The Tampa Bay Times recently announced that my hometown boasts the highest median household income in Tampa Bay at $86,885. The population is also projected to double in the next few years. Is this good? Is this bad? I don’t know. One thing I do know is that this means opportunity.
On this blog we talk a lot about things to do, but I also want to start talking about opportunities that are out there. I want my fellow Floridian’s to be rich in experiences and rich in life. It’s a combination that I refer to as the Rich Life.
The Rich Life is defined differently for everybody. For one person it could mean having millions of dollar and for another it could mean having enough money to cover the bills and ample free time to pursue hobbies.
For me, the Rich Life is:
- Owning a family home in a good neighborhood
- Sending my kids to good schools
- Living in an affordable area that offers many conveniences
- Adding money to my bank account and working towards Financial Independence
- Having free time to enjoy activities with my family
- Having free time to enjoy hobbies (reading, blogging, FL travel, etc.)
- Being healthy
Being in Wesley Chapel checks a lot of those boxes. For those who don’t know, Wesley Chapel is located just north of Tampa over the Hillsborough County border, in Pasco County. The town straddles I-75.
When I first moved into the area about seven years ago I was living by open fields with cows and horses in them. It looks absolutely nothing like that anymore. For whatever reason, Wesley Chapel became the place to be.
The population was under 16,000 in 2000 and is now 65,000. It is projected to double in the next several years. Tracts of homes are being built. Apartment complexes three stories high are being built. When I first got here I rented a two bedroom apartment for $785 a month. That same apartment is now renting for over $1,200 per month.
About three years ago these trends became clear to me. Wesley Chapel was booming and I would be left behind if I didn’t grab hold. For those who don’t know, I am a social worker and it is a job that doesn’t exactly command a large salary, however, for the most part, I’m pretty thrifty–every I have dollar is carefully scrutinized.
I knew that the time to buy my first home was upon me because rent for the apartment kept going up every year and soon the prices for homes would be out of reach, in fact, I thought that the housing prices were already out of my reach at the time.
However, after much searching and crunching of numbers I was able to buy a beautiful, three bedroom townhome, which was basically the lowest price point that still allowed me to purchase property in Wesley Chapel. That meant that I locked in a mortgage rate and grabbed hold of the rocket that is Wesley Chapel. If I would have waited any longer I would not have been able to afford a home in this wonderful town that checks a lot of my boxes for the rich life.
My children will now attend one of the best school districts in Florida, I have multiple grocery stores within a five minute drive all competing for my business, and I have easy and quick access to Tampa via I-75. I’m really happy with my home in Wesley Chapel.
The lesson is this: pay attention to the trend in your area. Wesley Chapel is booming, but other towns are too. Grab ahold of the boom before it is out of reach. For some, like me, that may mean buying a house. For others, it may mean opening a business in one of these boomtowns.
Florida is a land of opportunity. Pay attention and get yours!
