Tampa, FL Home Loans

The 6th Air Refueling Wing is MacDill’s host wing and flies KC-135 tankers, and the Air Force Reserve’s 927th Air Refueling Wing shares the base. The base describes a multi-service community: associate units from every branch, so soldiers, sailors, Marines and Coast Guard members work there alongside Airmen.

Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater calls itself the largest and busiest air station in the Coast Guard, and it flies the HC-27J and the MH-60T. A VA loan is open to National Guard and Selected Reserve members after six creditable years, as well as through 90 days of qualifying active-duty service. Debbie Haberny, a Vetted VA Professional, heads our team, so whether your orders send you to MacDill or to the Air Station, the team answering your VA loan questions is the same team that will close your loan.

Tampa

Tampa counted 384,959 people in the 2020 Census and 413,554 in the July 2025 estimate, with 19,465 veterans and a median owner-occupied home value of $420,400 in the 2020-2024 estimates. About half of homes (50.3 percent) are owner-occupied, and the median gross rent is $1,701. MacDill’s Dale Mabry Gate is about 13 minutes from City Hall without traffic, and the Air Station is about 26. James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital is in the city, on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

South Tampa

South Tampa is the closest off-base area on this page, about 9 minutes from the Dale Mabry Gate and 10 from the Bayshore Gate without traffic, and about 26 minutes from the Air Station. The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority’s Selmon Expressway project includes the South Tampa underpasses, and it says reduced backups would keep traffic off cut-through streets such as Bayshore Boulevard. Hillsborough’s evacuation lookup and the county’s flood-zone viewer should be checked for each address.

Riverview

Riverview is a census-designated place of 107,396 people in the 2020 Census, with 8,624 veterans, a median owner-occupied value of $384,200 and 75.7 percent of homes owner-occupied in the 2020-2024 estimates. The VA’s South Hillsborough clinic is on Summerfield Crossing Boulevard, and Riverview High School is on the district’s 2024-2027 Purple Star list. It is about 29 minutes from the Dale Mabry Gate without traffic, and the mean commute to work is 34.8 minutes.

Apollo Beach

Apollo Beach is a census-designated place of 26,002 people in the 2020 Census, with 3,452 veterans, a median owner-occupied value of $472,700 and 85.7 percent of homes owner-occupied in the 2020-2024 estimates. The mean commute to work there is 35.3 minutes. Without traffic it is about 38 minutes to the Dale Mabry Gate and 52 to the Air Station, which is past the 45-minute radius.

Westchase

Westchase is a census-designated place of 25,952 people in the 2020 Census, with 1,138 veterans, a median owner-occupied value of $559,500 and 63.9 percent of homes owner-occupied in the 2020-2024 estimates. It sits about 25 minutes from the Air Station and about 31 from MacDill’s Dale Mabry Gate without traffic. The mean commute to work is 27.8 minutes.

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg counted 258,308 people in the 2020 Census and 264,033 in the July 2025 estimate, with 15,290 veterans and a median owner-occupied value of $371,100 in the 2020-2024 estimates. The Bay Pines VA medical center, the St. Petersburg VA Regional Benefit Office and a Vet Center are in the area. Without traffic it is about 20 minutes to the Air Station and about 28 to MacDill’s Dale Mabry Gate.

Census numbers are 2020-2024 medians, not listing prices. The median value of an owner-occupied home was $371,500 in Hillsborough County and $420,400 in the city of Tampa; in Brandon, Riverview and Apollo Beach the medians were $339,000, $384,200 and $472,700. Only 50.3 percent of Tampa homes are owner-occupied, against 61.5 percent countywide, so renting is common close in.

After a sale, the property appraiser removes the seller’s exemptions and reassesses the home at market value on the next January 1, so a first tax bill can look different from the previous owner’s. A homestead exemption lowers a primary residence’s taxable value if you apply by March 1, and under the Save Our Homes cap, assessed value cannot rise more than 3 percent a year after the first year.

In newer subdivisions, ask whether the home sits in a Community Development District. A district’s benefit special assessments are collected with the county tax bill and are a lien on the property, and its financing disclosures must be available to prospective purchasers. Wind insurance deserves the same attention: Florida law directs insurers to credit features such as roof-to-wall strength and opening protection, so ask what wind mitigation inspection the home has on file.

Schools. Hillsborough County Public Schools serves MacDill, reports 4,000 military-connected families, and counts 16 schools in its 2025-2028 Purple Star group, including Tinker K-8 on base, Lennard High and Newsome High. Florida’s Purple Star Campus program requires a military liaison, a student-led transition program and a reserved share of controlled open enrollment seats, at least 5 percent, for military students. Base housing is zoned to Tinker, with Monroe Middle and Robinson High listed for the older grades; because Tinker is now a K-8, confirm the middle school with the district. Clearwater and St. Petersburg schools belong to Pinellas County Schools, and Northeast High School there posts a Purple Star page for military families with a point of contact and a peer program for new students. School zones do not follow city limits, so check an address with the district.

