Homes “Near The Water” In Tampa, Florida

March 11th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Waterfront Homes

Notable prospective client e-mail of the day:

“I am not familiar with Tampa and we will be relocating in about six months and we are looking to purchase something in a very good neighborhood. We would also like to be near the water. How are prices there, and taxes? Were in Miami”.

Often, when speaking to new or prospective home buyer clients, I get the “We want to be near the water” statement, Which always begs the question from me, “What do you mean”? The water treatment plant? Gulf of Mexico? Tampa Bypass Canal? Hillsborough River? Lake Roberta? Tampa Bay? Pond? Pool? I really need some clarification. Where in Florida can you be, and not be near the water?

Ok, I do realize most folks mean either the Gulf of Mexico or Tampa Bay. But people who are relocating to the Tampa Bay area usually (and most understandably) have some major geographical misconceptions. I know I did 13 years ago.

Heck, my wife and I live “near the water”. We’re a stone’s throw from Tampa Bay. I can hear it and smell it, but I can’t see it. I see the pelicans cruising over my home quite often, but I have no dock. No place to launch my boat. In fact it costs me about $900 each year just to live “near the water”, in the form of flood insurance. But the only enjoyment I get it from it is hearing it on a windy, post-frontal day, or smelling the salt occasionally (for whatever that’s worth). But it’s not bad being surrounded by multi-million dollar properties either.

So what’s so special about being “near the water”? I find that when most folks add this as a criteria, they’re looking to be close to some place where one can enjoy the Florida lifestyle. Beaches, birds, boats, rum runners, margaritas, cheese burgers in paradise, etc. And the misconception is that Tampa is surrounded by that. But the fact is that Tampa is quite far, relatively speaking, from that environment. Yeah, I know we’ve got the Ben T. Davis Beach, and a few other sandy spots where one can lay a towel and soak up some rays, but these aren’t the beaches that most folks have in mind.

The Gulf of Mexico beaches, the ones that come to mind when most people visualize beaches, are a good 30 minute drive away at least. So the Tampa metro area, is not a beachy area. The Tampa Bay area however, is quite beachy indeed. The City of Tampa has many waterfront properties. We’ve got canal frontage, direct bay frontage, and we’ve got river frontage as well, all of it having access to Tampa Bay and The Gulf of Mexico beyond. But beaches we have not.

Granted, 30 minutes is near to some, but it’s far to others. So when I hear “near the water”, I seek clarification. What’s near mean? What do you like to do in or around the water? Boating, beach stuff? Fishing? Watching sunsets? Sunrises? Metal detecting? The answers to these questions go along way in finding the perfect Tampa Bay area for each particular home buyer.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Waterfront Homes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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