Possibly moving to Tampa area for job in St. Pete - where to buy a home? (Miami: rent, house) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

tricon7 · 10-17-2015, 05:06 PM

I may be working for a company in St. Pete. I'm not familiar with the area; I'm in Orlando. I don't want to pick an area that's depressed or in an area that's out of my price range. I also don't want a long commute if possible. I'd like an upper-middle class neighborhood that's child-friendly, as I have three under 10. Someplace they can ride their bikes down the street in safety, and a place where I'm not far from your Best Buy/Target/Red Lobster, etc.

We definitely can't go above $200k, and would prefer something less. We have a 3br/2ba now. Not sure we can afford that in either St. Pete or Clearwater. I hope I'm wrong.

AhHah · 10-17-2015, 07:07 PM

The St. Pete area has lodging in all categories. It's better to live there since that is where you will be working. Rent first for the first 3 or 6 months till you become familiar with the area and then decide where to buy.

tricon7 · 10-17-2015, 09:23 PM

So what are the areas which are children-friendly and not too terribly expensive? Where I live now is nice because it's far enough away from the city that it has pastures and woods, but close enough that it's just a few minutes drive to the main shopping areas.

PhotoProIP · 10-18-2015, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tricon7

So what are the areas which are children-friendly and not too terribly expensive? Where I live now is nice because it's far enough away from the city that it has pastures and woods, but close enough that it's just a few minutes drive to the main shopping areas.

I would enlist an RE since St. Pete is very overcrowded, and there are very few patches with nice areas that are "kid friendly"...

St. Pete is patchy, and there are no pastures left. You get a small old home next to a HUGE mansion, then you get a lot of miles of bad areas closer to DT...An RE really familiar with it would be able to help you much better. St. Pete is not overbuilt like Orlando is.

tricon7 · 10-18-2015, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhotoProIP

I would enlist an RE since St. Pete is very overcrowded, and there are very few patches with nice areas that are "kid friendly"...

St. Pete is patchy, and there are no pastures left. You get a small old home next to a HUGE mansion, then you get a lot of miles of bad areas closer to DT...An RE really familiar with it would be able to help you much better. St. Pete is not overbuilt like Orlando is.

What about Clearwater? It doesn't seem so landlocked like St Pete does. I could always commuted; it doesn't seem like a great distance.

It seems like a home with anything resembling a decent-sized yard would cost a lot in St Pete since there's only a finite amount of space to go 'round (like Ft Lauderdale or Miami). I have 1/3 of an acre now in an 1800-sq. foot house (3/bd, 2/ba). I'd hate to think what that would cost me there.

WinterK · 10-19-2015, 09:36 PM

The entire county of Pinellas which includes St Pete AND Clearwater is almost completely built out. That means very little vacant land left. And don't underestimate commute time until you actually drive it. Maps can be very misleading. I'd live in St. Pete. Better to be closer to home and not spend all your time commuting.

marc3565 · 10-20-2015, 04:23 AM

If you use google maps to judge driving distance. There is a setting to set what day and time you will travel. You can set it to your commute time to see the impact of traffic. It can be significant here..

PhotoProIP · 10-20-2015, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tricon7

What about Clearwater? It doesn't seem so landlocked like St Pete does. I could always commuted; it doesn't seem like a great distance.

It seems like a home with anything resembling a decent-sized yard would cost a lot in St Pete since there's only a finite amount of space to go 'round (like Ft Lauderdale or Miami). I have 1/3 of an acre now in an 1800-sq. foot house (3/bd, 2/ba). I'd hate to think what that would cost me there.

Honestly, I wouldn't "buy" anything here until I knew the city layout and I'd evaluated commuting times.
A commute from Clearwater to St Pete would not be great....

St Pete is not landlocked at all; Orlando's landlocked, but St Pete is patchy "property" wise. I would rent something in St Pete if I were you, then roam around and learn before buying.

welovestpete · 10-20-2015, 07:21 AM

First be flexible when you are looking. It took us a long time to find what we were looking for and then it took even longer to secure it. we were in bidding wars on 2 properties before we finally found our home. get an agent, be up front with them with want and make sure they know what the deal breakers are for you. we like jungle terrace and Disston heights for family friendly and secure but everyone has different ideas. If I had it to do all over again I would rent for a year and get my bearings.

Thundarr457 · 10-20-2015, 07:58 AM

My wife and I spent some time in the Tamp area with a budget twice yours and all the homes we could find that we liked were in Lutz. I agree with the rest of the posters who recommend renting first because its such a large areas with so many potential places. You could spend a month or more just seeing all the possible areas to live. There really is no consensus perfect area to live in.