Young professionals relocating (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Largo: for sale, rental market, HOA)

[neb2886]

I've been browsing these forums for a few months now, first time poster. My wife and I are planning to relocate from the DC area to the Tampa area within the next 6-12 months. We're both in our late 20s, she is an RN and I work in Information Security. We need to live within 30-45 mins of Tampa for when I do need to go into the office (I work remotely a good amount of the time). A 30-45 mins commute does not phase us, given that, on average, it takes us 1 hr 30 minutes (on a good day) to make the 28 mile drive to work in DC traffic.

Regardless of where we end up living we plan to rent for 6 or so months first. We will need time to sell our house in MD and see properties down there. Renting may be difficult given that we have 3 dogs.

We are going down in July for 8-10 days, part vacation and part to start scoping out areas. When we finally purchase a home we'd like to live in an area with a strong community feel, things to do on the weekend without having to drive too far, preferably not a retiree area but one that attracts young professionals/young families, good schools (plan to have kids in 3 or so years).

I am looking for opinions from folks in similar situations. I have been doing research and it seems like Palm Harbor, Dunedin areas have higher concentrations of retirees. Can anyone provide insight on living in Safety Harbor or Westchase? What other areas should we be looking at?

Thank you.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by neb2886

No one has an opinion on this?

I preface by saying good elementary public schools are plentiful throughout the Tampa bay area. Areas that have highly rated schools from k-12 are South Tampa, Fishawk, Lutz, Palm Harbor. In my opinion the best areas for young professional families are South Tampa and Westchase, you will see a lot of people in this forum recommend Wesley Chapel/New Tampa/LOL you do get a lot more bang for your buck up there, by all indications that area is booming, personally I think its the middle of nowhere but I been repeatedly told its a 5 min drive to anywhere so what do i know, but seriously someone else can elaborate on that area.

[neb2886]

Thanks for the reply. Would you group Palm Harbor in with Westchase or is Palm Harbor a bit more on the retiree side?

Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT

I preface by saying good elementary public schools are plentiful throughout the Tampa bay area. Areas that have highly rated schools from k-12 are South Tampa, Fishawk, Lutz, Palm Harbor. In my opinion the best areas for young professional families are South Tampa and Westchase, you will see a lot of people in this forum recommend Wesley Chapel/New Tampa/LOL you do get a lot more bang for your buck up there, by all indications that area is booming, personally I think its the middle of nowhere but I been repeatedly told its a 5 min drive to anywhere so what do i know, but seriously someone else can elaborate on that area.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by neb2886

Thanks for the reply. Would you group Palm Harbor in with Westchase or is Palm Harbor a bit more on the retiree side?

I wouldn't, palm harbor is more empty nesters or retirees than westchase. Not to say that they are strictly that but no comparison to West Chase.

[gulfer]

I wouldn't be so hung up on the Retiree's here. I am 48, retired from the military and live in a nice area in Land O Lakes. As DUNNDFRNT mentioned, it is different than the Westchase or Safety Harbor area. Safety Harbor is a pretty active place as is Westchase. Both have their share of retiree's, but I would GUESS that Safety Harbor has more. Just a guess and base that off prices more than anything.

Westchase costs more to live. It is very nice, very modern, higher taxes, along with HOA and CDD. It is not uncommon to see 5K to 8K in taxes on a home less than 3000 square feet with a 2K CDD and a 500 HOA. Moving North even 5-10 miles into Southern Odessa, Lutz, or enter into Pasco County (about 10-15 miles) and you have a whole different selection.

Do I think you will have trouble renting something with 3 dogs, Yes. I think you may also have trouble with the 6 month vice a 1 year rental as well. The rental market is hot. Hotter than the housing market today. We'll see what the Summer season does, but all indications are it should be a bit slower. Investors scooped up everything they can make a buck at. Prices are higher but wages haven't risen as much. Interest rates continue to creep up, but still low compared to historical.

A 375K to 450K house in Westchase and Safety Harbor are a little hard to come by. I saw less than 15 in each location with a search. Domain homes is building in Safety Harbor and has a nice looking home.

[neb2886]

Thanks, this is great info. The taxes, CDD and HOA are a bit high for us. We deal with a lot of that in Maryland already and want to avoid the added costs if possible.

I figured it would be difficult to find a rental first with the 3 dogs. They are all around 40 lbs. Do HOAs down there have restrictions on the number of dogs you can have?

I will check out Lutz and Southern Odessa. Two follow up questions, any thoughts on Town N Country and do you have link to the Domain homes being built in Safety Harbor?

Originally Posted by gulfer

I wouldn't be so hung up on the Retiree's here. I am 48, retired from the military and live in a nice area in Land O Lakes. As DUNNDFRNT mentioned, it is different than the Westchase or Safety Harbor area. Safety Harbor is a pretty active place as is Westchase. Both have their share of retiree's, but I would GUESS that Safety Harbor has more. Just a guess and base that off prices more than anything.

Westchase costs more to live. It is very nice, very modern, higher taxes, along with HOA and CDD. It is not uncommon to see 5K to 8K in taxes on a home less than 3000 square feet with a 2K CDD and a 500 HOA. Moving North even 5-10 miles into Southern Odessa, Lutz, or enter into Pasco County (about 10-15 miles) and you have a whole different selection.

Do I think you will have trouble renting something with 3 dogs, Yes. I think you may also have trouble with the 6 month vice a 1 year rental as well. The rental market is hot. Hotter than the housing market today. We'll see what the Summer season does, but all indications are it should be a bit slower. Investors scooped up everything they can make a buck at. Prices are higher but wages haven't risen as much. Interest rates continue to creep up, but still low compared to historical.

A 375K to 450K house in Westchase and Safety Harbor are a little hard to come by. I saw less than 15 in each location with a search. Domain homes is building in Safety Harbor and has a nice looking home.

[gulfer]

This should help - New Homes Tampa Bay by Domain Homes - Homes for sale in South Tampa, St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Largo, Safety Harbor -