Tampa Real Estate

Tampa Real Estate - Lake Azzure Condominiums

A new cool condo conversion in Carrollwood.

Unbelievable pricing 2 BR/2 BA from $124,900
Lake Azzure offers resort-style living at an affordable price.
1, 2 and 3 bedrooms with washer and dryer.
Beautiful lakeside views
Fishing and boating in your backyard
Two swimming pools, clubhouse, fitness center
Centrally located in Carrollwood

Click here for more info or call Sara at 727-512-8088.

Visit our website at www.TampaDreaming.com

Tampa Real Estate

The word "Tampa" is a Native American word used to refer to the area when the first European explorers arrived in Florida. Its meaning, if any, has been lost to the ages, though it is sometimes claimed to mean "sticks of fire" in the language of the Calusa, a Native American tribe. Other historians claim the name refers to "The place to gather sticks". "Sticks of fire" may also relate to the high concentration of lightning strikes that Tampa Bay receives every year during the hot and wet summer months. Toponymist George R. Stewart writes that the name was the result of a miscommunication between the Spanish and the Indians, the Indian word being "itimpi", meaning simply "near it" (Stewart, pg. 231).

The name first appears in the "Memoir" of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda (1575), the author of which had spent 17 years as a Calusa captive. He calls it "Tanpa" and describes it as an important Calusa town. While "Tanpa" is the apparent basis for the modern name "Tampa", archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original "Bay of Tanpa". Later Spanish explorers, having failed to locate Charlotte Harbor, assumed that the large bay they did find was the Bay of Tanpa, and the name stuck with the current Tampa Bay.[2]

In April of 1528, the ill-fated Narváez Expedition landed near Tampa with the intention of starting a colony. After being told by the natives of better riches to the north, they abandoned their camp after only a week. A dozen years later, a surviving member of the expedition named Juan Ortiz was rescued by Hernando de Soto's expedition.[3] A peace treaty was conducted with the local Indians and a short-lived Spanish outpost was established, but this was abandoned when it became clear that there was no gold in the area, and that the local Indians were not interested in converting to Catholicism and were too skilled as warriors to easily conquer.

When Great Britain acquired Florida in 1763, the bay was named Hillsborough Bay, after Lord Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Spain transferred Florida to the United States in 1821 (see Adams-Onís Treaty). An Indian reservation was established in what is now North Tampa. As part of efforts to firmly establish United States control over southern Florida, then a vast swampy wilderness with sparse Seminole Indian population, a military outpost ("Cantonment Brooke") was established at what is now the Tampa Convention Center in Downtown Tampa in 1823 by Colonels George Mercer Brooke and James Gadsden. In 1824, the post was renamed Fort Brooke. It was a vital military asset in the Seminole Wars. The village of Tampa began to grow up around the fort, which was decommissioned in 1883. Except for two cannons now on the University of Tampa campus, all traces of the fort are gone.

Tampa was incorporated on January 18, 1849 with 185 inhabitants (excluding military personnel stationed at Fort Brooke). The city's first census came in 1850 when Tampa-Fort Brooke accounted for 974 residents. [4] Tampa was reincorporated as a town on December 15, 1855, and Judge Joseph B. Lancaster became the first Mayor in 1856. [5] [6] During the Civil War, Fort Brooke was occupied by Confederate troops, and martial law was declared in Tampa. In 1862, a Union gunboat shelled the city during the Battle of Tampa. [7] [8] Union forces took Fort Brooke in May of 1864, and occupied the town for the next year.

Phosphate was discovered in the Bone Valley region near Tampa in 1883. Tampa is now one of the world's leading phosphate exporters. Henry B. Plant's railroad reached the town shortly thereafter, enabling the commercial fishing industry to thrive. [9]

In 1885, the Tampa Board of Trade persuaded Vincente M. Ybor to move his cigar manufacturing operations to Tampa from Key West. The Ybor City district was built to accommodate the factories and their workers. Tampa soon became a major cigar production center. Thousands of Italian (the majority coming from Alessandria Della Rocca and Santo Stefano Quisquina, two small Sicilian towns which Tampa maintains strong ties with) and Cuban immigrants came to Tampa to work at the factories.

Franklin Street, looking North, Tampa c. 1910s-1920s

Franklin Street, looking North, Tampa c. 1910s-1920s

Henry B. Plant built a lavish luxury hotel called the Tampa Bay Hotel in the city in 1891, which became the foundation of the University of Tampa when it was established in 1933 becoming Tampa's first institute of higher learning. [10]

Tampa was an embarkation center for American troops during the Spanish-American War. Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were part of the 30,000 troops stationed in Tampa for training.

