Moving to Tampa Area? (Lakeland, Largo: HOA, houses, to buy)

[tampaguy03]

AS for insurance, mine homwowners for a house built in 1949 was 840 in 2000, today it is 2200, plus I pay 980 on top for flood insurance cause i live one block from the Bay. By the way, im in South Tampa.

[rperreta]

Originally Posted by tampaguy03

AS for insurance, mine homwowners for a house built in 1949 was 840 in 2000, today it is 2200, plus I pay 980 on top for flood insurance cause i live one block from the Bay. By the way, im in South Tampa.

hmm... Is there anyone out there that may have purchased a home this year for around 220k in Land O' Lakes or Wesley Chapel that can tell me if they were able to get Home Owners Ins. and if so how much?

-rich

[tampaguy03]

I looked up Land O Lakes Zip Code County/ZIP PASCO 34639 and found the following(site URL is http://www.floridatoday.com/graphics/insurance/New_web_map_3/index.html (broken link))

Allstate $1,413
State Farm $3,110
Nationwide $1,372
USAA $787
Citizens $3,657


This was the stipulations regarding the above rates:
"As part of the filing for rate approvals, companies divide the state up into a variety of territories and give the "base rate" they would charge for a fictional $150,000 masonry home (remember insurance only covers structures, not the land it sits on). Each rate is based on a 2 percent hurricane deductible and $500 deductible for other losses. "

[rperreta]

Originally Posted by tampaguy03

I looked up Land O Lakes Zip Code County/ZIP PASCO 34639 and found the following(site URL is http://www.floridatoday.com/graphics/insurance/New_web_map_3/index.html (broken link))

Allstate $1,413
State Farm $3,110
Nationwide $1,372
USAA $787
Citizens $3,657


This was the stipulations regarding the above rates:
"As part of the filing for rate approvals, companies divide the state up into a variety of territories and give the "base rate" they would charge for a fictional $150,000 masonry home (remember insurance only covers structures, not the land it sits on). Each rate is based on a 2 percent hurricane deductible and $500 deductible for other losses. "

Thanks for the helpful info... I'm going to check out the site now...

-rich

[SKB]

Rich,

Why the rush? Why are you even considering buying in a declining market?

S-L-O-W D-O-W-N

Read up everything you can in regards to what is happening with the housing/credit bubble collapse. Some builders are going out of business now, you could be left holding the bag on a unfinished home and still have to pay the lender and perhaps pay the contractors themselves for liens placed against you.

Start here: http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html (this will give you an an excellent understanding of what has happened)
Then check out these excellent blogs. I promise you, once you start reading about the collapse of the bubble you will put your purchase plans on hold for a while.
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/
http://florida-paradiselost.blogspot.com/
http://patrick.net/wp/ (broken link)


Rent a home for a year or so at a fraction of the price of mortgage,taxes and insurance. Down the road you will know what areas you like the best and more importantly what has happened to the market.

Right now all we can do is speculate on how fast and how much the market is going to turn. Some say quickly and some say it will take many years. Some say 20% but more say 50% price declines.

The 250,000+ that you are willing to spend will get you a lot more house down the road.
Remember homes went up 100%+ over the last five years in areas that can not support those prices without the creative, toxic, exotic loans NO ONE can afford to live in them, prices are disconnected to the fundamentals.
Thousands of people are losing their homes back to the bank for default on their payments.
Notice how many empty homes there are in Florida and know that most of those homes were build on speculation with NO intentions of living in just flipping them for profits.
The party is over and Florida is going to have one of the biggest hangovers of them all.
All the best,

SKB

[rperreta]

Originally Posted by SKB

Rich,

Why the rush? Why are you even considering buying in a declining market?

S-L-O-W D-O-W-N

Read up everything you can in regards to what is happening with the housing/credit bubble collapse. Some builders are going out of business now, you could be left holding the bag on a unfinished home and still have to pay the lender and perhaps pay the contractors themselves for liens placed against you.

Start here: http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html (this will give you an an excellent understanding of what has happened)
Then check out these excellent blogs. I promise you, once you start reading about the collapse of the bubble you will put your purchase plans on hold for a while.
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/
http://florida-paradiselost.blogspot.com/
http://patrick.net/wp/ (broken link)


Rent a home for a year or so at a fraction of the price of mortgage,taxes and insurance. Down the road you will know what areas you like the best and more importantly what has happened to the market.

Right now all we can do is speculate on how fast and how much the market is going to turn. Some say quickly and some say it will take many years. Some say 20% but more say 50% price declines.

