Buy or rent near USF (Tampa, Temple Terrace: for sale, real estate, 2013)

[GoColts]

Got a kid who's a freshman at USF who wants to study pharmacy which means he will be there for more than 4 years. Wants to live off campus next year. Another kid at SPC wants to transfer in a couple of years and live with brother. Since they want to live together was thinking of buying house or condo then selling later. My husband thinks it is a bad idea that we will not be able to get our money back. Since we would be paying their rent and car insurance (we live less than 100miles from USF so the insurance co won't let us take kids off of policy) I think it's worth considering. We expect they will be working or attending school in the summer as well otherwise we would not be not be paying for living arrangements outside of our home. Would like others to comment on whether we should rent or buy. Thanks!

[spbbound]

I think you'd be better off renting a one bedroom and then upping it to a two when appropriate. There's nothing worth buying within a few miles of campus, plus with the property tax hit, homeowners insurance, paying power/water/sewer, lawn care if not a town house or condo, association fees if applicable, etc. you'd be unlikely to break even in 4 to 8 years unless property values really jump or you plan to hold it longer. I'm assuming you'd be paying cash because if you added in mortgage interest (can't deduct non-primary residence loan interest) and closing costs, then it gets even worse.

I bought a town house in Tampa Palms when I was still in school and sold it for barely more than I paid a year or two after I graduated; definitely did not come out ahead once you factored in all the rest of those expenses. There's some brand new construction apartments right across from the campus on the north side; might be good options for renting and of course easily walkable or bikeable.

[geo123]

Could you rent out your potential purchase to USF students after your kids graduate ? If so, then you could make the purchase work for you. If not, then it's probably not worth it.

[housingcrashsurvivor]

There's lots of very good buying opportunities in some very good neighborhoods around USF. For houses, if you can find a foreclosure for sale (I don't know if there are that many left) they seem to be going for around 75-85 sq ft but will require work. The arms length non foreclosed sales are going for around $100/sq ft which mean at or below construction cost with land and infrastructure thrown in for free. Condo's, often built for student housing, go for much less though I don't know what their association fees might be.

Zillow shows Temple Terrace with a last year change of 21.2% and another 7.6% increase expected for the coming year. And interestingly enough, I just saw where to confirm on Zillow which shows single family Nov 2013 median sale price comes in at $102/sq ft, which is pretty much what I thought I was observing from watching sales. It shows the Oct 2013 sale prices on condo units at $59/sq ft, those would probably mostly be the units along 50th, on USF's eastern border.

From what I've seen, those units generally rent for about $500/bdrm. For instance

Here's a two bedroom in that area renting for 950 2bd, 3 full ba townhouse USF washer/dryer included

Here's one bedroom in a 3-bdrm unit renting for 590 Sunridge Condos Room Available - Walk to USF

Here's another one bdrm of a 2-bdrm unit going for 550 Directly across the street from USF; $550 includes everything

all pretty typical of what I've otherwise seen in there.

As for sales in that area

Here's a 2-bdrm asking 89k 5039 Sunridge Palms Dr Apt 202, Tampa, FL 33617 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com®

here's a 2-brm asking 110k 5009 Sunridge Palms Dr Apt 104, Tampa, FL 33617 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com®

so taking the lower of the two on the back of a napkin and say rent at 550/bdrm.

lets say you get if for 80k (it peaked with a 2006 sale for 163k) with 20% down you've got at 4.33% interest on an 64k mortgage of $318/month.

condo/maint fee is 341 (I assume monthly?)

interior insurance--no idea, i'll guess $40/month

taxes at a mill rate of about .21 no homestead guessing $125 month

total nut: $824 plus opportunity cost of down payment money minus rented room (550) in a condo that would likely easily rent outright for $1100. And you'd be buying in at 50% below peak.

[GoColts]

There was a story on the news about Tampa spending some money to help improve the sulphur springs community. Would it be an easy commute to school from this area or is this area too run down? I lived in Indianapolis and when the city started to help improve the run down inner city neighborhoods they ended up becoming highly desirable areas to live in - this transformation took place within 5 short years and 10 years later it wasn't a ghetto anymore. Real estate values took off!

[housingcrashsurvivor]

Originally Posted by GoColts

There was a story on the news about Tampa spending some money to help improve the sulphur springs community. Would it be an easy commute to school from this area or is this area too run down? I lived in Indianapolis and when the city started to help improve the run down inner city neighborhoods they ended up becoming highly desirable areas to live in - this transformation took place within 5 short years and 10 years later it wasn't a ghetto anymore. Real estate values took off!

