Sheila

If the owner is in the process of short selling the home, you need to start looking for another home to move into immediately. You are going to have to move sooner or later so you may as well get it over with as soon as possible. I doubt you will get your deposit back on the home if you put one down. When looking for a new home to rent, try to make sure the owner is isn't behind on their mortgage payments. The owner, of course, may or may not be honest with you, but a good bet is to rent a home the owner has owned for more than a few years. You can check out when the owner purchased the home on your local property appraiser website. Also check out the tax records to make sure their taxes are current.
Good luck! - Mon Jul 13 2009, 14:02

I may be difficult to find a nice townhome or condo in S. Tampa for under $200k, but if you afford $50k more you may be able to find a short sale. You should look at the highrise condo on Bayshore named 345 Bayshore, Parkcrest on Harbour Island or drive around the cool condos in Channelside - The Place, Ventana, Victory Loft, Grand Central. Also, look at Skypoint located downtown on Ashley St. These condos are located in a great area and would have alot of single people living there.

You can search for condos/townhomes at http://www.buytampafl.com/search/main-property-search.shtml - Thu Dec 11 2008, 15:58

I don't know how much you are looking to spend on a home, but South Tampa is expensive and 4BR/3BA homes will run well over $300k. You may be able to find a home in the Port Tampa area, which is very close to the AFB but the schools aren't the best. If you live in St. Petersburg, the drive will be very hectic and traffic will be bad. I would recommend the Brandon/Valrico area where there alot of new homes priced at $140k and up. It would be an easy drive with light traffic on the Crosstown Expressway and should only take you 20 minutes. Brandon/Valrico has great schools and is a very family-oriented, safe place to live.

You can search for Brandon/Valrico homes on my website at http://www.buytampafl.com/search/main-property-search.shtml.
The zip codes for Brandon/Valrico are 33510, 33511, 33594. - Thu Dec 11 2008, 15:37