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Possibly relocating to Orlando area. Have Q's!
My DH has family living in the area and we're considering moving to be closer to them. The places of work where he's applying all seem to be on the Eastern side/outskirts of Orlando and I've been searching the internet trying to get a better idea of the area. All I keep finding is horrible forum posts about how terrible the area is sighting lots of ghettoness and racism. I've seen people say certain areas are nice, but those areas seem to be way out of our price range for what we want. (Oviedo, Lake Mary, Wintersprings). We're looking to buy around the 200K range and want 2700+sq. feet. Another seemingly close area is Kissimmee but I can't find many discussions about it. We're coming from a very suburban area and enjoy having every chain restaurant, store whatever imaginable close by. We're also obviously wanting a decent, ghetto-free school district!
Any input, pointers, anything?!
TIA (for input or just getting this far!)
Re: Possibly relocating to Orlando area. Have Q's!
I'm just starting the home buying process myself, so I'm sure there will be girls here that are of more help than I am... We're renting in Lake Nona right now, which on the east side of town. It is very nice, but you could never get 2000sqft for 200k much less 2700sqft. Just to give you an idea, there is a very nice 2000sqft house in my neighborhood going for 264k right now.
Honestly, if you are looking for a house of that size, in a good neighborhood, zoned to good schools, and non-short sale/foreclosure, I think you'll be looking at over 300k, at least.
If I were you, I'd enlist the help of a real estate agent who knows Orlando well. I've been here for 6 years, and I still don't know all the areas and neighborhoods.
Good luck!
Thank you for responding! We're going to get an agent eventually, but right now DH doesn't even have a job offer. I'm just trying to gather any information that I can in the meantime.
I was afraid our expectations are too high... maybe I'll entertain the idea of going back to work..maybe!
I guess I'm still confused though because I've been able to find listings online that would meet our criteria.
http://www.trulia.com/property/1076677938-3832-Shoreview-Dr-Kissimmee-FL-34744
So is this a decent suburban neighborhood thrown up in the middle of _crap?
I'd personally stay away from Kissimmee. There very well may be good areas there, but I'm just not a huge fan of that general part of town. Just my opinion, though!
I know very little about the good and bad areas of Kissimmee, but comparing the price and the photos of the house makes me think that it's a short sale. I've come to realize during my personal home search that when the photos of a house doesn't match the price listed, it's a short sale and will likely not go for anywhere close to the listed price.
But then again, I'm certainly not a real estate agent.
Another thing to take in consideration is property taxes and HOA. Having grown up in Michigan, the costs associated with that was a huge eye opening experience for me. lol
I just looked up this house on Zillow, and it sold for 500k in 2007. So I'm thinking it's a short sale and a bid for the listed 199k wouldn't be accepted by the bank.
Here's the link, I hope it works!
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3832-Shoreview-Dr-Kissimmee-FL-34744/82487007_zpid/
We just went through all this while relocating from CA last month. We ended up in the Waterford Lakes area and we really like it. It's very suburban, about 20 mins from downtown and there are golf courses all over. I think it's called Eastwood?? Not 100% sure on that is a big golf community here. The houses are nice, but not sure on price. We are only renting right now since we weren't 100% sure where to live.
Theres lots of shopping, restaurants, parks, etc.
Good luck in your search. You can always PM me if you have any questions.
Honestly, in that price range, you are not going to get a house that size in a nice, developed area. Though the market has taken a dive, the better suburban areas are still a bit pricey. If you can compromise on square footage (I am thinking maybe around 2000 sq ft), you could probably find a nice single family home in Altamonte Springs, Maitland, maybe Oviedo for the mid to high $200's. I am not a real estate agent either, but dh and I have looked some, and while there are a lot of foreclosures and short sales, the prices are still somewhat steady.
I would also suggest working with a reputable agent who knows the areas, as there are a lot of really great neighborhoods and cities in the Orlando area. I know a few of the girls here can help with agent recs when that time comes.
And good luck to your husband, this is a hard job market to break into lately!
If you don't know where your dh will be working I think it would be hard to decide where to live, because you wouldn't want a long commute.
I live in St. Cloud. It has changed a ton from when I first moved here 7 years ago - good and bad changes. St. Cloud is right next to Kissimmee. I have taught in the public schools in Kissimmee. There are some great schools and some bad ones. Just like there are great parts to the town and not so great parts. Poinciana is really far out. I worked at a school near there too. The drive was a killer - tons of traffic. They built so many houses and the roads really weren't meant to accomodate that many cars during rush hour.
The Dr.Phillips area is very nice, and you can find reasonably priced houses there.
Word of advice (and this may sound stupid, but I want to warn you anyways). The zip code searches in Orlando are very misleading. Our zip code has like, no crime rate, but three blocks down is one of the worst areas in Orange County. We had no idea when we moved here, but thankfully our lease will be over this month, so we can move.
I wish we had checked out our Walmart- then we would have known the area wasn't as safe as it seemed.
Windermere and Winter Garden are also very nice, and you could probably find a short sale or forclosure, because they did so much development before the recession.
Good luck!