The 250,000+ that you are willing to spend will get you a lot more house down the road.
Remember homes went up 100%+ over the last five years in areas that can not support those prices without the creative, toxic, exotic loans NO ONE can afford to live in them, prices are disconnected to the fundamentals.
Thousands of people are losing their homes back to the bank for default on their payments.
Notice how many empty homes there are in Florida and know that most of those homes were build on speculation with NO intentions of living in just flipping them for profits.
The party is over and Florida is going to have one of the biggest hangovers of them all.
All the best,

SKB

Well said... I gave it some thought, I'm really considering your advice... Thanks

[kristimc25]

Well, to not repeat myself. Please look at my postings regarding these areas that you mentioned (kristimc25). I would also look into Carrollwood and Northdale in Hillsborough, and Meadow Pointe and Northwood in Pasco to find that price. Please look at my postings regarding insurance as well

Please understand that if you do find a house for $275,000 and you are assessed for the full amount and you homestead, you will be paying taxes on $250,000, which would be roughly $6,000. If you get lucky, and the county assesses you at 80%, and you homestead, you will be paying taxes in $4800.

Also, if you move to a newer area, you may encounter a CDD, which will add on another $1200 or so a year. Try to find communities that do not have a CDD, but if a community pool is involved, you will have HOA fees.

I know it seems overwhelming, but there are more pros than cons in the midst of it all. Several of my neighbors came from NY as well.

good luck,
kristi

Originally Posted by rperreta

Hi everyone,

I'm currently living in Nassau County (Long Island) New York and I'm planning on moving this summer to the Tampa Area. I'm a web developer and most likely will be working in Tampa. I have a wife and 3 kids ages 12, 7 and 3. I would like to be in a community with pool/playground. I'm looking to spend around 275k for the house. There are a few factors involved. I would like to be fairly close to shopping, activities for the kids (dance, football, karate etc...) and not to far from a major highway so I can travel to work.

I've been looking around in: Spring Hill, Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Land O Lakes and Zeypherhills. Any suggestions or supporting reasons to help me out would be great. I don't mind traveling to work but obviously not too far. 30-40 mins is not bad in traffic but anymore than that may become a problem. I am christian so I would like to be close to a Pentecostal Church.

I don't want to pay 7,000 in taxes like here either. Kind of defeats the point. I would like to have reasonable home insurance rates as well.

help me please... thanks

-rich

[rperreta]

Originally Posted by kristimc25

Well, to not repeat myself. Please look at my postings regarding these areas that you mentioned (kristimc25). I would also look into Carrollwood and Northdale in Hillsborough, and Meadow Pointe and Northwood in Pasco to find that price. Please look at my postings regarding insurance as well

Please understand that if you do find a house for $275,000 and you are assessed for the full amount and you homestead, you will be paying taxes on $250,000, which would be roughly $6,000. If you get lucky, and the county assesses you at 80%, and you homestead, you will be paying taxes in $4800.

Also, if you move to a newer area, you may encounter a CDD, which will add on another $1200 or so a year. Try to find communities that do not have a CDD, but if a community pool is involved, you will have HOA fees.

I know it seems overwhelming, but there are more pros than cons in the midst of it all. Several of my neighbors came from NY as well.

good luck,
kristi

Yes I'm aware of the CCD, HOA Fees and I'm really taking a step back to look at the areas again. For me this would be a one shot move. The last thing I want to do is move to end up moving again. I want a community with a pool or a home that I can put a pool on (have kids that love the water). I want to have the good schools of course with the lower taxes (I know it sounds impossible). I want to be close to work (no more than 35/40 min drive). I want to have a home of at least 2,400sqft with 4 bedrooms. Does not have to be new construction. Aside from that everything else is a bonus.

So what do you think my chances are? Where should I be looking? I'm a Sr. Web/Applications Developer and/or Sr. Network Engineer. I figure Tampa has some larger industry, Do you think there is a better choice?

-rich

[gypsychic]

Tampa is a good area for jobs, taxes will be lower outside the city limit, and you might be better off with an older home not in a development to save on the above-mentioned fees. Still, homeowner's insurance runs quite high, so you will have to factor in whether you will be saving much if anything from your current standard of living.

Good luck!

[rperreta]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Tampa is a good area for jobs, taxes will be lower outside the city limit, and you might be better off with an older home not in a development to save on the above-mentioned fees. Still, homeowner's insurance runs quite high, so you will have to factor in whether you will be saving much if anything from your current standard of living.

Good luck!

hmm... food for thought...