Some home seller still don't understand or believe that prices have fallen in the past 12-18 months. You don't say where you want to live. Traffic in Tampa can be a nightmare, depending on where you live and where you have to go to work. My in-laws are selling their home in the Carrollwood section of Tampa. Great old, established neighborhood, pride of ownership, etc. They recently renovated the home, new master bedroom, pool, family room, nicely landscaped, etc.

Let me know if you want more info.

I am selling my house located in The Respectable Subdivision of Twelve Oaks in Town & Country area. A community convenient to the entire Bay Area. Just minutes away from downtown Tampa, The Airport, Shopping Malls, Elementary School (Morgan Woods) and High Schools. The house is beautiful. It offers so many extras for the price. 4 bedrooms 2.5 bath, semi-commercial swimming pool, jaccuzzi. We remodeled the house completely. It is the 2nd. best maintained home in the neighborhood. It also sitting in a cul-de-sac with no neighbors in the back and a lot of privacy. If you need more information or would like for me to send you pictures, please do not hesitate to write me at: sscorrea@msn.com Good luck and Welcome to Tampa.

Dear Jmanis:

Welcome to Tampa. I understand your problem. Most houses have very cheap finish to them. I would like to introduce you to Our house a 4/3 with two car garage in south Tampa--Port Tampa area. The house has a lot of charm and is as close to new condition as you can get. The asking price is $285,000 My Icon is a picture of the house and we are willing to work with Realtors. The Realtors that have seen this house are impressed with the final finish and the little extras that make a house a home. Please e-mail me so I can send you more detailed information.

Sincerely,

A. J. Sanchez

If you want to get the best bargain and have the patience to wait it out, you may want to attempt a short sale. Many Realtors do not want to be bothered with short sales since it may take several months to close (and several months for the Realtor to get paid.). Also there are other problems with short sales that are a big headache. If you have the stamina it may be the best way for you to capture a true bargain.

Lender owned properties may also be a great deal but you need a very attentive Realtor since these properties oftentimes sell in less than a week from list date. The good ones will not wait until you take a tour bus to go look at them. Your best bargain would be an "ugly" home with plenty of potential but will require a fair amount of cash in your pocket to do this. The "pretty" homes may cost you more since you will be competing with significantly more buyers.

So bottom line... decide if you're in a position (cash wise and temperament wise) to do the fix up after closing or if you want a pretty home, you will need to plan on renting for as long as 9 months before a lender may finally approve a short sale.

Good luck! If you're not already working with a Realtor, I am well experienced with short sales and I may be able to help you; give me a call.

All my best,

Alma Rose Kee, P.A.
Charles Rutenberg Realty, Inc.
813.244.9898

From what I gather the two areas that shoud meet your needs are South Tampa and Old Carrolwood. South Tampa will have homes dating back to the early 1900's that have been updated on the inside with maybe an addition to make them larger and Old Carrolwood will have homes from the 1950's to now with the same type of remodels.

One thing to remember about South Tampa is that even though you pay more than any other location this area historically holds its value a lot better.

I can totally understand where you're coming from. New Tampa is great but you are not going to get that old southern charm home. There are many deals out there. Home prices have dropped 25% to 40% over the last two years and there are many distress sales going on right now. 4 out of every 10 listings are short sales/ preforclosures. For that old southern feel you may want to go just east of tampa to Plant City. Plant city still in Hillsborough Cnty gives you that old souther feel and home prices are much lower than anything you will find in Tampa. The drive into downtown is about 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. I think you will like it and like what you get for your money compared to Tampa, new Tampa and South Tampa. Check out the homes I search for you in the link provided under Web references.
The Tampa Bay area is a great area to live, there is a lot to do and we have some of the worlds best beaches just 30 to 45 minutes away. I welcome you to Tampa and hope you have a pleasent move. Feel free to call me if you need any asistance or just have questions about the area. I am a Tampa Native and can answer just about any question you can ask about tampa or I know someone that can.
God Bless
Tony Gonzalez, MBA
Real Estate Consultant
Keller Williams Tampa Properties

Hi,

What you need to do first is look at where you or your husband are going to have to work. Then I would suggest looking at a google map and see where there are pockets of residential areas within striking distance of that area. One thing you need to know is that Tampa's highway can be extremely busy and you or your husband could be stuck in traffic for hours every day. Another solution would be to find a few future co-workers or HR and ask them where they live and how happy they are with the commute. In terms of accomodation, you will always be able to find something to your taste. And if there is something you don't like, just rip it off and replace it. It's easier to replace ceramic tiles than transplant a neighborhood.

Michel

P.S. You will love Tampa. Do not dispair. It is a great city.

Jmanis,

If your husband will be working in the Westshore or downtown Tampa you need to consider South Tampa!
A+ schools, great older homes, short drive time to everything.

Please let me make this move as painless as possible.

E-mail or call me with your exact needs and wants. The home you want is waiting here and it is a great place to live and raise a family!

