wanting to move to Clearwater (Tampa, Brandon: middle-class, apartment complex, rental)

[Kbryan77]

I am grown with grown children no longer living at home. I can transfer with my job of about 38K yearly but my BF is a union carpenter with both residential and commercial experience about 40K yearly ( will he be able to find work and at a decent rate of pay with the union )
Was thinking Clearwater area seems pretty close to Tampa ( for work) and the beach.
Live in MO now and we have hot humid summers and cold snowy winters ( spring and fall are nice ). Only reason to move would be the beach. I just love the water and would love to swim all the time.
Looking on Zillow seems to be lots of lower cost properties but I do not know that area. Was looking at a condo nicely updated, small 1 bed room 1 bath to start with that we could buy with cash ( less then 50K)and get our feet wet.
What is the area between Court Street, Cleveland Street, S . Myrtle Ave. like. I live the middle class suburbs now of St Louis. I do not want to live in an area like St Louis city, lots of shootings, drugs, robbery's, all around most of it is not a nice place to live)
Once there and after getting settled in we could find a larger space for us or a fixer upper since we can do a lot of the fixing up work ourselves and keep the condo as a rental ???


Can you give and idea of the cost of taxes ( property tax, real-estate tax ? ) I do pay those now on our 2005 and 2004 cars we pay about $300.00 each at the end of the year on my 2200 sq ft home I pay about $2700.00
what about car insurance ?? We each pay about $50.00 a month
Homeowners insurance ?? replacement value of $200K with State farm is about $1200.00 yearly.


any real help would be grateful. Thank you !!!!!

[AhHah]

Whatever suggestions you get it would be best to come over for a weekend, or 4 days if you can manage that, and check out the areas for yourself. It's not that long of a drive from MO.

[rvais]

Do some googling on commute times between where you may wanna live and where you will work commutes in tampa during rush hour can suck make sure you check during rush hours. Your bfs in a union good luck with that in florida. Also zillow will tell you what the taxes are under tax section on the listing usually. Also the parking at the Clearwater Beach and the outher beaches is not easy too come by and is pretty pricey Google it like $13 A day $5 per hour rate, property near the beaches is not cheap and if your work commutes is not right around there enjoy sitting in traffic. It is a nice area though.

[Tobinn]

I live in Clearwater just outside of downtown. I own a 1200 SF home valued (by the property appraiser) at $104,912 and my taxes are about $930/year. My home owner's insurance is around $1,400/year and my car insurance (on a minivan - 2003 and a Kia - 2012) runs about $140/month but that's will full coverage. As far as the area around Court, Cleveland and Myrtle goes - to put it nicely - this is an area in flux. The City has had several goes over the years at revitalization. There is a current push which appears to be really moving along. There's been a couple of new developments in downtown. A new apartment complete (with ground floor retail along Cleveland Street) is under construction. You should consider renting first, try out your commutes and see what works. I work in downtown Clearwater and my commute is three miles so I'm very lucky - I'm never affected by the "usual" rush hour sorts of stuff. If I wasn't picking my son up from school in the afternoon I'd even consider biking it (weather permitting). I'd recommend not living on the beach. Between storms, flooding, taxes, tourists and traffic I can't really see the allure unless you're an avid boater. The nice thing (to me - maybe not to everyone) is that everything is very close. Just about everything I need is within a five mile drive from my house - Walmarts, Costco, Sam's Club, Home Depot/Ace/Lowes, grocery stores, Walgreen's/CVS. Now the downside is that it is crowded and there are lots of seniors who's driving skills can be questionable not to mention tourists who tend to drive like they're on vacation (please be nice to them, though - they effectively pay our State income tax - yes, there is no State income tax). And I hope you like summer - we have summer regular and summer extra hot. Get used to sweat-soaked underwear and undershirts...and then that not-so-pleasant clammy feeling when you make indoors. If you like craft beer, this area, for some reason has become something of a little mecca and I can name ten or so microbrews/brewpubs from Palm Harbor to Dunedin to St. Pete to Sarasota to Tampa and there's more outside of the Tampa Bay area. And they really do put out some great beers. And seafood! Really quite a selection. I'll try and check back. Good luck

[sunigal99]

The area of Clearwater that you mentioned is not very nice, IMO. Between Ft Harrison and the water are some nice, pricey properties. But once you cross Ft Harrison heading east, it can be sketchy.

Downtown Clearwater has tried many times over the years to come back. Maybe the new plan will work, but I tend not to go there because of the Scientologists, sketchy area surrounding it, and lack of things to do. Although Coachman Park has some good festivals, including the big Jazz Festival.

As a 35 yr resident, I always recommend that people live near work and drive to the beach on their days off. But you can rent and try it and see how living near the beach and driving to Tampa works for you. The traffic is horrendous, especially during the tourist season.

I prefer less busy hectic beaches like Dunedin to the north or the numerous beaches south of Clearwater, from Sand Key to St Pete Beach. I also wouldn't buy on the beach due to storm/flooding issues.

