Moving to/living in Orlando

[dish rag]

Huh okay. I think we will probably pick which ever house works best, regardless if it has a pool or not. But that’s good to know that it might not be a factor when selling further down the road. I would rather have some grass and a nice house though than a pool. As long as my neighborhood has a pool

I would never buy a house with a pool. I’ve had 2 and that’s enough for me. So the only houses I look at will not have one. I know many others who feel the same. My dad included. So it can go both ways.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

,,As a semi retiree, we want to purchase in a area with excellent schools but don't necessarily need the tippy top of "reputation"...Been there, done that, and we paid for that, priorities change when you retire, schools will preserve our investment, but at our stage, not wrapped up in being in the best, most desirable area for reputation; not willing to pay for that anymore. We still are thinking that a mixed age development might be better than a 55 and over. Like seeing a variety of ages, love seeing young families, and will be young semi retirees....not sure if the 55 and over is right for us. Will begin by renting in a mixed community and see if we like it, if not, maybe the following year before we purchase we can snag a rental in a 55+.

It really just comes down to what you’re looking for and personal preference. They’re all great areas, I don’t think you can really go “wrong”. It just comes down to what’s important to you in terms of location, nearby amenities and aesthetics.

 

[Haley R]

I have two new questions and I’m not sure if anyone can answer either/both of them:

1. Do the fireworks ever get annoying since they happen every night?

2. Are there any adult softball leagues in the area? I’ve recently gotten really into it and would love to play down there

 

[jerseygal]

It really just comes down to what you’re looking for and personal preference. They’re all great areas, I don’t think you can really go “wrong”. It just comes down to what’s important to you in terms of location, nearby amenities and aesthetics.

Thank you for all the information, so helpful! Any thoughts on Winter Park?
Have not visited that area, but Winter Park has been mentioned. From what I can gather, lovely area, convenient to shopping/restaurant, YMCA in Winter Park also which is attractive to us. Winter Park is further from Universal and WDW, correct? Also, Winter Park is pricier and homes tend to be older? Bigger lots though, rather than smaller lots and ability to resell is very good, correct? Reputation of the High School is excellent from what I have read. Any input is always appreciated!

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Thank you for all the information, so helpful! Any thoughts on Winter Park?
Have not visited that area, but Winter Park has been mentioned. From what I can gather, lovely area, convenient to shopping/restaurant, YMCA in Winter Park also which is attractive to us. Winter Park is further from Universal and WDW, correct? Also, Winter Park is pricier and homes tend to be older? Bigger lots though, rather than smaller lots and ability to resell is very good, correct? Reputation of the High School is excellent from what I have read. Any input is always appreciated!

I think Winter Park is a lovely area, but there are some less desirable parts of WP (around SR 436/Aloma). The desirable part closer to downtown Winter Park is probably the most upscale area in the metro. Park Ave is walkable with tons of shops and restaurants. And yes, I would say it’s overall an older area, especially compared to the areas you’re looking at in Windermere and Winter Garden. Since you’re from Jersey, if you’re familiar with NYC, I’d compare Winter Park to the Upper East Side.

Since you mentioned the YMCA- there’s a bunch of branches around the Orlando metro area, including Dr. Phillips and Winter Garden.

 

[LovesTimone]

Local here, Florida Girl, I live in Winter Garden...

The Sand Lake road area is a nightmare, very congested, and busy busy it is a roadway that connect lots of tourist spots.. malls, I-drive which is nothing but a tourist area, hotels, I-4, Turkey Lake road which is another intersection which is a main artery between WDW and Universal that lots of people use to keep from getting out on I-4, there is restaurants row, lots of stuff for tourist to enjoy, on one end of Sand Lake is a high crime area...

This is not an area you would want to live in....

My suggestion for you would be to look at Windermere - we lived there for about 2 years while our house was being built it was a town house community... Not sure if you looking for apartment living or town house living there are lots of nice communities around with some amenities pools, gyms, walking trails, tot lots, dog parks...as far as housing ( single family) price's they are on the upper end with a high tax base, that's one reason that we did not build there.

Winter Garden is where we decided to build, we love the area, really cute downtown area, every Sat. there is a farmer market, there is a bike trail ( West Orange Trail), easy access to the 429, turnpike, It still has that small town feel, and it is close to everything... lots of new growth... We love it.

Winter Garden is on the back side of WDW, from our house to parking in the parks, is about 20 to 30 minutes.

Clermont, Ocee, are another suggestion for you to check out...

Living here is completely different than vacationing here... When vacationing it's fun to be where all the tourist stuff is and action is.... Living here is a completely different way of life... so you will need to take that into consideration... On a daily basis you will find living away from that action is a good thing.

