New to board and newlywed

berniceprz

I just got married on May 20, 2011, and my husband and I are interested in moving down to central Florida from Western, MA. We are inclined to the Orlando/Kissimee area. Can anyone give us some advise as to a good/affordable neighborhood to live in?

Britt1406

You can find some awsome deals around right now, it's just going to depend on what lifestyle you like. IMO Kissimmee and Orlando are too crowded now (I grew up in Kissimmee). It also is going to depend on the price ranges you are looking at. Windermere is going to be higher priced, but nice. I live in Lake Mary now (north of Orlando) and really like it, but here will be higher than Kissimmee prices too. Downtown Orlando is going to have about the only "city life" that you can find in central FL (as far as the big building/apartments/condo style). St. Cloud is your country life style. Kissimmee- Lake Buena Vista side is where all of your tourists will be.

lilbride8909

We bought a home in Clermont, which is about 30 minutes west of downtown Orlando. It's growing...even since we've been here for 3 years, we've noticed a lot of growth. Home prices are very reasonable, depending on what you want. Winter Garden is a nice area, which is a little closer to Orlando.

Xobabygirl2005x

Hi i'm Brittany I recently got married November 27th 2010 and Orlando or south florida would be a great place a lot of job oppertunity but right now in the market not so much please lets keep in touch

 

MrsPhotogenic

Hi I'm new to the board as well. Although, I have been living in the area for awhile. I'd recommend living in either Winter Park or the East side of Orlando.The East side of town is near all of the colleges, so it's possible to find affordable housing in a good neighborhood. I'd personally avoid living in Kissimmee, as the tourists can make that area a little crazy, especially with traffic. Windermere is a another good area on the other side of town.

 As an investor friend of my husband so humorously puts it ?The well-off people who make their income at one job live in Winter Park (Typically Baldwin Park or College Park) and the well-off people who hustle (working multiple jobs) live in Windermere". Good luck on your search!

Tula214

My husband and I just moved to FL. We are living in Clermont, and I like it a lot here. My mom lives in Winter Garden which is also very nice. Both towns, like someone wrote before, are still being built on. The good thing is that they are near highways, and still close to Orlando.

SuMmErKuTiE

Congrats on your recent marriage!

We're originally from Connecticut, and I can completely understand your desire to move down here. What really motivated us was the weather and the cost of living. We both have jobs in the Orlando area and currently live in an apartment in Altamonte Springs which is in Seminole County (Orlando is in Orange County). We prefer Seminole County because it's nicer and we're looking to start a family in the near future and the schools are rated a lot better than in Orange County. We recently purchased a home in Seminole County and feel that it was the best place to plant our roots.

From what I've heard and seen Kissimmee and St. Cloud are really cheap to live in, but they're also very far out from jobs in Orlando and harder to get to. There are a lot of great jobs in downtown Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, and Lake Mary. One of the girls I work with lives in St. Cloud and she calls it the "boonies" and it takes her anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour to drive each way to and from work since she has to take the FL turnpike and then deal with the mess that is I-4.

If you're looking to buy a home and plant roots, I highly suggest Seminole County.. Lake Mary, Longwood, Sanford, Altamonte Springs, etc... most of the homes are newer construction and have underground power lines so when there are storms (which are very common here) your power isn't as likely to go out as it is for above ground power lines hung up on telephone polls. Most of the homes in the Winter Park and College Park area have above ground power lines and older homes that are closer together. It's all a matter of preference. There are also a bunch of companies that are building new home developments and after seeing someone I work with do it and get a much bigger brand new home, DH and I decided to go that route as well. We spent the same amount to build a new home that we would have to buy a pre-owned home and then have to upgrade to make it our own. So this was economically the best choice for us. The homes in Seminole County are a little pricier than say Kissimmee and St. Cloud, but they're still MUCH cheaper than what you'd find in the northeast (NY, CT, MA, NJ, RI, etc..)

HTH!