Ohio family looking to move somewhere between North of Tampa to Sarasota and needs your help (Lakeland: leasing, HOA)

[Scott B]

I am a married man with a wife and two children. I am looking to accept a new position with an insurance company and will work out of my home. The areas that I will service will be Tampa, down to Sarasota, and as far over as Winter Haven. My wife and kids will remain in Ohio for one more year while my daughter finishes high school. We promised that we wouldn't make her move. When they do move down in JUne of 2009, my son will be entering high school as a freshman. My wife is in the medical field and will be working out of a hospital or physician's office. We are looking for a 3 to 4 bedroom home, 2 bath, garage and in ground pool in a SAFE neighborhood in a GREAT school district. I read a lot of the replies from the lady looking to move to Wesley Chapel. Income level will be around 90,000.00 so what can we expect to get with that ? We don't know much about costs, insurance, taxes, etc. Schools and Neighborhoods are very important to us. Can anyone else out there help this poor cold northern boy...... Thanks Scott.

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[CharlotteP]

I'm not sure why your post went into my "personal messages", but when I read it I was amazed at our similar situations. My husband moved to Fl from MI in July 07. I stayed behind to allow our daughter to finish her senior year. Our son will have to finish senior year here in Fl as we all moved down in June. I dont feel familiar enough with the area yet to give advice on where to move, but I will tell you that I found great schools.net to be helpful in checking out school systems. We based our current living situation on the High School that would best serve our son in his final year. My husband rented an inexpensive 1 bedroom condo for the year that he lived alone. It was cost efficient and perfectly suitable for a "batchelor" who traveled often anyway. We still havent been able to sell our home in MI (listed in March 08), so, if you havent already put your home on the market and have to deal with that, I would encourage you to do so asap due to the poor housing market. Having your family rent a place for a few months would be preferable to worrying about selling after you've moved. I would encourage you to rent when you first get down here and get to know the area and traffic patterns(you're not in the Midwest anymore!) that best suit your job travel. We are currently leasing a home (something we've NEVER done) for the good school district. I love the convenience of everything being nearby, (we're in a subdivision) but coming from 15+ acres, it's hard to adjust to neighbors on every side of me. I know that we won't stay here once our son graduates-we need more room! But for now, the good school outweighs the need for trees and privacy! I'm glad we didnt commit to purchasing a home before really getting to know the area. Good luck!

[cariad]

There are many nice, safe neighborhoods with good schools around the Tampa Bay Area. Since you don't have to restrict your choice according to commute, it would help to know personal preferences for lifestyle and activities, closeness to the water, urban, suburban, rural, etc. Then we can give suggestions that fit.

Definitely agree about renting, especially while they are still up north-it will give you an opportunity to explore so many different areas.

[Scott B]

Our family is a typical family unit. We spend a lot of time together. Our daughter plans on going to college in Florida when they move down. We are involved in our church and enjoy the ocean. We haven't had a lot of experience on the water such as a sailing, kayaking, etc., but we are definitely willing to try.

We don't have to be right on the water. I have an acre of land now, so I will have to get use to the idea of neighbors real close. We are very scared to make the move. We don't want our kids exposed to the gangs, drugs, violence. The area that we live in is in the country and very quiet. Our closest city is 15 minutes away.

We love to swim and walk the beach. I don't know how we will adjust to the extreme summer heat and humidity. I lived in North Carolina for 3 years when I was a kid.

Any other info. that anyone could give would be great. Such as what we can expect to pay in taxes, insurance and any "pit falls" that we should stay away from. From what research that I have done, it appears that the housing market in Florida is definitely a buyer's market. How is the general economy though ? A few people have suggested Brandon and Wesley Chapel as possilbe locations. Any info. on those two areas.

Thanks...... Scott

[michelekfla]

I live in Land O Lakes which is next to Wesley Chapel. It is a little closer to Tampa. You can get some land here depending on what you want. There are some equestrian communities where you could have horses. There are also some subdivisions where you could buy the land and then build a house. I am in a subdivision, on a cul de sac in a 3100 sq ft house with a pool. I am on the corner of the cul de sac. In 2001 I paid 215,00 for my house. The value went up as high as 450,000. It is probably down to about 300,000. My taxes are 3200 a year. I have an HOA fee of 460 a year. I do not live in a community with a CDD. You have to watch out for those. Hope this helps.

[Scott B]

Thanks, all information that I can get helps..... Scott

[Keeper]

You might want to check out S. Tampa area. It would certainly more convenient to Sarasota and Winter Haven. That area is also near hospitals and many doctor's offices.

Brandon, Valrico or Riverview would also be another area to consider. You can get some good deals in Riverview right now from what I understand. Maybe a realtor will step in and give you an idea of what is available in those areas.

Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, Lutz and Land O lakes are nice areas but IMHO would not be as convenient as S. Tampa area for your travels or your wife's employment.

[dmccauley]

I live in Sarasota. There are two great hospitals here. Doctors Hospital and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Siesta Key is only 8 miles and 75 is only 2 min. away. The community I live in is very family oriented and the location is ideal especially if you have to commute. The schools are a+. The area is more upscale. As far as deed restricted this is a must. You don't want to look at your neighbors motorcycles or rv's on the lawn do you?lol The location is 1 hour to tampa and 1 hour to Ft. Myers. Sarasota has many festivals and exhibits throughout the year, besides the best beaches in the US.

[Dianekathome]

Hi Scott,

I'm a 4th generation Sarasota native, attended college in Tampa and have lived/worked all over the Tampa Bay area. If you are covering the area from Tampa to Sarasota to Winter Haven, I would definitely suggest that you look at communities up and down the I-75 corridor, which runs between Tampa and Sarasota. For your reference, it is about an hour on I-75 from the northern-most exit in Tampa to the southern-most exit in Sarasota. To get to Winter Haven, you would need to go east from I-75 on I-4. Parish or Ellenton would be about the halfway mark between Tampa and Sarasota, but they're very small areas. In that same general area, there's also Apollo Beach, which isn't actually on the beach, but is a beautiful development. Closer to Sarasota, there is Lakewood Ranch (part in Sarasota; part in Bradenton) - it's a really big community with anything you could want. If you want a really nice community with some elbow room, there are lots off of SR 70 and SR 64 (both are exits in Bradenton off of I-75). A friend of mine lives in Panther Ridge; it has gorgeous homes, but it's about 10 or 15 minutes east of I-75. There are also lots of bedroom communities to Tampa in the Brandon area which are very convenient to I-75; Riverview and Valrico are a couple names. We live in an area called New Tampa, which is also right off of I-75, but it's on the northern end of your territory. As far as your price range, you're probably fine with any of these areas. And it's definitely a buyer's market here! Let me know if you'd like some zip codes to check out these areas.

[Ldywlf]

I haven't lived in Tampa for YRS but I have family still in the Tampa area. If you want more rural area's you may want to look into places like Odessa (I have family that live on Echo Lake there) or Plant City, Lakeland or even Thononassa (sp?) and Riverview. Temple Terrace was once a great place to live as well. I grew up there. While I was there Sulpher Springs or as some called it Suffering Springs was a BAD area to live. I lived there for a very short time and it was scary. You couldn't unload your groceries without locking your car with every load you took in the house and you didn't even take walks around the block without being in fear of getting jumped by thugs. I would suggest that what ever area you chose make sure you do some research on the area before moving there. Good luck on your new adventure and job.