Respectfully,

Ines Alvarez
Prudential Tropical Realty
ialvarez@prutropical.com
813-784-2702

Your desire for an older home in a historic area leads me to the area of "South Tampa" You are more then welcome to visit my websiteand set yourself up on my "Listingbook MLS Search" where you can critique your search to either zip codes, sub divisions, towns, or even a map search. You can change your search criteria at any time your needs change. If you contact me, I can walk your through it, but it is pretty simple and there is even a short webinar on how it works.
As far as your friends in New Tampa, you must not have explained what you are looking for in an "area" as New Tampa is as the name implies, it is new, with most homes being built after 2000 to present. although I am sure they like the schools. Feel free to contact me to further discuss what your needs are. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. Good Luck.
Mike Ceparano 813-417-6698
ceppym@yahoo.com

Hi J,

My team and I are hosting a Foreclosure Tour Bus THIS WEEKEND. Not sure when you will be here, but we have a bus leaving this weekend from 12-5 pm Tickets are just $25 and you can get more info here:

http://www.activerain.com/blogsview/559962/Tampa-Foreclosure…

or here:

http://www.activerain.com/blogsview/588040/Tampa-Bay-Foreclo…

This tour is ONLY for BANK OWNED homes (not short sales) and we have cherry picked the homes we will go and tour this Saturday. Of coarse we normally taylor anything more specific to a private tour.

Let us know, If you are here this Saturday, we would love to have you on our tour bus.

Katrina Madewell

Hmmm, let me try to really narrow this down to hopefully help make it easier to to help us in our search.
How about a suggestion for neighborhoods that we may find a historic/older home that is 4 bed around roughly 2000 sq feet with great schools/location. And site to search for those preferences.

D/t my husbands job I have relo'ed to 5 states (from the northeast to the southeast) in the last 5 years and have always been able to get a good idea of the area real estate from extensive searches. That is not the case with Tampa, for us.

One thing to remember. You may be taking a loss on your home selling it but you will more than make up for it when you purchase your new home. New Tampa is a great place to live but if you are working in downtown Tampa then you may want to reconsider since your drive to work can take a long time. Brandon is a little closer with plenty of homes in the size and price you mentioned. South Tampa could be ideal, it has the Old Florida bungalows or new home that meet your criteria.

Just as the others have suggested contact a Realtor here in the Tampa area. Make sure that you feel cofortable (i.e. interview us).

I sell homes all over the Tampa area and beyond. I hope this helps and I look forward to possible helping you find a home.

J,

If your point of reference is strictly limited to an on line presence, we don't think you are being fair to the market or the area!

Find an agent to support your interests and work with you to identify homes that meet your expectations.

Good luck

I probably should have given you some info on it, sorry. It is a 4 bedroom, 4 bath, Plus a study, Plus a bonus room, 3 car garage, granite countertops, crown molding, 18" tile only in the "wet areas" and nearly 3200 sf under air. Here is the link again.

http://www.buyandselltampa.com/Land_O_Lakes/Florida/Homes/34…

My office is in New Tampa and I specialize in the eastern portion of Tampa from Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, all the way down to Apollo Beach. Feel free to contact me or another agent here on Trulia.

Jeff Launiere, P.A., e-PRO
Keller Williams Realty
Tampa, FL
813-469-3163
Info@SweetHomeTampa.com

You shouldn't be discouraged, I have the perfect house, Brand New. It is located within a few minute ride to your friends and has some AWESOME upgrades that come standard, just look at the pics in my link and then contact me. I will go over all the upgrades with you, plus I will get you up to 6% of the purchase price towards closing costs.
Mike Ceparano 813-417-6698
ceppym@yahoo.com
http://www.buyandselltampa.com/Land_O_Lakes/Florida/Homes/34…

Thank you for your responce!
We don't have a specific area in Tampa where we are looking to buy, I have never been to Tampa (only St. Pete on vaca once about 5 years ago) and am not familair with the area. What are looking for is a 4+bed that is not huge... I would love to find a 4 bed at around 2000-2300sq. ft. with charm. I ADORE old southern homes.
We are open to new homes as well ... but I imagine/hope it will be a charming older home. We hope to stay close to 300,000, as we will have to take a HUGE six figure loss on our current home to make this move.
We do have friends in New Tampa that recently relo'ed and they are encouraging us to look in that area as well.
I would so appreciate any help because we are even considering stayong here and letting my husband do the commute (6 hours). In this market, we don't know how to make the right decision!
Thanks so much!

The best thing to do is to contact a great Realtor and discuss with them what you are looking for. A Realtor can help you find the home that best fits your needs in the price range you are looking for.

Approximately 85% of the homes on the market are overprice with only 15% being the best buys. Your Realtor will help by sending you the 15% rather than you having to try to look through 100% of the homes to find the few best ones.

Jeff Launiere, P.A., e-PRO
Keller Williams Realty
Tampa, FL
813-469-3163
Info@SweetHomeTampa.com

There is an abundance of homes to choose from. What part of Tampa are you looking to move into?

If you can give me or those of us who answer the questions on this forum a better idea of what you are looking for and what area then we can be a little more helpful.

I just helped a couple from up your way (Charleston to be exact) find a great home in South Tampa. We were able to find what they wanted and for the price they wanted to stay around very easily.