The Tampa homes market is undergoing a shift. From the first time my husband and I started to begin thinking about buying a home 5 years ago until now, we have seen a market of ups, downs, and all-arounds. Needless to say, our hopes of owning a househave mirrored those real estate shifts. We started our union not being capable to own, then felt caught up in the large movement to buy out of fear of ever-increasing prices, buying a property just to lock in the existing price. Us knowing that it was morally improper to take a Tampa loan that would deem us “home poor”, we decided not to purchase anything, revolting against the seller’s market. From there, we gave up aspirations of ever owning in the Tampa Bay area.
Here we are in 2009 and Tampa homes is once again affordable to us lowly first time homebuyers and great houses are now very much worthy of our Tampa mortgage payment. Our aspirations and dreams of owning a slice of real estate in Tampa are rekindled.
Our serious search for real estate in Tampa started almost two months ago with the help of our realtor Rick Durand from Kings Realty & Property Management. In the beginning, we thought that a townhouse would be best because we are not the “outdoorsy” type that will find time to mow lawns or landscape. We preferred to just pay someone else to keep our lawn under control. A townhouse also seemed generally larger and more stable than most condos in the Tampa Fl homes for sale market. Tampa is filled with apartment to condo conversions, which in my humble opinion seem more akin to weakly built gingerbread houses. Our search for a respectable townhouse proved prosperous and our agent showed us all the great deals in our preferred area of Land O’ Lakes. The townhouses are newer and built in underdeveloped areas where wilderness conservation lots are the norm.
In this Tampa homes market the home buyer can be choosy. We wanted to see all our options and our agent was glad to oblige us with that request. Continuing in Land O’ Lakes, we found a subdivision of villas in our preferred price range and quickly made an offer on a short sale property. We loved the solid block construction and no lawn work that the villa offered as well as the great open floor plan and established area. We are getting everything we wanted without having to give up any of the things on our wish list. Traditionally, purchasing a piece of Tampa real estate meant sacrificing at least one of your wants and desires like the area, a larger master bedroom, or lots of closet space. We sacrificed nothing and truthfully are getting everything we wanted and more. This was made possible only because of a savvy Tampa Fl homes for sale realtor like Rick Durand who searched around this saturated market where the well-qualified buyer is king, or queen, and is helping us purchase a home. He knew when a home’s listed price was not so much of a deal but rather an attempt to gather up offers that would return nothing but a long wait with a “no” at the end of the line.
We have seen the Tampa homes market evolve more in the last five years than it has in the twenty years prior which just confirms, much to the chagrin of some, that shift does indeed occur.
Yours truly,
Anna W.
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