Gates. MacDill’s Dale Mabry Gate is open 24 hours a day, with the Visitor Control Center beside it. The Bayshore Gate is open weekdays only, and the MacDill Gate is one-way and weekday-only: inbound from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., outbound from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater posts no gate hours, so ask before a visit.

Commutes and Construction. Typical drive without traffic, measured October 7, 2026 (OpenStreetMap routing): to MacDill’s Dale Mabry Gate it is about 9 minutes from South Tampa, 13 from Tampa, 28 from Brandon and 40 from Clearwater, and to the Air Station about 17 minutes from Clearwater, 20 from St. Petersburg and 26 from Tampa. Real commutes run longer at busy times. FDOT lists active work at the Westshore and Downtown Tampa interchanges and new express lanes across the Howard Frankland Bridge, and the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority is adding a lane each way along 4.5 miles of the Selmon Expressway, with foundation work under way downtown in October 2026 and completion anticipated in 2030.

Median gross rent in the 2020-2024 Census estimates was $1,667 a month in Hillsborough County, $1,701 in Tampa and $2,002 in Riverview, and the mean trip to work was 28.8 minutes countywide. Medians differ widely by place, so treat them as starting points rather than quotes. Basic Allowance for Housing is set by rank, dependents and duty station, and DoD publishes the official lookup. Allowance figures stay off this page because DoD updates them each year. Send us your numbers and we will show you what fits in South Tampa, Brandon, Riverview or across the bay.

County Loan Limits. VA sets no loan limit for a veteran with full entitlement, but our team still has to sign off on the amount and the appraisal has to back the price. The county figure applies only if your entitlement is partial, as it can be after an earlier VA loan. The 2026 FHFA one-unit limit is $832,750 in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. Limits reset yearly, so confirm the figure before you buy.

Flood, Storm Surge and Wind. Evacuation zones and flood zones are different maps. Hillsborough County’s zones, A through E, follow storm surge, changed for the 2026 hurricane season, and can be searched in the county’s evacuation zone lookup at HCFL.gov/HEAT. FEMA flood zones decide flood insurance: a federally backed mortgage on a property in a high-risk zone, labeled A or V, requires it, and the county’s coastal flood maps took effect October 7, 2021. Pinellas County runs its own evacuation lookup and notes that it differs from the FEMA flood zone. Ask your real estate agent to check both for each home on your list.

Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans. Florida offers disabled veterans property tax relief. A veteran honorably discharged with a service-connected total and permanent disability, and a Florida resident on January 1, can receive a full exemption on a homestead. A $5,000 reduction in assessed value applies at a disability of 10 percent or more under the statute’s conditions, and veterans 65 or older with a permanent service-connected disability can receive a discount equal to their VA percentage. File with the county property appraiser.

Contact the Military Housing Office as soon as your orders arrive; the Air Force housing page says to apply through HOMES.mil or the office right away, and unaccompanied personnel should request a unit sponsor at the same time. When you arrive on a weekday between 7:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., bring your in-processing package and a copy of your orders to Customer Service in the Military Personnel Flight, 8011 Tampa Point Boulevard, Building 373.

Visitors without a military ID, such as a relative or your real estate agent, go through the Visitor Control Center next to the Dale Mabry Gate or are placed on a Base Access List by their sponsor, and they need REAL ID-compliant identification or an accepted backup document.

With school-age children, note that Hillsborough’s district works with families who have not yet closed on a home or are waiting for a lease to begin, and its military liaison is at (813) 272-4648. Florida put the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children into law in June 2008, easing enrollment and placement questions after a move. A spouse licensed in a health care profession in another state can apply for a Florida license with the fees waived. Before a house-hunting trip, ask us for a pre-approval.

On base, family housing is privatized and managed by Harbor Bay; you sign a tenant lease, typically for one year, with a military clause, and rent is paid by allotment. Unaccompanied personnel in grades E-1 to E-3, and E-4s with under three years of service, are required to live in the base dormitories. Tinker K-8 School is on base at 8207 Tinker Street.

Off base, the Military Housing Office describes community housing around MacDill as ranging from small rental apartments to large family homes. Coast Guard families can also use the Air Station’s housing office, which serves Coast Guard personnel across the greater Tampa Bay area. If you plan to buy, our team and your real estate agent can compare neighborhoods against the drive times above.