Cost of living is not too bad. I don't think I've ever met a union construction worker. All the workers I've ever hired are licensed/insured but Florida is a right to work state and the pay reflects it.

I live in Safety Harbor. It's a quaint small town with a short commute to Tampa. It's on Tampa Bay though, not the beach. But you can drive to Dunedin Beach in 10 minutes or so.

[Kbryan77]

I think I will stay in MO thank you.... We are in fall now with nice warm day time weather and lightly cool nights. Only a short time of the year for drenched underwear !!.( we do have them hot and humid here also, this summer was a killer ) The pay is better for our trade and cost of living is pretty low here. Think I will just come and vacation on your beautiful beaches. You cant make snow angles =) Honestly it is a lot of fun to ride the 4 wheeler in the snow. I do thank you all that gave me honest feed back. ;o)

[gauchere90]

Originally Posted by Kbryan77

I think I will stay in MO thank you.... We are in fall now with nice warm day time weather and lightly cool nights. Only a short time of the year for drenched underwear !!.( we do have them hot and humid here also, this summer was a killer ) The pay is better for our trade and cost of living is pretty low here. Think I will just come and vacation on your beautiful beaches. You cant make snow angles =) Honestly it is a lot of fun to ride the 4 wheeler in the snow. I do thank you all that gave me honest feed back. ;o)

You made a wise decision. I used to live in the Clearwater area and recently escaped. In my opinion, it was a TERRIBLE, junky place to live. Very trashy. Sure, you may see nice homes along the coast and tucked away in gated communities, but most of those people only live there for a few months out of the year anyway. My car insurance was 120/month living down there (with a good driving record). The grocery stores were THE WORST I have seen in all the country, and over-priced at that! I am going to guess that the quality of life in your middle-class suburb of St.Louis is way higher than grubby old Clearwater. Living where people vacation and party and spring-break/throw trash everywhere is not all that it's cracked up to be, trust me.

[paradiselost]

Pinellas County which includes Clearwater is a complete nightmare anymore, Driving is terrible across the county and across the Bay in Hillsborough its the same deal, I lived and worked in both counties, so i know! Terrible traffic, no mass transportation, people driving dangerously (illegal u turns, running reds, no turn signals). The Tampa area is Very Motor cycle and pedestrian unfriendly . The infrastructure this area cannot simply handle the in-migration. Most people who move here never read a flood zone map, once they get there flood insurance bill they will!

Rent has went up BIG TIME across the bay area also insurances are very high, wages stagnant. Probably one of the worst places to live in the Country anymore, The only positives I see is decent winter weather and no state or local income tax. Its a very dangerous and stressful place to live! Shady people from up north move here on a daily basis, not a good place! (GOOGLE tampa bay mugshots that will show you that!)
Also If you have a Monday thru friday job good luck finding parking at the beach on the weekends, that a disaster over there! Publix which does have a good deli, took over the Grocery market, but there Grocery prices are too high compared to the national average.

As far as food, Pinellas does have some decent mom and pops but you got to look for them.but being close to the Gulf the Seafood restaurants for the mostpart are very underwhelming, Hillsborough especially the overgrowing Brandon Riverview area has terrible restaurants for the most part other than Freds, for the population sample size. Tampa proper's best food is Cuban if you are into that.

Clearwater proper is not a good place the Scientologists took that place over years ago, and drove good business out and on the beach side is nothing but tourist traps and no parking.

[Spring Hillian]

If it as horrible as you constantly say, why do so many people live there?
How do the people survive with the costs being so high?

Originally Posted by paradiselost

Pinellas County which includes Clearwater is a complete nightmare anymore, Driving is terrible across the county and across the Bay in Hillsborough its the same deal, I lived and worked in both counties, so i know! Terrible traffic, no mass transportation, people driving dangerously (illegal uturns, running reds, no turn signals). Very unpedestrian friendly.

Rent has went up BIG TIME across the bay area also insurances are very high, wages stagnant. Probably one of the worst places to live in the Country anymore, The only positives I see is decent winter weather and no state or local income tax. Its a very dangerous and stressful place to live! Shady people from up north move here on a daily basis, not a good place!
Also If you have a monday thru friday job good luck finding parking at the beach on the weekends, thats a disaster over there!

Clearwater proper is not a good place the Scientologists took that place over years ago, and drove good business out!

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by paradiselost

This is the result ! Couple arrested for meth lab in Plant City homeless camp - Story | abcactionnews.com | Tampa Bay News, Weather, Sports, Things To Do | WFTS-TV

50 in brandon and seffner alone, one as i said before right next to Walmart and a brand new 1500 amonth apartment complex! Clearwaters homeless tent cities are near the jail on 49th street! and tons in Stpete downtown off the 175 overpass.

Wait... Meth labs exist in small suburbs? You don't say!

And in Seffner? The same city that has the nickname of "Methner."

You're a real Sherlock Holmes.