Nehemiah Project in Tampa's Sulphur Springs - YouTube

[spbbound]

I wouldn't want my kid to live there as it currently stands.

[Occifer]

If you get the right deal then you might make money, but it's definitely not a sure thing. It could also be more of a headache than you want to deal with. What if your other child changes their mind about transferring from SPC?

If you buy a two bedroom unit, you aren't going to make any money (or even break even) if the second bedroom isn't also being rented for the two years that your other child is at SPC. Having an empty second bedroom is money down the drain. Keep in mind that you not only will have the money tied up for the purchase (I'm assuming that you're paying cash and there will be no mortgage), but you'll also have to pay maintenance fees, insurance, and taxes. You're only indirectly paying those things with an apartment. If you're taking out a mortgage, then you have to figure the interest payments. You also need to consider the various taxes and closing costs associated with the purchase of the property.

It might not be a terrible investment if it's a place that one of your kids may want to eventually live in after college, but who wants to live in a condo around a university after they graduate? You will probably need to hang on to the property for at least five years to break even.

[EngGirl]

I wouldn't recoomend buying anything around USF fo sure. There is a nicer part - Temple Terrace, houses, but for townhouses - all of them are old and will require more $$ each year to keep it in rentable condition on top of HOA fees.

Renting townhouse to college students... well, if you are ready to spend $$ after each tentant that's fine otherwise don't deal with college students.

[housingcrashsurvivor]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

I wouldn't recoomend buying anything around USF fo sure....

Here are some homes for sale in perfectly fine areas within easy walking distance to USF.

Directly north of campus http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/13703-Sweetwater-Cove-Pl_Tampa_FL_33613_M51318-71214?row=1 asking $99k for a 2160 sq ft 3/2, that's $45.80 sq ft. The interior pictures look pretty good.


The Zillow estimate is $127k and it sold in 2006 for $211k.

This one in the same development http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4512-Sweetwater-Lake-Dr_Tampa_FL_33613_M51379-45563?row=1 is only 1411 sq ft but sold for $105k this past Aug. I had looked to buy there at one point but found something I liked better. I'd spoken to some of the residents. It seems to be mostly professors at the university who own there so I'd imagine the income level rather high at least in that complex though immediately surrounding that is mostly students. The area is well kept, has beautiful trees and includes a nice golf course.

Numerous condo units around there are now selling for under $50k. While very walkable to campus and with easy access to New Tampa, the area also has a campus shuttle running through it. Likely it is a bit more stable than Sulphur Springs.

The only area adjacent to campus to be most careful of is the very West side, west of Bruce B Downs and running towards Nebraska/275/Florida Ave, heading away from USF, towards but before hitting the Magdalene & Carrollwood areas. Though if you are considering Sulphur Springs, then you might look there too. The risk is probably similar. Eventually the old mall in that area will be redeveloped so what else might occur in there is anyone's guess. Also if light rail comes to town, that area will get a terminal serving USF and there is already lots of existing medical nearby so that could also jump start some future development.

The apartments I listed in prior post are walking distance to USF on the perfectly acceptable east side of campus. Also east of campus, within easy walking distance is adjacent Temple Terrace single family selling generally in the 2-300 range with some below and above that.

This house for instance http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/13106-N-52Nd-St_Temple-Terrace_FL_33617_M52037-19952?row=1 recently got $109/sq ft


As to the quality of the neighborhood. I have no idea why posters would try to steer someone away from living adjacent to USF, particularly west of 56th, right alongside campus. Here shows the educational level of residents there. Doesn't seem too tacky (see #s 4& 7 below)....




Note that Temple Terrace limits the number of non family members per residence, likely specifically to limit overcrowding by unrelated students. Two unrelated tenants is not a problem. But also they've a rather high $200/annual rental fee including annual code inspection if not occupied by family as main tenant (and even then only if not paying rent). I've never even heard of fees so high but it does help to assure the quality of housing stock, even when rented to students.

Also in the Sulphur Springs price range but closer to campus would be south of campus, in Tampa proper, say from Fowler down to Busch and then from about Busch Gardens to 56th. Posters on this forum are always steering people away from there too but it really doesn't look terrible, some crime but I'd imagine most of that is domestic issues. I just did a random check for month of Jan to date on Tampa's crime map and it shows only 9 events in there total, as opposed to, say :::: checking :::: wow, easily twice as many issues around the U of T, down by fancy Hyde Park. And certainly it would also be within the Sulphur Springs price range if that is a priority. But for that money I'd probably go into the student housing north of campus, particularly as it is such a good area for consistent rents if you are looking for that as a part of your financial portfolio.