Is anyone familiar with the Land O Lakes area? (Tampa: appointed, real estate) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

poohcorner · 11-28-2006, 06:11 AM

Good morning! As I've posted before my family is relocating to Florida as my husband will be working in Tarpon Springs. A real estate agent has mentioned Land O Lakes, Lutz, Largo, WestChase, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and Tampa. With so many areas it's so hard to find one that would be ideal. We're obviously looking for an area that is safe and family oriented. We've been hearing so many things about insurance and sinkholes and, since we're from Long Island, New York it's hard to do this on the internet. We keep looking at houses but know nothing about the areas and we really need advice from people who can say it plainly and not try to sell us a house. Does that make sense? Thank you all so much!

NHtoFLMom · 11-28-2006, 07:27 AM

Pooh,
All of the areas that you mention are very family oriented and have many new subdivisions. You really need to plan some time to come here and look around for yourself. Each of these areas has a slightly different feel to it; some more country, some more suburbian. There is a brand new community in Land O Lakes that you may want to check out called Connerton. You can do a google search and find the link. It will have a "town" feel to it when it is complete. But that is not the only one: there are many more!
As far as sinkholes, everywhere in Florida is subject to them. The west sections of Pasco and north of that seem to have more. Three insurance agents have told me that there are companies underwriting policies in the Pasco county area other then Citizens. You will just need to call around and get some quotes. Your rate will be cheaper if it is a newer home. Your rate will also be less if you are located east of I-75. That seems to be the cut-off that many companies use. "Sinkholes" vary. My husband and I moved here (New Tampa) in 2004 and 3 weeks later we had tiles cracking in our home. We have since had sinkhole remediation (grouting) under our home. The term used to frighten me (being from NH), but now that I understand it more, I am fine with it. We DID NOT have a huge hole open up under our home. It is more equivalent to soft sand filtering down like an hourglass, which causes settling issues similar to that found up north.
Other then the honesty in disclosures from sellers, you really have no way of knowing if a new home is going to have sinkhole issues. Just make sure that you get a policy that covers it!

poohcorner · 11-28-2006, 08:08 AM

NH thank you so much for getting back to me. We are planning a trip down in January but with only 3 days to look around and not getting straight answers from real estate agents, it's tough to make a plan of action. We're trying to figure out where to start...It's all so overwhelming!

Shores9 · 11-28-2006, 08:58 AM

Since coming to FLA from Long Island in 2001 I have lived in the City of Seminole (next to Largo) Waterchase (next to Westchase) and have owned a property in Land O Lakes and St Petersburg. I’ve watched these areas and others since I came down here.

I agree with NHtoFLMom about sink holes (very well said) I also agree about her Land O Lakes assessment.

Insurance, your ability to acquire it and at what cost is affected by several factors. A newer home built to stronger building codes will most certainly be easier to insure and cheaper. So will homes away from coastal area and other risk areas such as sinkholes.

Insofar as Land O Lakes Wesley Chapel, Trinity (all Pasco)

Best way I can explain it is that Pasco is like Suffolk County and Pinellas as well as areas in Tampa (not down town) like Westchase, Carrollwood or Citrus Park are like Nassau.

Land O Lakes is fine again NHtoFLMom is on target - FYI the community I owned in was called Wilderness Lake Check it out. If you go further east to Wesley Chapel there will be additional commute time to work west across County road 54.

Rent a car with GPS Nav and preplan your routes with a mapping software program to Points of Interest like Hospitals, Shopping, beaches, Parks, etc

Margel · 11-28-2006, 10:55 AM

I am moving to Odessa off of Route 54 in Pasco County. My home is being built in the Grey Hawk community. From what I have seen so far, Odessa (near Land o Lakes) has a country, suburban feel to it. My broker took me to many places because I wanted a nice, safe, family oriented community (Ihave 4 children) and she thought Odessa fit my needs. I know there are still homesites available if you want new construction.

giddyup · 11-28-2006, 04:22 PM

Hello, I just found this site today; My wife and I (2 kids, 3 & 7) have been looking to move to central Florida for the past 10 months or so... We've looked all around, thought we had decided on Ocala, however the lack of job market (that pays) kind of scares me. We are from northern IL / small town that got too big.