Not only do you have the tourist to deal with, then there are the snowbirds that migrate when it cold and nasty in the north... so that adds to the traffic...

Fighting the traffic is just going to be part of living in this area, there is so much that is always going in and around Orlando that traffic just plays into it. No matter what time of year, You have the parks WDW and Universal as well lets not forget Sea World, lots of concerts, plays and shows that come to the area, Baseball training camps, Conventions that are always in town, as well as golf tournaments, we just had the Arnold Palmer golf week. Plus lots of people on vacation use Orlando as a base, when vacationing heading over to the beaches, port for cruise ships, Cape Canaveral... and on and on the list goes... so its something that you will need to build into your everyday life.

Florida public school are over crowded, there are lots and lots of private school that might be something that you would want to look into... just a suggestion....

I am a Florida girl, and I love our life here, there is alot to do, so you just have to make adjustments in your time frame to and from work or really where-ever you are heading out to... Once you get the hang of it you will be fine...

If you have any other questions or thoughts Please feel free to PM, I would be happy to help you out...

 

[Haley R]

Local here, Florida Girl, I live in Winter Garden...

The Sand Lake road area is a nightmare, very congested, and busy busy it is a roadway that connect lots of tourist spots.. malls, I-drive which is nothing but a tourist area, hotels, I-4, Turkey Lake road which is another intersection which is a main artery between WDW and Universal that lots of people use to keep from getting out on I-4, there is restaurants row, lots of stuff for tourist to enjoy, on one end of Sand Lake is a high crime area...

This is not an area you would want to live in....

My suggestion for you would be to look at Windermere - we lived there for about 2 years while our house was being built it was a town house community... Not sure if you looking for apartment living or town house living there are lots of nice communities around with some amenities pools, gyms, walking trails, tot lots, dog parks...as far as housing ( single family) price's they are on the upper end with a high tax base, that's one reason that we did not build there.

Winter Garden is where we decided to build, we love the area, really cute downtown area, every Sat. there is a farmer market, there is a bike trail ( West Orange Trail), easy access to the 429, turnpike, It still has that small town feel, and it is close to everything... lots of new growth... We love it.

Winter Garden is on the back side of WDW, from our house to parking in the parks, is about 20 to 30 minutes.

Clermont, Ocee, are another suggestion for you to check out...

Living here is completely different than vacationing here... When vacationing it's fun to be where all the tourist stuff is and action is.... Living here is a completely different way of life... so you will need to take that into consideration... On a daily basis you will find living away from that action is a good thing.

Not only do you have the tourist to deal with, then there are the snowbirds that migrate when it cold and nasty in the north... so that adds to the traffic...

Fighting the traffic is just going to be part of living in this area, there is so much that is always going in and around Orlando that traffic just plays into it. No matter what time of year, You have the parks WDW and Universal as well lets not forget Sea World, lots of concerts, plays and shows that come to the area, Baseball training camps, Conventions that are always in town, as well as golf tournaments, we just had the Arnold Palmer golf week. Plus lots of people on vacation use Orlando as a base, when vacationing heading over to the beaches, port for cruise ships, Cape Canaveral... and on and on the list goes... so its something that you will need to build into your everyday life.

Florida public school are over crowded, there are lots and lots of private school that might be something that you would want to look into... just a suggestion....

I am a Florida girl, and I love our life here, there is alot to do, so you just have to make adjustments in your time frame to and from work or really where-ever you are heading out to... Once you get the hang of it you will be fine...

If you have any other questions or thoughts Please feel free to PM, I would be happy to help you out...

Thanks for such a detailed response! Dh wouldn’t have much a choice on working on sand lake rd but we wouldn’t live in that area. I looked at the schools and that tells a lot about that direct area. We’ve found houses in Windermere, dr Phillips, ocoee, Gotha, and winter garden. The majority of the houses we liked are in dr Phillips and ocoee. We are not interested in a townhome or an apartment. At this point we are only looking for a single family home.

I completely understand wanting to be away from everything. We love Disney so much but I don’t want to be in that area every day. I love the idea of being close to Disney but still having that small town feel.

I’ve never subbed/taught in a private school but it’s something I would consider to get smaller class sizes. Big class sizes are hard for a sub to come into

 

[jerseygal]

Since you mentioned the YMCA- there’s a bunch of branches around the Orlando metro area, including Dr. Phillips and Winter Garden.

