Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay
 [Register]
Tampa Bay Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 10-29-2008, 11:01 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,907 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hello all.

My wife and I are planning a move to St Pete area. I am active duty Coast Guard and my unit will be in Tampa. My wife plans on going to Manatee Community College so I would like to live in be within 30 minutes of each if possible. I plan on purchasing a house if it is worth it. I have never bought one before so I am looking to find as much information as I can prior to. I will most likely use a VA loan so that will negate the need for PMI. What are the property taxes like? How often do you pay? Where are the good areas and bad areas?

My wife found a home in Ruskin where they are asking $60,000 less than the value of the home?!?! That doesn't make much sense to me. But my fear is that when I move in 4 years the market may still be in the same place it is now, if that is the case then I would rather try to sell a home in Saint Pete rather than Ruskin. Is that a good idea? Knowing that I will be going to leave in 4 years should I even concern myself with a purchase or just plan on renting? I'm not concerned with making money just breaking even. I have a long hair chihuahua (wife's decision). Is that a major issue like it is in Philadelphia if renting?

Sorry for the tons of questions but I'm leaving my deployment and plan on going to see homes sometime mid December. Thanks for the advice.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-07-2008, 09:37 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,832 times
Reputation: 10
my fiancee is in active duty in st.petersburg we will marry soon and we will be looking for renting since in just a few years we will move. I dont think it is worth it buying a home because then we will be stressed with having to sell the house and everything.Good Luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2008, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Treasure Island
4 posts, read 13,888 times
Reputation: 10
Hi
I am a realtor in Saint petersburg Pinellas county. It is always good to have a lot of questions and to get answers.
Please check out my blog
Properties, houses and condos for sale in St Petersburg Treasure Island Florida

I have a step by step process about buying a home and I have a lot of info on the area. I think this will help you make a decision.
We just sold a home to a marine that was transfered to our area and I have to say it was a great experience for the buyer and for me. The VA loan was painless too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2008, 08:26 PM
 
Location: Castle Rock, Co
1,613 posts, read 3,238,517 times
Reputation: 969
I Dont think your dog will be a big issue. most places only have restrictions on big dogs, if any.. I wouldnt buy in ruskin. There are so many flies there its not even funny. My assumption is because they grow alot of produce there, but all around that area SUCKS in my opinion. I wouldnt buy a house 100k under value there. Not to mention that will be a decent drive to the coast guard station in st pete. if its the station i think it is, which im pretty sure it is, its really on the north end of st pete and ruskin is pretty much on the opposite side of the bay.

I also wouldnt buy if i were you.. You wont be here long enough to catch any real proffit and its just going to cost you more then renting. there are ALOT of homes for rent here since nobody can sell them and they just need to cover there mortgages.

As far as good and bad areas, there pretty well mixed together in st. pete.. there are some REALLY nice and some REALLY bad within 5 minutes of eachother, your best bet is to just visit and find an area you like.. Me personally, I dont care for st. pete either, I love tampa
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:24 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top