Moving to St Pete: When and Where to look for a house to rent? (St. Petersburg: real estate)

[PAtoFL2016]

Hello! Thank you in advance for your help! My big question is where to live in/near St. Petersburg and when should we visit to secure a rental? We plan to move July 5.

About us: My husband will be teaching at Eckerd College. I work from home. My company has an office in Oldsmar, but my team is not based here, so I will continue to work from home. We’re originally from Chicago and moving from central Pennsylvania. We’re used to an urban setting where we have the option to walk for groceries, restaurants, library, shops. Our child will be 10 months old when we move.

We can spend up to $2000 on rent. We’d like a 3 bedroom house (or 2 bedroom + an office space). Open to apartments or townhouses.


Where do you recommend we focus our search? Which neighborhoods or towns? (We’ve read about the boundaries of the safe neighborhoods in St Pete. We want your opinion based on our interests)

Things important to us:
Walkability – if not walking to amenities, a nice neighborhood for recreational walking
Close to a good full-day day care
Church (currently ELCA)
Access to good running and/or biking
Mom & baby support groups or classes
Pilates classes
30 min or less driving commute
Wood or tile floors -- no carpet

Bonus:
Within 10 miles of Eckerd, so my husband can bike to work
A backyard with trees/natural shade
Walking distance to grocery store
Restaurants
Near the Gulf – for evening walks, we’re not really into beach days
Near farmer’s market

Eventually, we’ll need to consider schools. We will move down, rent, and tackle that after we get to know the area.

Qs on the logistics of finding a place:
· How far in advance should we visit in order to find a home to rent?
· What’s the most effective way to search – Craigslist/Zillow or work with a real estate agent?
· Any seasonal quirks to worry about? (When we moved to PA, all of the law school students had snapped up the good 2 bedroom apartments before we visited. In Chicago, most moves are June – September.)
· How competitive is the rental market? If we find a place we like, do we need to sign within an hour, within a day, within a week?
· Will we find something if we look on Saturday-Sunday? Or should we schedule visiting rentals Mon-Fri?
· Any other tips about the market?


THANK YOU!!!!

[sportsterjohn]

If walkability is one of your most important drivers then I would suggest DTSP, Old NE or maybe Gulfport. Most of St. Pete isn't real walkable unless you are on one of the main streets or downtown. House rents may be a bit steep in Old NE, DTSP is mostly going go be apts and condos. However, those 2 areas are very walkable where someone can walk to close to 100 places to eat, walk to the bay, walk to the bar district, grocery store, drug store and a lot of cool shops on or near central ave. A lot of people jog and bike down here, esp near Vinoy park. One thing though that I noticed is that a lot of places don't advertise on your large apt / house hunting sites. Often places are found by driving around and seeing for rent signs, For houses though, I suspect that a property management company or real estate agent will have a good idea of the market.