moving to tampa florida

3 Top Reason Why You Should Move To Tampa Florida

If you are considering moving to one of the absolute best destination in the United States, Florida would be an excellent choice. But where exactly in Florida should you plant your roots? Consider Tampa!

The west coast of Florida especially the Tampa Bay area has some of the most beautiful beaches, sunsets, and attractions yet still is affordable and has so much to offer. The following are just a few of the many reasons why you should move to Tampa, FL.

1. The Economy

The city of Tampa Bay is located in Hillsborough County and consists of a large natural harbor along the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast of Florida comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay and Lower Tampa.  These areas are not just incredible places to visit but support great economics also.  For instance the unemployment rate just a few years ago has progressed in a strong downward spiral beginning at 8.1% to 6.5% a year ago and now currently sitting at just 5.5%. Tampa was also just ranked 24th among the 150 best cities to find a job.

2. Attractions

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Much like Orlando being known for Disney World, Tampa is known for Busch Gardens. Not only does Busch Gardens draw a crowd but there are many other options such as the thrilling water park Adventure Island, the top rated Florida Aquarium, and the awesome family-friendly Lowry Park Zoo. If you haven’t been to these entertainment destinations you will be pleasantly surprised.

Whether you are looking for one of the top 5 rated roller coasters plummeting hundreds of feet in a matter of seconds or access to nearly 30 acres of water rides and thrills and even the up close encounters of wild life from one of the top 10 aquariums in the country or the #1 family-friendly zoo. Tampa has a large following of thrill seekers but that isn’t what continues to make this location a great place to call home.

3. The BEACH!houses for sale in tampa bay fl

Ahhhh the beach! If you know anything about the west coast white sand beaches of Florida you will understand why people never want to leave. There are some 35 miles of beach in the Tampa area with many of the beaches winning all sorts of awards and accolades. Some of the beaches in the Tampa Bay Area include:

This just scratches the surface of all the desirable reasons why people decide to move to Tampa but this city has so much more to offer including great schools and universities, fishing and boating, paddle boarding, football, baseball, hockey, and even drinking homegrown freshly brewed beer. Tampa has endless possibilities.

The housing situation is plentiful ranging from high-rise condos to suburban neighborhoods to homes on the beach. If you are thinking about moving to Tampa, Florida be sure to research your new potential neighborhoods and communities on the MoveMap at www.MoversAtlas.com. Happy house hunting!

5 Fantastic Reasons To Move To Miami FL

If you’ve never been to Miami, Florida, you owe yourself at least one visit.  Miami is a beautiful, vibrant metropolis that bridges the divide between north and South America both culturally and geographically.  Miami is an economic heavy-Shoudl I Move To Miami floridaweight with a bustling port, and thriving finance, commerce, media, entertainment and tourism trades.  Miami is also the only major American city founded by a woman – Julia Tuttle, bought hundreds of acres back in 1875 believing that the area had the potential to become a trading hub between North and South America.  She was right.  Sure, Miami has its issues: a face eating pseudo-zombie, morally questionable politicians, and drivers with a death wish, but it’s still a great place to live.  Here’s why:

1. The Climate – Miami, like much of Florida is subtropical.  Being as far south as it is, the winters are extremely mild.  While New York and Chicago were suffering through the ‘polar vortex’ last year, folks in Miami we’re enjoying 60-70 degree weather.  That means they were walking around in T-shirts and shorts appreciating the scenic coconut palms through their stylish sunglasses.  There’s no snow to shovel in Miami and being able to enjoy the beach in January is par for the course.  Sure, the 90 degree summers and intense humidity can be a drag, but the sheer volume of bikini clad women is compensation enough for the summer heat.

2. The Beach – OK, this one is obvious.  Miami’s beaches are world famous, but they’re famous for a reason.  Crandon Park Beach is known as the party beach.  A visit might include a model sighting or two and topless sunbathing is not only allowed but encouraged.  Need we say more?  If you’re looking for a more family friendly beach, you can head over to Matheson Hammock Park Beach, which is actually a man-made lagoon fed by the gentle tidal movements of Biscayne Bay.  It’s calm and secluded – making it a nice spot to bring the kids.  If you’re more into surfing, you can drop by Haulover Beach.  It seems to get Miami’s biggest swells, but get there early to avoid the aggressive semi-pros who think they’re training for the professional circuit.

