South Tampa, including Hyde Park and Palma Ceia, remains a top choice with its high-end homes and excellent schools.

I would suggest Roseville/Rocklin area for schools and best area to live in.

Ok, schools out, I gotta get the kids pizza....

Since you are just graduating college you may already realize that it's not what you know, but who you know (as a personal note, I had college friends that were barely passing their classes however they ended up with really good paying jobs due to "who they knew").

Your dad sounds like he's part of the old school- not an insult, but if you are't getting a Fannie/Freddie loan, pretty much anything is negotiable, especially with PML. 

For $12,800 you can get a 4 course Graduate Certificate in Real Estate from Harvard….https://extension.harvard.edu/academics/programs/real-estate... 

There are a decent amount of work arounds for galvanized if you talk to some of the old school contractors. 

This old school approach has been super successful, and I definitely respect it, but there's no way I could manage a paper calendar. 

The school as a whole has struggled and if the school is struggling attendance drops.

I'd probably lean more towards Richardson than Carrollton based on what the people I know say about schools.