HELP!! I'm moving to Tampa! Where should I live.. (Lutz: chapel, daycares)

[ruth518500]

We are moving to Tampa due to my husbands job relocation (from the UK!). We are aged 32 and 36 with 3 kids aged 13, 9 and 2 and have no idea where to start looking for places to live! We're pretty sure we want somewhere to the north (New Tampa area?) as my husband will be working in zip code area 33618 (W Busch Blvd) and doesn't want more than half an hour commute to work. I liked the Longleaf community, but I think the drive may be too long. We want a great place to raise a family,with plenty of clubs/activities for the kids, we will probably private school the kids, so schools are not such an issue but we want a good, upscale community, with lots of possibilities for making friends for both us and the kids.

We live in a small village nr Stratford Upon Avon, England, so have never live the big city lifestyle and don't really want to! We think the best way to make friends is to be in a community.

We have up to $750K to spend on the right house, but would prefer to spend no more than $650K - please let me know if you think this is realistic. Any help gratefully appreciated! Also love to hear from anyone who has done a similar thing.

[Stewabby]

With that price range and the desired commute time I think Carrolwood would your best option.

[CrowGirl]

I agree with Stewabby's suggestion. You would have no problem getting a very nice place in Carrollwood in that price range. Tt is a very established community with a mixture of ages and demographics. It is well located to make getting into Tampa fairly easy and there are plenty of kids activities. As an older (by Florida standards) neighborhood most of the houses do not have deed restrictions and no HOA, which is a positive for me at least. And it's in the same zip code as the new job so the commute should be good. A little further away but also probably worth considering is Westchase. It's a newer area and many if not most of the communities will have deed restrictions and HOAs. Of course, that is something a lot of people want, so if this is a plus for you Westchase may be for you.

[tinalimey]

Yes you could get a very nice house in Tampa for that sort of money.

New Tampa is nice, or where we live in Wesley Chapel. There are some nice upscale neighbourhoods, such as Seven Oaks, which have easy access to I75/275, thus a decent commute to the Busch Blvd. area. Wesley Chapel also has a nice new mall, Shops at Wiregrass.

[ruth518500]

Thanks for the advice - I did look at Carrollwood, as we liked the CDS for the kids, but the houses all seemed a lot older. We're moving from a very old farmhouse in England and want a complete change - a new house that doesn't need updating! I think Westchase and Wesley chapel both look good - what sort of commute time would we have in these areaa? Thanks

[CrowGirl]

Depending on where in Westchase you were to W Busch Blvd might be about 20-30 minutes depending on whether you're in the East portion of Westchase and what time of day. I think it would be a better commute than Wesley Chapel. I'm not sure exactly what that might be but I would expect it would be longer.

[algia]

Lutz, 33558, 33548 and Carrollwood would be closest to Busch Blvd....Wesley Chapel is far......really long commute, traffic on both 75 and 275 at rush hour is miserable...same for Westchase.....schools are better in the zip codes I mentioned and you are close to CDS also......there aren't "plenty of clubs/activities" for kids.....not sure what you have in mind as far as that goes.....I have to say that living in a community here doesn't guarantee making lots of new friends, sadly, but true, we've been living in ours for over 2 years and our playground is always empty as kids are either in daycares or schools and people work a lot to afford living here, the other people living in "upscale" communities are the retired... just to give you a heads up, I am European too and I know what you're looking for, it is close to impossible to find it here.........but I wish you luck.

[tampaguy03]

Originally Posted by algia

...I have to say that living in a community here doesn't guarantee making lots of new friends, sadly, but true, we've been living in ours for over 2 years and our playground is always empty as kids are either in daycares or schools and people work a lot to afford living here, the other people living in "upscale" communities are the retired...

I have friends with kids that live in "upscale" communities and are neither retired, nor work more than I do, and the pool/play areas are packed on the weekends.

[kamorra2]

Moderator cut: ..

I've lived in a few communities and haven't had any issues.

[tilli]

We're moving from a very old farmhouse in England and want a complete change - a new house that doesn't need updating!

You should be careful of newer houses in this area, many of them are money pits because of the Chinese drywall that was widely installed during the housing boom. It is very expensive to repair as not only must they replace all the drywall, but the gas released corrodes copper in AC and electrical equipment and that must also be replaced. The numbers I heard quoted recently on the news were in the 100-150K range. Some people are claiming it is also effecting their health.

The New Tampa area you mention specifically is a traffic nightmare - a great example of what happens when developers are allowed to run rampant but roads are not modernized to accomodate the traffic. The congestion is pretty extreme, I would not want to live there unless I worked within New Tampa itself.

I agree with the other posters that Carrollwood is your best bet for location. The houses are a little older there, yes, but plenty of them have been recently renovated. They will still seem modern compared to an old English farmhouse. There is something to be said for mature landscaping, especially if you can shade the roof from the brutal summer sun.