In 1904, local civic association Ye Mystic Krewe "invaded" the city for the first time, establishing the yearly Gasparilla Pirate Festival. Before it was incorporated two category 4 hurricanes hit Fort Brooke nearly destroying the whole Fort and town. In 1921 a category 4 hit Tampa.

Illegal bolita lotteries became very popular among the Tampa working classes, especially in Ybor City, where many gambling parlors sprang up. Profits from the bolita lotteries and Prohibition-era bootlegging led to the development of several organized crime factions in the city. The first boss of Tampa's organized crime world was Charlie Wall, but various power struggles culminated in consolidation of control by Sicilian mafioso Santo Trafficante, Sr. and his faction in the 1950s. After his death in 1954 from cancer, control passed to his son Santo Trafficante, Jr., who established alliances with families in New York and extended his power throughout Florida and into Batista-era Cuba. [11] [12]

The University of South Florida was established in 1956, sparking development in northern Tampa and nearby Temple Terrace.

There were four attempts to consolidate Tampa with Hillsborough County (1967, 1970, 1971, and 1972). All of which failed at the ballot box with the biggest margin was 33,160 for and 73,568 against the proposed charter in 1972. [13]

The city of Tampa grew rapidly, growing by another 150,289 residents from 1950-1960, but only grew by 2,600 (population:277,714) people from 1960-1970. It lost about 9,000 residents from 1970-1980,(population:271,523) but has grown past the 1970 point and is now 303,447 and is estimated at 333,040 and is expected to rise even further to 352,285 by 2010, which would be a 80,000 increase from the figure in 1970.

The biggest development of the city was the development of New Tampa that started in 1988 when the city annexed a 24-square mile (mostly rural) area between I-275 and I-75. Today, the district boasts over 22,000 inhabitants.

With the advent of air conditioning, thousands of new residents have arrived in Tampa from the northern United States. The population continues to grow rapidly, and construction is proceeding rapidly on new housing developments around Tampa.

On January 5, 2002, just four months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 15-year-old amateur pilot Charles Bishop flew a Cessna plane into the 42-story Bank of America Plaza building in Downtown Tampa. Bishop died, but there were no other injuries (because the crash occurred on a Saturday, when few people were in the building). A suicide note found in the wreckage expressed support for Osama bin Laden. Bishop had been taking a prescription medicine for acne called Accutane that may have had the side effect of depression or severe psychosis. His family later sued Hoffman-La Roche, the company that makes Accutane, for $70 million; however, an autopsy found no traces of the drug in the teenager's system.

Tampa Real Estate - Tax-deductible, but worth it? New light on mortgage insurance

MILWAUKEE – March 1, 2007 – Deductibility of premiums for mortgage insurance is a new wrinkle of the federal tax code, but the provision is catching on very slowly.

The main reasons for its lethargic reception include lack of knowledge by brokers; the belief of many brokers that there are better alternatives to the insurance for people with small downpayments; and the limitations of the law.  Still, the law could help buyers.

“For the first time ever, there is the possibility that (mortgage insurance) is a great idea,” said Brad Stroh, co-chief executive officer and founder of Bills.com, a personal finance Internet portal based in San Mateo, Calif. “You could end up saving a great deal of money.”

The provision, passed at the end of December, allows people with household incomes of $100,000 or less to deduct mortgage insurance premiums on their federal income taxes in 2007.

Mortgage insurance is often required for deals in which a buyer puts down less than 20 percent toward the price of a house. It covers the risk to the lender should the borrower be unable to keep up payments, and usually must be maintained until the borrower has at least 20 percent equity in the property. Premiums vary, with credit scores, the amount of downpayment and the type of property among the variables.

In recent years, many buyers with less than 20 percent have avoided the cost of insurance by taking out a first mortgage for 80 percent of the value and a second mortgage to raise money toward the downpayment. As the interest paid on that second loan is deductible, and as part of its monthly payment goes into the equity of the home, many brokers have recommended such loans as better than buying mortgage insurance. Milwaukee’s MGIC Investment Corp. pushed to have the insurance premiums become deductible as a way of fighting that strategy.

Stephen LaDue, president of Affiliated Mortgage Corp. in Wauwatosa, Wis., long has recommended that clients avoid buying mortgage insurance. “Why are you paying for insurance that doesn’t benefit you?” he asked. Making the premiums deductible could make insurance more attractive, he said, but only “a little bit.”

