Moving to Tampa advise - neighborhood / paycut / commute

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Fl1150

People are acting like he took pay cut from 80k to 50k he is still making 100k which is considered good for the area as for the prices any area that is desirable will reflect that. All the suggestions above are good but South Tampa seems like more your speed coming from Northern NJ. Downtown Tampa is in a midst of transformation as more residential is under construction and tons of investment is starting to pay off slowly. In a couple years its going to be a lot better.

People tend to live up to the level of their income. I think the point of suggesting the pay cut is an issue is due to the lowering of the standard of living the OP may experience due to the loss of income and the relatively close cost of living between Tampa and NJ.

That being said, if the OP wants to maintain the same standard of living they currently enjoy, they won't be able to do so with the 30% cut in pay and moving here.

RM

[newdude05]

Thank you guys for all the useful info.

Just a general response on the reason I am considering taking a 30% pay cut, it is because of the housing cost in north nj. A decent renovated house in nnj in a good school district is around 700k minimum with a 12-15k annual tax. Looking at Tampa I can get same property for around 400k with a 5k tax, not to mention no state income tax. I was thinking my standard of living will be higher here even with the paycut? But it sounds like many of you think it's not the case, I am surprised by that, maybe I don't have my numbers right.

The nice weather and tropical feel is also a draw since I lived in nyc/nnj my whole life, but mainly it's the housing cost.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by newdude05

Thank you guys for all the useful info.

Just a general response on the reason I am considering taking a 30% pay cut, it is because of the housing cost in north nj. A decent renovated house in nnj in a good school district is around 700k minimum with a 12-15k annual tax. Looking at Tampa I can get same property for around 400k with a 5k tax, not to mention no state income tax. I was thinking my standard of living will be higher here even with the paycut? But it sounds like many of you think it's not the case, I am surprised by that, maybe I don't have my numbers right.

The nice weather and tropical feel is also a draw since I lived in nyc/nnj my whole life, but mainly it's the housing cost.

That was my experience, I took a similar paycut and it took 3 years to work up back up to my old salary, but now its commensurate to what I would make in NYC, the difference is that there just isn't as much opportunity here, I could go maybe one other place here in NYC I had 20 companies to jump to, of course all that is field dependent. We sold our house in Glen Rock for 30% more than our Tampa house, but there is choice here for under 500k you can get any most neighborhoods maybe not the best house on the block depending, but in NNJ you need to be higher just to get in that town's borders. The property taxes are much lower and if you would be homesteaded which reduces the taxes after the first year, unless you are on the water insurance is reasonable, i do think based on my experience moving from NNJ to Tampa that your standard of living would be higher even with the pay cut. I will say this I hated Tampa until I moved to South Tampa, and I heard this from several NJ transplants, a lot of people try to get more house for the money in the suburbs and end up hating it, its just my opinion I am 100% sure other people love where they live outside of South Tampa.

[newdude05]

Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT

That was my experience, I took a similar paycut and it took 3 years to work up back up to my old salary, but now its commensurate to what I would make in NYC, the difference is that there just isn't as much opportunity here, I could go maybe one other place here in NYC I had 20 companies to jump to, of course all that is field dependent. We sold our house in Glen Rock for 30% more than our Tampa house, but there is choice here for under 500k you can get any most neighborhoods maybe not the best house on the block depending, but in NNJ you need to be higher just to get in that town's borders. The property taxes are much lower and if you would be homesteaded which reduces the taxes after the first year, unless you are on the water insurance is reasonable, i do think based on my experience moving from NNJ to Tampa that your standard of living would be higher even with the pay cut. I will say this I hated Tampa until I moved to South Tampa, and I heard this from several NJ transplants, a lot of people try to get more house for the money in the suburbs and end up hating it, its just my opinion I am 100% sure other people love where they live outside of South Tampa.

Looks like you went through exactly what I am considering Glen rock was one of the neighborhoods i was considering buying in NJ before the company made me the offer, cant find anything below 750k that's in move in condition now besides a small 2br cape code, it's crazy.

Can you give a bit more detail on why the NJ transplants (yourself included) hated the burbs? is it much different than glen rock/ridgewood etc..?

Also "if you would be homesteaded which reduces the taxes after the first year" - sorry what does this mean?