3. The Nightlife – Night clubs aren’t for everyone, but if you’re single and in your twenties or thirties, chances are you will like what Miami has to offer; Miami has some of the best night clubs in the world.  There are tons of options, no matter what you’re into, but we’ll discuss a few of the more famous ones here.  Mansion Nightclub is one Miami’s famous party spots.  Often visited by models and hip hop celebs, the sound system is impeccable, the light shows are phenomenal and the guests are beautiful.  The drinks are very expensive and you have to be well dressed to get through the door though.  Mynt Lounge is a futuristic themed club frequented by actors, models and celebrities.  It’s very exclusive and quite pricey.  Finally, Nikki Beach is an open air club under the palm trees at the tip of Ocean Drive.  It’s an upscale restaurant by day and transforms into a dance club and lounge at night.  During the weekend nights, “anything goes”.

4. Fashion – If you’re into fashion, Miami is your spot in the southeast. There are three major fashion hubs in the US: Los Angeles, New York, and Miami…Miami doesn’t have apocalyptic traffic or nasty winters though.  The city is home to worldwide modeling agencies such as Wilhelmina Models, Elite Model Management, and the William Morris Agency, along with renowned local agencies like The Green Agency.  Miami has also been a home to designers such as Bruce Weber and Gianni Versace.  If you’re more into shopping, Miami has a number of high fashion shopping destinations as well.  The Webster Miami is a 20,000 square foot boutique that resides in an old art deco building in Miami’s South Beach area.  It sells a variety of hard-to-find, exclusive brands.  You can also visit the Miami Design District, which houses a number of high end boutiques in close proximity.  Finally, Miami has three major fashion weeks: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, Miami Beach International Fashion Week, and Funkshion Fashion Week.

5. Real Estate – While real estate prices may not be a great reason to move to a place on their own, they might give you the final push.  The real estate market in south Florida, especially Miami, has been strong recently and will likely remain so.  So if you’re looking for a tropical paradise with a good return on your property investment, Miami might be the place for you.

We hope this blog has turned you on to some of the great reasons to move to Miami.  If you’re curious about specific neighborhoods in Miami, check out our MoveMap.  It will tell you everything you need to know about a community before you ever set foot there!

4 Important Things To Know Before Buying A Condo

If you have been renting an apartment for the majority of your life the thought of a house may seem overwhelming.  Not everyone likes to wake up on Saturday morning and deal with yard maintenance, painting, roof leaks, air conditioning purchasing a condo in flissues, pressure washing or weeding flower beds.  If that doesn’t sound like something you would like to do then maybe a condo would be a happy medium between the apartment living and the full blown maintenance burdening house.

Condo living is like being in an apartment but better, you get the benefits of doing whatever upgrades you want to the inside like paint or flooring and on top of that instead of the rent going into someone else’s pocket you end up paying yourself with the investment of the real estate you purchased.  It sounds like a no brainer right?!  Well here are a few things to consider before you take the plunge on investing into your future.

1. Do your homework – as with any purchase you will need to find out as much as you can about the place you have set your sights on, with a condo though you need to be looking for the right issues.  Since the downturn in real estate it is important to understand many condominium properties are plagued with foreclosures and delinquencies and besides the fact of sounding like a great way to find a good price on a condo it actually tends to be a sign of both bad management and potential cost impacts that would get passed to the owner (you) through extra fees and higher HOAs.  Depending on how long the community has been hurting will also reflect what kind of upkeep has been done to things like the building’s infrastructure, pool and other facilities.  In the long run this typically hurts the value of your purchase and your steal-of-a-deal ends up being a bad deal.

2. Remember what you are buying – as it may seem a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo appears like 1100 square feet of freedom but you need to use the perspective that you are buying into a community with many other people.  All of your surrounding neighbors have signed the same clauses you have.  With any venture in business not understanding the surrounding financials, management and community would just be bad business on your part.

3. Ask for the budget – It may seem a little forward but finding out if the management has enough funding to keep things afloat and plans for large renovations or additions is very important.  You wouldn’t buy a car from someone that is in the middle of being repossessed would you?

4. Delinquencies – Even if you did find the deal of a life time you need to look at how many of your neighbors are up-to-date with their fees and mortgage notes.  This may not seem like a big deal but if you are looking to finance your purchase, many times there are regulations on how many units are delinquent and yes that is another sign that there may be a downward spiral.  If you have cash this may not sound like a problem BUT on the other side of that if you are trying to sell at a time with high delinquencies the person trying to buy your place may not be able to get financing.

It is important to go through these points and understand where the condominium sits with these issues.  Like they say if you find a deal that seems too good to be true, there may be something else hiding.  If you want to find out more check out www.MoversAtlas.com they have all the tools you need.