants have rights, too. In addition to the suggestions you receive here, do this:

Lookup privately owned rentals here --> My Florida Homes MLS

Lookup the address for school assignment here --> Hillsborough County Public Schools - School Locator - Powered by Smart School Locator from Advanced Andean Solutions LLC

Check the school ratings here --> GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

The school search link above is for Hillsborough (Tampa and burbs) but there are similar links for the school assignments in other counties such as Pasco (Land O Lakes) and Pinellas (Palm Harbor).

Apartment rentals can be found on sites such as this one --> http://www.apartmentguide.com/

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by kladisfamily

My husband and I are looking to move to the Tampa area. We want to be somewhat close to Tampa for jobs but have two children so are looking for a place a little outside of Tampa (within 20-45 miles). What are some good, safe family towns in the area? We are moving from Frisco, TX. We have looked at Plant City and New Tampa. Can anyone give us recommendations? We are looking for a reasonable 2 bedroom apartment (no more than $850-900/month). Safety and schools are obviously a priority for us with children. We would also like to be within 45 mins to an hour from a family friendly beach (not Hogans Beach lol). Thanks in advance for any advice.

You're unlikely to find an apartment in an area you describe for that price range.

Rental rates for houses and apartments have increased significantly since the housing bubble burst and many people became renters. There is an apartment complex near Bloomingdale (Bloomingdale Woods?) where a two bedroom was $900, but that was a couple of years ago.

Having worked for the school district in the Plant City area, I would take exception to some of the comments made by previous posters in this thread. While there are some sketchy parts of Plant City, it has some excellent schools and good areas. You just have to do your due diligence in finding the right spot.

RM

[kdubose]

Originally Posted by kladisfamily

My husband and I are looking to move to the Tampa area. We want to be somewhat close to Tampa for jobs but have two children so are looking for a place a little outside of Tampa (within 20-45 miles). What are some good, safe family towns in the area? We are moving from Frisco, TX. We have looked at Plant City and New Tampa. Can anyone give us recommendations? We are looking for a reasonable 2 bedroom apartment (no more than $850-900/month). Safety and schools are obviously a priority for us with children. We would also like to be within 45 mins to an hour from a family friendly beach (not Hogans Beach lol). Thanks in advance for any advice.

You might want to check out Lake Carlton Arms apartments off of Van Dyke in Lutz. Youre just North of Tampa's Northdale/Carrollwood areas and just South of Pasco...there's plenty to do within a 10-20 minute drive...and the apartments arent bad at all. Youre also right by the entrance/exit to Veterans Expressway so you can get to downtown, 275, Clearwater, etc with a decent commute. The apartments 2 bedrooms are within your price range and you might luck out to get one of the lower priced townhouses at the top of your price range too (depending on lake views, etc). The schools that they are zoned for (Schwarzkopf elementary, Martinez middle, and Steinbrenner high) are all awesome schools and aside from South Tampa, are much better than any others you will get in the county.

[kladisfamily]

Thank you all for your help. As I research apartments online I am quickly realizing if I don't want to be in a less than desirable area I might need to increase my budget.

kdubose-thank you for expanding on Lake Carlton Arms apartments. I came across that one and it looked promising but you can never tell for sure when looking online!

[tottenham21]

@kladisfamily, hi we currently live in little elm, tx right next to Frisco and are also looking to move to Tampa next year, I have narrowed it down to Riverview area as far as good schools and homes for rent but the way we're going about it is at the moment our mortgage is 960 a month so looking to rent in the same budget frame or less than 1,100 a month, plenty of nice homes in that area...best of luck..ps: we also have a 3&half year old son so schools are very important to us too.

[MortonR]

As a school district employee I would suggest you look in Bloomingdale. There are lots of rentals in the area right now and the schools are better than Riverview, depending on where in Riverview you are.

Riverview encompasses a pretty large area and the demographics can be sketchy if you're not careful about where you go. If you stick to less rural areas that are a a little more developed you'll have better demographics and a more stable community.

Buckhorn, Bloomingdale (east) and parts of south Brandon would put you in some A-rated schools and neighborhoods that are pretty stable.

RM

[tinytrump]

No Plant city--Bradenton is an hour and not too bad - the surrounding towns- look like Texas