Originally Posted by vegas

Hi I have lived in Tampa for 2 years now. With hindsight I would not have moved here in the first place. The areas you mention on the coast are very prone to flooding when the hurricanes come. Also if any hurricanes come off the gulf then you will have a strong hurricane to contend with. As I have said in previous posts it is 9 months of paradise and 3 months of hell here ( Very hot in summer, Humidity thats oppressive, Wrath of god lightening storms like you have never seen before). If you are determined to come here then I would advise you buy a Brick built, tiled roof, storm shuttered bungalow with good drainage and not near any rivers. A lot of houses here are wood built with a stucco covering which allowed the very heavy rain of the storms to come through. If you buy a house here and sell it before 2 years then any gain is subject to capital gains tax. I will have lived here 2 years in August I am selling up and moving to Texas as soon as I can. Tampa is fast becoming the 2nd hispanic city of America after Miami and because of this wages are extremely low. The 2 most desireable areas of Tampa are Westchase ( can be prone to flooding there ) and New Tampa. The beauty of new tampa is that it is 30 miles inland so any hurricanes have weakended slightly before they hit. Also A huge shopping mall is being built there so making that area the most desirable. You are 20 minutes from Busch Gardens and 1 1/4 hour from Disney Orlando. House prices are rising by 25% per year in Westcase and New Tampa. We bought our house for $340k in Aug 03 it is now worth $450k

Originally Posted by izibear

As Tone said, Tarpon Springs/Palm Harbor are actually quite a ways away from Tampa.

Where is your husband going to be located? If on the west side, then Westchase would be great, but if he's not on the west side of Tampa, I wouldn't live there, its very far away from everywhere else. There are great little neighborhoods everywhere if you don't fancy living in a deed restricted community.

There are wonderful homes in South Tampa and if you want to sell up in a couple of years' time, there is nowhere like it to make a load of $$ on, even though the prices are pretty steepish there.

Originally Posted by izibear

Parts of Odessa itself are absolutely gorgeous. Westchase is a couple of miles down the same road from there.

Go to realtor.com and search the Odessa/Citrus Park area. Tarpon Springs is also just down the road from there along the way. I would advise against Clearwater as the traffic is horrid up and down the 19.

Northdale area also has wonderful established neighborhoods, (it is the neighborhood where Brittan's is) loads of young families, and is but a short drive (probably 15 mins or so) from Odessa.

North Dale Mabry area has turned into subdivision central the last year or so (all the farms have been sold! more's the pity ;)) and looks pretty great too, around the corner from Odessa. There is just so much going on up there, it is unbelievable. (I recall when Odessa was considered the boondocks, about 5 years ago!).

Btw, if I could afford it, I'd live on Lake Keystone anyday :):)

Originally Posted by vegas

Land O Lakes is very nice and close to Odessa. Be very careful if you are buying at the height of the hurricane season Aug/Sep because you will not be able to obtain house insurance if there is even a hint of a hurricane on the horizon.