I've seen several people mention property insurance; how much is insurance in the Land O' Lakes area on a new home? Can someone post what their house is worth and how much their insurance is?

We had looked around the Tampa area a bit but were very worried about the traffic; not saying we knew the best ways to get around, and maybe we traveled the worst ways, but we were stuck in some major traffic getting to Land O' Lakes. We really liked mihomes (am I allowed to mention builders on here? Forgive me if that is a no no). What we were really disappointed with is how drastic the home prices went up over the last few years; I've been waiting and watching for them to drop; we were hoping to get a nice house for under 250k (I know nice is relative); something like a newer 4/2 home with a pool; and what we were finding is that waht we wanted was closer to 330k.

It's not that we can't afford that, we just don't want to.

The other thing we found in the Tampa area with quite a few communities is what they called CDD's; I forget what that stands for but it was a loan that the government gives to the builders to build shopping areas and community things; then after the homeowners close, they get to repay the loan. So that adds $75 to $150 per month to the cost of the home on top of what was surprising high property taxes (I had always thought Fl taxes were cheap; we paid $6500 on our house this year).

Not sure I did anything more than babble in here... but if anyone has any comments and an answer to my insurance question I'd greatly appreciate it. I really like the community I see in here so far, Thank you

NHtoFLMom · 11-28-2006, 04:44 PM

In regards to CDD's- Community Development District- it is a bond that the developer takes out in order to build the community amenities, landscaping, clubhouse, etc. and then the payments of that bond are passed on to the homeowners. In addition to CDD fees, you will encounter HOA fees in any deed restricted community. I know these fees are very different then up north; we didn't have anything at all like that.
Homeowner's insurance varies depending on several factors including location of the home, age of the home, condition of the home. My homeowner's insurance on our 2300 sqft home costs about $1800/year. I have recently received several quotes on area homes in the price range of $1800-2500. That is in this area of New Tampa. Pasco county may have slightly higher depending on the location. I mentioned in an earlier post today that homes east of I-75 have more companies writing policies, then homes located west of I-75. You really need to call around and get some quotes over the phone. Again, they will vary depending on location.
BTW- I live in an MI home and have been very happy with it. They are building a brand new community just down the street from where I currently am. If you check their website you should be able to locate it. If not, feel free to PM me.

bjulian · 12-16-2006, 12:06 PM

The Land O' Lakes area is very nice. It is very family oriented and is a nice place for families to live. Many new homes are being built so there are a lot of places to choose from. Lots of places to go such as Busch Gardens, Adventure Island, Ybor City, and many more!

spotrod · 12-16-2006, 05:10 PM

oh my ,

please take this from a native . you will not want to commute to tarpon spgs from any of those places with the exception of odessa. the traffic alone in pinellas county on us 19 is a b*tch. you will not want to try 54 or 52 as these will put you to far north of where you want to go. In fact even in the mentioned areas it will be a bad commute(odessa,trinity) wait till your stuck on gunn hwy trying to get to tarpon spgs rd , in fact thats the area you need to buy in is on tarpon spgs rd. have your realtor show you homes in that area.

oh i forgot trinity is okay , be prepared to pay big time in both of these areas. i grew up in the odessa, lutz, land o lakes area when it was nothing but orange groves and horse farms . you really need to read the posts on housing , insurance, traffic and crime .

there is a reason most of us natives have left...........

maggiekate · 12-16-2006, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohcorner

NH thank you so much for getting back to me. We are planning a trip down in January but with only 3 days to look around and not getting straight answers from real estate agents, it's tough to make a plan of action. We're trying to figure out where to start...It's all so overwhelming!

Hi, LOL is nice as wesley chapel. I went to an Allstate agent nea the tax office, and hopefully will have hoi with Royal Palm who will be doing alot of new policies. My other choice, citizens for around 3200, royal palm 1100.

I had travelers for 1200. I would rather have the extra money, since I am retired. Just if you buy be sure you can get insurance, you can afford.