My DH and I own a small home built in 1950. It belonged to my MIL an she passed in 2007. It has been remodelled and is located in a small town called Pinellas Park, a suburb of St. Petersburg. It is 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car garage and currently rents out at $750 per month. That is low because we know the lady renting it. That just covers the taxes, insurance, and allows us a little to put away for repairs and problems. I believe the insurance is around $3,000 per year and the taxes are about $2600 per year. In 2007 when it was remodelled, the realtor put a selling price on it of
$159,000. It is now worth about $100,000. but the taxes and insurance haven't gone down one bit. It just got to be too expensive for us. I lived there for 47 years before we moved to Alabama in 1989. At that time you needed a permit to build a cage 4' x 4'. It would take us 3 time as long to get to work in the winter than in the summer. Because of the tourists, the area is very crowded in the winter. I went there (St Petersburg) in 2000 because my daughter was having cancer surgery. My sisters car broke down on the bridge (actually the approach to the bridge) that was 7 miles long, 10 lanes wide that goes from Tampa to St. Petersburg. It was very hot (September) at 1:00 in the afternoon. I had my hood up and I stood there for almost three hours before anyone stopped to help me, including the police who passed without helping. I own a home there that is paid for and wouldn't go back there to live. That is just my experience. Please do a lot of investigating before you decide where you would like to live. You might find it a wonderful place and enjoy every minute of it. I wish you luck whatever you decide to do.