Thank you very much for all the information! Fabulous to hear that WG and Dr. Phillips have YMCA facilities, always fun classes going on..DH can get some good basketball runs in. Am I correct that Dr Phillips borders Universal? I prefer to be close to both Universal and WDW, but not on top of it. From what we saw, I Drive area is an area I don’t want to be on top of or near, fine to visit, but don’t want to live close to, just personal preference. That’s exactly why renting works so great, no commitments beyond the year. We did this in one of our communities after a relocation and was the best thing we could have done, spoke to locals and really educated ourselves in the area

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Thank you very much for all the information! Fabulous to hear that WG and Dr. Phillips have YMCA facilities, always fun classes going on..DH can get some good basketball runs in. Am I correct that Dr Phillips borders Universal? I prefer to be close to both Universal and WDW, but not on top of it. From what we saw, I Drive area is an area I don’t want to be on top of or near, fine to visit, but don’t want to live close to, just personal preference. That’s exactly why renting works so great, no commitments beyond the year. We did this in one of our communities after a relocation and was the best thing we could have done, spoke to locals and really educated ourselves in the area

Yes you’re correct- DP does border Universal and is essentially on the other side of I-4 from I-Drive. I truly wouldn’t rule it out because of that though- it doesn’t really affect the community that much, in my opinion.

 

[Haley R]

OP here, does anyone know the answers to my two questions up thread about fireworks and softball?

 

[dish rag]

OP here, does anyone know the answers to my two questions up thread about fireworks and softball?

I cannot hear the fire works and wouldn’t want too. There are plenty of softball leagues. Expect the level of play to be higher than many other places.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

OP here, does anyone know the answers to my two questions up thread about fireworks and softball?

Not sure about softball. I’ve never been bothered by fireworks. I used to live about one mile as the crow flies from Universal and the sound inside was minimal. Currently I can hear the Disney fireworks if I’m outside and there’s cloud coverage (probably 8 miles away). It only lasts about 15 minutes and doesn’t sound all that different from thunder. It might be worse if you live right next to WDW but I’d imagine you would adjust to it.

 

[hertamaniac]

Lived in central Florida for about the last 15 years and within commuting distance to Orlando. I am on the north side of Orlando and, as many are saying, the traffic is burgeoning. In fact, there was a recent local article that said it takes someone 1 hour to drive to Orlando from Orlando. Just be prepared for overcrowding and you'll be fine.

 

[Feralpeg]

I have two new questions and I’m not sure if anyone can answer either/both of them:

1. Do the fireworks ever get annoying since they happen every night?

2. Are there any adult softball leagues in the area? I’ve recently gotten really into it and would love to play down there

I can't answer your question about softball leagues. We can see the fireworks over Magic Kingdom every night. We are about a mile from the back of Magic Kingdom. Most nights, I don't even notice them. They don't even bother the dog and she is afraid of thunder and firecrackers.

One thing to keep in mind since you are a substitute teacher. Most of the districts here don't have their own team of subs. They use Kelly Services. From what I've been told, you tell Kelly Services in which schools you are willing to sub. They call you when they have a need. You might consider teaching in a private school. There are tons of them here. The qualifications to teach in a private school are much different from teaching in a public school. I taught at a private school. I was licensed in Missouri, but I was able to teach in Florida because it was a private school. I could not have taught in a public school without being re-certified for Florida.

We have a pool in our backyard. I love it, but it is a bit of work to keep up even though we have a pool company come once a week. Unless the pool is heated, you won't be swimming from November through April. The water is cold! Even heated, it is pretty chilly in December through February.

Something to consider when looking at homes is whether the area has reclaimed water. Some areas use reclaimed water for sprinkler systems. It is so much cheaper than your regular water rates. You really have to use sprinkler systems most of the year here if you want a descent yard. We have reclaimed water and our water bill (including both our household water and reclaimed water for the sprinkler system) runs about $65 a month. I've spoken to people living in areas without reclaimed water and their water bills can run up to $300 a month.

I currently live with my sister and daughter. Both my sister and I had our own homes until about a year ago. We decided we were getting to old to maintain two homes, so we sold both houses and built one larger house for all of us. We put our houses on the market and they both sold in under a week. The market is extremely hot. If you see something, don't wait or it will be gone. Expect to possible pay above list price as homes are in demand.

 

[Feralpeg]

Thanks for such a detailed response! Dh wouldn’t have much a choice on working on sand lake rd but we wouldn’t live in that area. I looked at the schools and that tells a lot about that direct area. We’ve found houses in Windermere, dr Phillips, ocoee, Gotha, and winter garden. The majority of the houses we liked are in dr Phillips and ocoee. We are not interested in a townhome or an apartment. At this point we are only looking for a single family home.

