The Tampa Bay area of Florida is one of the premier destinations in the state for tourists and for new residents as well. Your Spokane, Washington real estate agent can probably give you an idea of what your money will buy down there, but our buying guide for the Tampa Bay Area is better. We'll tell you which towns and cities you might want to look into, the types of properties that you might find when you start scouring the listings, and a general ballpark of what you can expect your Tampa Bay home to cost. Hopefully it will help you make your decision on whether to relocate.

Though a lot of people are confused by this fact, there is no city in Florida called Tampa Bay. There is a city called Tampa, but Tampa Bay is a general term that refers to a multitude of towns and cities located around the body of water in the Gulf of Mexico known as Tampa Bay. Just like Brantford homes for sale in Ontario are often referred to as being part of the Greater Toronto Area, the cities of St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Clearwater are the hub of Tampa Bay, with towns from Palmetto to Tierra Verde getting lumped into the mix as well. These cities have joint claim over several sports teams, including the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL.

There are a wide variety of architectural styles represented in the Tampa Bay area, but one of its selling points is a high concentration of Art Deco structures and more high rises than anywhere else in Florida. Most architecture is modern, with on demand hot water heaters and swimming pools. Yards are popular with both detached houses and condos as everyone wants their own little piece of the shoreline and a few palm trees. A lot of homes have their own docks, but Florida is a very swampy state, so basements are not common.

If you're thinking of buying a home in the Tampa Bay area, you're well advised to invest in a comprehensive insurance policy for your home which includes flood coverage. Those whirling shapes you see on the TV weather reports while you're on the stairmaster at fitness gyms in Toronto can cause a lot of damage to homes in Florida. Even if the hurricane itself misses your town, you might still get flood damage from the storm surge.

So how much will buying a home in the Tampa Bay area cost you? It depends on which town or city you're aiming for. You'll want to ask private lenders for mortgages for about $276,000 if you're thinking of Tampa, while St. Petersburg is a little cheaper at $262,000 and Clearwater is about $305,000.