Need Help Finding Apartment! (Tampa, Clearwater: apartment complexes, renters, condo)

[gstam4]

I will be a graduate student at USF (Tampa) in the fall, coming from Pennsylvania and having never been to the city in my life. Needless to say, I'm completely clueless...and I'm seeing so much conflicting information online that I'm getting pretty flustered.

I'm looking for a 1 BR apartment with an absolute maximum of $750-800 a month including all utilities. I've been searching Craigslist and sites like Rent.com, Forrent.com, Realtor.com, etc., but every time I come across a complex that looks nice, I search it on one of the apartment rating/review websites and it gets awful ratings and complaints.

By far the most important consideration is safety of the neighborhood and complex...I won't compromise for any other amenity or price if it means living somewhere where I'm always looking over my shoulder at night or worrying about my car or apartment. I can hold my own in just about any neighborhood, but I DON'T want to deal with that stress anymore...I just want somewhere I can be relaxed. I know car break-ins and thefts are rampant in the city - way more so than here in Pittsburgh (despite the similar size)...I've had my car broken into with a rather destructive brick here recently, and it cost $3k to fix - no way I can afford that again.

I'm hoping for a place with decent size, relatively recent updating, a MAINTAINED pool on-site, and good security measures. I'd like to stay within about a 30 minute (normal, average-time) commute to campus, though I'm a bit flexible on that because I also really want relatively easy access to the beaches, maybe 45 min to Clearwater Beach if possible (which, from what I understand, requires staying close to the major highways). The Carrollwood area seems like the place to go, but I just can't find apartment complexes there that don't get bad ratings! Any suggestions on specific places or ways to look?

I'll be flying down to Tampa for a couple of days in about a month or so...but will have limited time to look at places, so I'll need to have a list developed by that point.

Also, as a final question - is it me, or does everywhere in Tampa look the same? I've been using Google Maps Street View an awful lot lately, and every single street I click on looks identical - single story ranches lined up with a pickup truck in the driveway and lots of metal fences and wooded areas as far as the eye can see. I really can't tell the difference, using Street View, between "Suitcase City" and Carrollwood.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Keeper]

You probably aren't going to find many apt that doesn't get bad ratings since unhappy renters are much more likely to post than happy ones. The other thing to consider when viewing ratings is mgt often changes in apt complexes. You may rent and love the mgt., but they may leave, transfer or be sold. So, IMHO.. go check them out..

Name ones you are concerned about here, maybe someone can tell you their opinion.

You might try doing a search on this forum for USF, we have had several questions regarding apts.

[Mozart271]

Hi,

My son and his girlfriend, who are USF students, just rented a really nice BRAND NEW 1 BR/1bath apartment for $830 (prorated 13-mo lease--12 mos for $899) within a half-mile of USF. It is in the "Lodge at Lakecrest" on McKinley Dr. between Busch Gardens and USF. They have a website--check it out. (It is more like an hour to Clearwater Beach, though.) Utilites are separate.

It's hard to find something for $800 max including utilities, if you want a decent place. There is a condo with some units for rent called "Stone Creek Pointe", again walking distance to USF, with rents around $750. This complex is, as many of them are, over 20 years old.

Best of Luck,
Teresa

P.S. This is NOT in "Suitcase City", which is basically west of USF. You might check Temple Terrace east of 56th St and Tampa Palms too.