What is Right With Tampa

Tampa Skyline

With all of the negative publicity surrounding real estate these days, with the government “takeover” of FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC, with record foreclosures in Florida added to skyrocketing homeowners insurance rates and unpredictable gas prices, and with frequent hurricanes (Hurricane Ike is about to hit Florida so hard that they may re-name the state Tina Turner) what is there to like about Florida? Who would want to invest in Florida or Tampa Bay?

With all of the negatives, there is one really good reason to invest in Florida real estate. MONEY. The overall population of Florida is expected to double by 2030. Although builders over extended themselves with all the armature investors on 2005, even those investors who held on to bad investments will soon reap the rewards of their patience! A few things to remember about Florida: There is NO STATE INCOME TAX! That alone offsets most of the things I mentioned in the first paragraph on this blog! No snow! We are the Sunshine State! I’m at the beach the week before Christmas getting a tan while the rest of the country is shoveling snow! The Arts, the nightlife, the diversification of life and lifestyles! Not to mention The Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL), The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL), The Tampa Bay Rays (MLB). The Super Bowl will again be in Tampa in February of 2009!

I was watching my favorite show last week (The Million Dollar Listing on BRAVO Network) and my friend Chad Rogers (who is the star of the show, a Realtor reality show) was showing property in Malibu and Beverly Hills. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Talk about sticker shock! In Tampa, you can buy a brand new home in The Reserve of Old Tampa Bay (some of the best real estate in Tampa) for less than $1,200,000! I’m talking a 4000 square foot home on the water! Get in your boat and drive to Nassau water! That home anywhere in LA would bring $20,000,000. There are no $20,000,000 houses in Tampa and any agent who disagrees is talking EGO, not reality!

The fact that you can purchase a quality home in Tampa for $300,000 that has 3500 square feet, five bedrooms and three to four baths with a pool and a three car garage in a SAFE, great location (neighborhood) with some of the best schools anywhere in the USA (with a pool) is unheard of! In Tampa it is abundant! Yes it was over developed in 2005 and 2006, but the people are still coming, the jobs are still coming, there will be a time in 2010 where investors will say about Florida, “Could have, should have”. And here we are! To find out more about Florida and Tampa real estate, visit my website at www.headofrealestate.com