Tampa Affordable Housing Development Is In The Works

Finding affordable housing in Tampa is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. If you’re looking for a cheap place to live in Tampa, your best bet is to move to another city. Just kidding, but not really. The waitlist for affordable housing in Tampa maxed out at 20,000 people, but the Tampa Housing Authority has a solution.

There's no doubt that Florida has been hit hard with extreme population growth. Through home insurance increases to insanely fast home price increases across Tampa Bay.

Thursday, February 22nd, construction begins on a new 188-unit all-affordable housing development in Tampa. Senior Development Manager of Related Peter Van Warner said, “I mean 20,000 people on the waitlist for affordable housing is just astronomical and we’re just chipping away at that.”

The West River Community has already gone through a transformation as these new affordable housing developments in Tampa are looking to bring in more and more units to the area. The new $63 million development is bringing in one, two, three, and four-bedroom units on top of the already 800 mixed-income units in the area.

Next month, 200 more units are expected to be completed under Canopy Phase I. The project beginning on Thursday, Feb. 22, is Canopy Phase II which is expected to be completed by 2025. Once the project is complete, the West River community is set to house 2,000 mixed-income families.

If you’re thinking rent prices are about to drop, think again. The affordable housing in the Tampa West River community is for low-income families. To qualify, you need to show proof that you make 80% of the average income within the area.

The new development will have units for 80% AMI median income as well as 50% and 30%. According to Apartmentlist.com, Tampa saw 38% increase in rent prices from March 2020 to February of 2023. Rent prices in February 2024 are down by a slight $213 coming in at an average price of $2,125.

Will we ever see rent, food, and goods prices to what we saw just a few years ago? Probably not, but we can hope. Back in 2020, the price of a thin-crust Jacks Frozen Pepperoni Pizza was $2.49 at Walmart, Essentially, you could get 2 for under $5, but today? Not so much. The same Jacks Pizza now comes in around $4.12 at Walmart. Pizza prices obviously don't affect rent prices, but they certainly represent how affording current rent prices can become a challenge.

Do you ever feel like you're working hard but don't have the money to show for it? It's a common sentiment. Well, the good news is that today, there are some ways to make extra money right now that can really add up. Now, there's no "easy" solution to making more cash. But, we've researched some ways that people are making extra money, and they're simple.

Before we get into ways to make extra money, let's start with saving money. NerdWallet.com has some really simple tips for saving cash. A big one is to prepare for grocery shopping. That's so that you aren't grabbing a bunch of stuff that you don't need on a whim. "A little work before you go to the grocery store can go a long way toward helping you save money on groceries," they state. Prepping also means that you can maximize any coupons that you find for items you'll be purchasing or knowing about loyalty programs ahead of time. The big one is to not impulse by. I've done that so many times, when I but cinnamon rolls or something else that I don't really want just because it looks good at the time.

Another savings tip from NerdWallet.com is to restrict online shopping. Boy, that's a good one. It's so easy to sit there on your phone, saving items that look cool in your online cart. Then, all you have to do is hit "order," but often, you're ordering a bunch of stuff that you don't really need. They suggest that, "Instead of saving your billing information, opt to input your shipping address and credit card number each time you order. You'll probably make fewer impulse purchases because of the extra work involved." Good idea. Find more tips on saving money from NerdWallet.com here. Forbes has some good advice, too, in suggesting to do real meal prep. It helps avoid eating out too much, which can really add up.

Now, let's get into easy ways to make extra money.

This option has been there since the advent of the garage sale. If you have items sitting around that you don't want or need anymore, sell them. It's a quick way to make some cash. You can put them up for sale on eBay, a Facebook group or elsewhere online, or you can go the old-fashioned way and hold a yard sale.

I've house sat quite a bit, and I personally love it. It's very peaceful to watch over someone's house. Duties-wise, it can involve anything from watering plants to just staying there so that nobody breaks in during a long vacation. Pet sitting is also a great way to make a little extra money. While you're at it, try being a dog walker, too.

Being a mystery shopper is a real thing. You can shop, either online or in person, and get paid for reviewing your experience. But, watch out for scams. A great way to find legit mystery shopper jobs is by looking on job sites such as Ziprecruiter.com or Indeed.com.

You can make money by simply taking online surveys. It's not usually a lot of money, but it's better than nothing, and you can do it during downtime. A few major survey sites include Swagbucks and Survey Junkie. Find more via NerdWallet.com here.

Self-publishing has never been so easy. If you are very knowledgeable in an area that people want to know about, why not self-publish an e-book? Using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, you can sell your books via the Kindle store. Publishing the book is free, and you can earn an upwards of 70% of each sale in royalties. You can even try your hand at a wild novel and see how it does, if you don't want to write a practical book.

A quick way to make some cash during your off hours is by delivering groceries or food. Services such as Instacart and Shipt use independent contractors to deliver food to clients. Also, services such as Uber Eats and Doordash are often looking for delivery people.

It might seem odd to open a new credit card to try to make money, but it can help. Many credit cards offer new client deals, so if you spend a certain amount after signing up, you could get some cash back or other bonuses. Also, you could find a cash back card, where you get cash back on everyday purchases, such as gas or groceries. Say you don't want a new credit card? You could also open a new bank account at a bank where they are giving cash-back offers for starting business with them. Also, to get the most for your money, look for a high-interest savings.