Another problem with the provision is the income limitation. A husband and wife who each earns $52,000 would not qualify, he said, and that includes a lot of buyers.

“Most of our consumers are above that (income) threshold,” said David Scott, manager of the Coldwell Banker office in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

In less-affluent neighborhoods, lack of knowledge about the deductibility, or the fact that most people do not itemize deductions, also has slowed acceptance.

The deductibility of premiums is not a selling point, said Nina Halcomb, owner of Lyon Realty, which has offices in Milwaukee and in Waukesha, Wisconsin. A bigger help would be cutting down on closing costs, she said.

Beechie Brooks, president of United Realty Group in Milwaukee, said he had not even noticed the change in the law.

MGIC is working to spread the word, said Sal Miosi, vice president of marketing. The company has produced brochures and information sheets on the new law, and its representatives are talking about it as they call on clients.

MGIC expects the percentage of mortgages with insurance to increase this year, but it will be difficult to tell how much is because of the new law, Miosi said. Higher interest rates and more selective lenders also will contribute.

The limited term of the law also works against it. Congress will have to extend it for the premiums to remain deductible after 2007.

That probably will happen, said Stroh.  It is very hard to get new provisions in the tax code, as MGIC found after battling to make premiums deductible, he noted. But it also “is very tough to remove them,” he said.

If the law is extended and people can deduct mortgage insurance premiums for five years and then cancel the insurance when they have paid down enough of their mortgage to have 20 percent equity in their home, then the attractiveness of mortgage insurance rises, he said. If the home gains value, too, then the 20 percent equity will be reached even sooner, and insurance can be canceled in fewer years. That can make paying for it cheaper than paying a high-interest rate for a second mortgage.

The best thing to do is to take a sharp pencil to the matter, and figure costs for several years with and without insurance, said Michael Holloway, a buyer’s broker and owner of Homebuyer Associates, Milwaukee.

“The smart people will simply do the math, and the math will answer the question,” he said.

Copyright © 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Avrum D. Lank. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Tampa Real Estate

Flat fee MLS (sometimes referred to as "flat rate mls" or "fixed fee mls") refers to the practice in the real estate industry of placing pertinent information about a property for sale into the database of the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for a set fee or dollar amount as opposed to a commission based on the sales price of the property.

In this instance, the Listing contract between the real estate broker and the property owner typically requires the broker to enter the property into the MLS and calls for the seller to pay the broker a flat fee for the service. The net effect is to make the real estate industry's standard MLS available as a marketing tool to house sellers without the necessity of the seller purchasing a package of other services from the real estate agent.

This service is typically much cheaper than using a traditional real estate listing contract. The listing fee for a "flat fee MLS" can range anywhere from $200-$500, depending on the area, while traditional brokers charge a total of 4% to 7% of the selling price of the property, that amount typically being split between two brokers involved in the transaction or two agents/brokers from the same company. However, in all cases where the property is "listed" in an MLS when using a fixed fee service, the seller must still offer a "Buyer's Agent Commission", typically 2.5% to 3% of the selling price paid to a co-operating broker who brings a buyer. However, the commission which is normally paid to "listing" broker is eliminated by payment of the flat fee. The savings can be substantial.

The term "flat fee MLS" is also used to describe the service and fee structure provided by real estate brokers and agents who offer real estate services on "limited service" basis rather than as part of a bundled suite of services provided in the traditional, full service model. Since the seller is paying only and specifically for a listing in the MLS, the seller often takes responsibility for the other services typically provided by a full service real estate broker and is, in many respects, selling the property as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO). Typically, with flat fee MLS the fee is paid at the time of listing the property, rather than at settlement or closing as is the case with traditional brokerage services.

Many fixed fee services also offer contractual terms that permits the seller to advertise as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) seller. Therefore, if the sellers finds their own buyer, even the buyer's agent commission is eliminated.

Other advantages for the seller may include the option to cancel the listing at anytime and take it elsewhere in addition to not requiring that a seller be locked into a contract for a minimum amount of time.

The fixed fee concept existed for many years before the internet became popular. There are also fixed fee broker groups that cooperate with each other across the United States. Many FSBO websites will also locate local flat fee brokers for interested sellers. Those offerings normally include a FSBO webpage to assist in advertising the property.

A potential downside of using a flat fee listing service is that, in most cases, the seller must represent himself in the transaction, or arrange for other services such as an attorney or title company to handle closing. Some companies offer "limited representation" by the real estate broker, which include basic information to help sell the property. Because of this, flat fee listings may not be the best choice for the beginner.