Beachfront Condo Recommendations (Tampa: for sale, apartments, leasing)

[Stewabby]

When my FIL found out we were moving to Tampa he decided to buy a beachfront condo/townhouse so that he could come visit in the winter.

We're going down to Tampa 4th of July weekend to check out apartments/rental houses and he asked us to check out some condos to narrow down where he should buy.

Any recommendations on areas to buy a condo in now in Tampa or St. Pete?

Can you get a oceanview for $300,000?

[spainbrit]

No - but you can buy near the beach in beach communities for that or less. Direct gulf fronts are still over 300K nearer to $375K if you really want water to see. You can get condos for less than 200K off the beaches, some under $250K near beaches in Isla del sol. there are 15000 plus properties for sale in pinellas county, so you need to be a bit specific. the beach is still the most expensive, beach with waterviews, even more. the bigger the view, the bigger the price tag (and taxes/insurance etc). You can get intracoastal waterviews for less also, but not much less if they are on gulf blvd also

[Stewabby]

Thanks, we're going down there 4th of July weekend. Hopefully we can have a better idea then. I'll let me FIL know he's going to want to come up in price if he wants a water view.

[skicheryl]

Looking forward to your follow up post after July 4th visit. We are going in Sept to check out condos.

DH wants the water view, I would rather live in an area with abundant walking/skating/biking paths. High-rise condo is fine with us - actually preferred over steps. Craiglist has good deals on leasing upscale condos all over the bay area. Wish we were ready to move now the deals are so good but it's going to be 2009 for us.

Cheryl