Thanks

[Garson]

You really need to spend some time in these areas before making a decision. South Tampa has some beautiful quaint neighborhoods but the surrounding commercial areas are extremely congested and well.....quite ugly...some find it quite ghetto.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by newdude05

Looks like you went through exactly what I am considering Glen rock was one of the neighborhoods i was considering buying in NJ before the company made me the offer, cant find anything below 750k that's in move in condition now besides a small 2br cape code, it's crazy.

Can you give a bit more detail on why the NJ transplants (yourself included) hated the burbs? is it much different than glen rock/ridgewood etc..?

Also "if you would be homesteaded which reduces the taxes after the first year" - sorry what does this mean?

Thanks

South Tampa has old, well established neighborhoods, some cobblestone roads, the look of the houses plus the oak tree canopies make it look like home, for someone coming from Northern NJ, you dont get the snow but you get that familiar pollen film on everything during the spring (not a plus). Its very similar to Bergen county where you can be in an idyllic, serene setting where kids bikes are on the yard, garage doors are left open, kids are playing outside and drive a mile and be commercial streets, which is one of the main attractions to South Tampa you can get anywhere in less than 15 min (except the gulf beaches, thats more like 30 min), all the best nightlife and restaurants are located close by. It really is a tight knit community where you see the same people at the stores/restaurants/gym etc, Living in a suburb you are most likely, not always living in a subdivision where you have to drive the same 1 or 2 miles to leave the place every time no matter where you go its maddening, I had a bad experience with the HOA thing in the suburbs as well. The schools are the best in the area, parental support is off the charts, I am involved in youth sports and all the kids and parents are great. There are some negatives, being an older part of town there is some drainage issues during rainy season, but its set up as a grid ( a huge plus) so you learn to drive around it, the same for traffic you learn which streets to avoid, its expensive compared to the rest of the area. Some people think its a bit snobby, I dont think its any different than any other upper middle class area. Like I said I have met lots of people that use to live or live in places they dont like, I never met anyone that said I use to live in South Tampa and i moved because i hated it, having said that I have some friends in parts of Valrico(suburbs) that are not in a subdivision, huge lots, and very pretty so you know of course I am generalizing. Also South Tampa its not very big, but in real estate jargon when you say South Tampa its the neighborhoods in Plant high school;s boundaries save some exceptions like Ballast Point.
In Florida you have a 50k property tax exemption if you live in the property, it also caps the amount of the property assessment for tax reasons. Its not that you dont qualify the first year but rather you have to apply for it so if you buy in June you can submit the app but it wont start until January.

[blakesq]

I would make a counter to your company's offer, and suggest a 5% paycut (or less). Presumably you will be doing the same work, hence a zero pay cut would be fair.

Originally Posted by newdude05

Hi guys,

Looking for some advise. My company is offering me the option to move to tampa (from new jersey) with a salary cut from 140k to 100k. I will be working near the springfield college on princess palm ave & queen palm dr.

1) Looking at the real estate prices in tampa it seems to be all over the place, very difficult to compare against NJ.

Can you please recommend some good neighborhood to narrow my search, my criteria is pretty standard, in order of importance:

A) Safety - absolute must, want the safest area possible where you can take a stroll with the family after dinner or leave your bike on the front lawn and not have to worry.
B) School - top ranked public schools, especially elementary
C) Easy commute to work (princess palm ave & queen palm dr) , preferably less than 20 mins.
D) Not in a flood zone
E) Close downtown area, where you can walk to shopping/supermarket/restaurants or a short drive. Not in the middle of nowhere where the nearest supermarket requires a 20-30 min drive.


2) For those of you lived around nj suburbs, do you think a ~30% pay reduction is about equal to the cost of living difference between tampa and north nj?

3) Are there certain neighborhoods in tampa that are more racially tolerant vs others, not trying to turn this political just like to understand as my wife is asian. For example in NJ, there are some neighborhoods that are very italian centric and you feel like an outsider if not one of them, while other neighborhoods that are completely indifferent to your race with a mixture living together.

Appreciate your time, thank you.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by Garson

You really need to spend some time in these areas before making a decision. South Tampa has some beautiful quaint neighborhoods but the surrounding commercial areas are extremely congested and well.....quite ugly...some find it quite ghetto.

extremely congested compared to what, Dale mabry in carrolwood? SR60 in Brandon? I fail to see the ghetto if you are talking north of Euclid and South of Kennedy.