I completely understand wanting to be away from everything. We love Disney so much but I don’t want to be in that area every day. I love the idea of being close to Disney but still having that small town feel.

I’ve never subbed/taught in a private school but it’s something I would consider to get smaller class sizes. Big class sizes are hard for a sub to come into

Keep in mind that some areas of Ocoee are not so nice. The closer you get to Hiawassee, the less desirable the area. Plan on staying south of Highway 50.

 

[Haley R]

I cannot hear the fire works and wouldn’t want too. There are plenty of softball leagues. Expect the level of play to be higher than many other places.

I'm not great at softball so maybe I could find a league that's a little more laid back, but I do love to play.

 

[Haley R]

Lived in central Florida for about the last 15 years and within commuting distance to Orlando. I am on the north side of Orlando and, as many are saying, the traffic is burgeoning. In fact, there was a recent local article that said it takes someone 1 hour to drive to Orlando from Orlando. Just be prepared for overcrowding and you'll be fine.

Yeah I'm getting the feeling the traffic will be intense, but if we do move we will just have to get used to it and leave extra time to get places.

 

[Haley R]

I can't answer your question about softball leagues. We can see the fireworks over Magic Kingdom every night. We are about a mile from the back of Magic Kingdom. Most nights, I don't even notice them. They don't even bother the dog and she is afraid of thunder and firecrackers.

One thing to keep in mind since you are a substitute teacher. Most of the districts here don't have their own team of subs. They use Kelly Services. From what I've been told, you tell Kelly Services in which schools you are willing to sub. They call you when they have a need. You might consider teaching in a private school. There are tons of them here. The qualifications to teach in a private school are much different from teaching in a public school. I taught at a private school. I was licensed in Missouri, but I was able to teach in Florida because it was a private school. I could not have taught in a public school without being re-certified for Florida.

We have a pool in our backyard. I love it, but it is a bit of work to keep up even though we have a pool company come once a week. Unless the pool is heated, you won't be swimming from November through April. The water is cold! Even heated, it is pretty chilly in December through February.

Something to consider when looking at homes is whether the area has reclaimed water. Some areas use reclaimed water for sprinkler systems. It is so much cheaper than your regular water rates. You really have to use sprinkler systems most of the year here if you want a descent yard. We have reclaimed water and our water bill (including both our household water and reclaimed water for the sprinkler system) runs about $65 a month. I've spoken to people living in areas without reclaimed water and their water bills can run up to $300 a month.

I currently live with my sister and daughter. Both my sister and I had our own homes until about a year ago. We decided we were getting to old to maintain two homes, so we sold both houses and built one larger house for all of us. We put our houses on the market and they both sold in under a week. The market is extremely hot. If you see something, don't wait or it will be gone. Expect to possible pay above list price as homes are in demand.

I've actually been wondering about the teaching and how to switch my license. My initial license expires in November. The school I sub at just got a new system that's online, too. I don't really like it because I have to pay for an app to text me for a job (otherwise I get no notification about new jobs). It makes me feel like I need my phone 24/7 and miss out on jobs if I don't have my phone right next to me. If we do move, I'll have to really look into subbing at private schools at an option. Thanks for that info!

We just swam in January at Disney, but I know they heat their pools. I'm not sure how much I would like cleaning my own pool. It sounds great having one, but it also sounds like a pain. I think we will choose a house based on the house and consider a pool an added bonus.

I'm not even sure what reclaimed water is (I'll look it up), but that's good to know about the difference in price. I wouldn't want to pay $300 in water bills a month. Our water here is really cheap, but we rarely use a sprinkler.

Thanks for the tips about buying a house. It can be so stressful to deal with the process and I hate when it turns into a bidding war. Since we started looking at houses like 2-3 days ago there have already been some that went pending. We aren't in love with any house yet since we haven't seen any in person so it's okay, but they definitely seem to go fast. There are some that have been up or 100+ days which makes me a little weary about the house/area it's in.

 

[Haley R]

Keep in mind that some areas of Ocoee are not so nice. The closer you get to Hiawassee, the less desirable the area. Plan on staying south of Highway 50.

All of the houses I have saved in Ocoee are south of Highway 91

 

[LovesTimone]

Thanks for such a detailed response! Dh wouldn’t have much a choice on working on sand lake rd but we wouldn’t live in that area. I looked at the schools and that tells a lot about that direct area. We’ve found houses in Windermere, dr Phillips, ocoee, Gotha, and winter garden. The majority of the houses we liked are in dr Phillips and ocoee. We are not interested in a townhome or an apartment. At this point we are only looking for a single family home.

I completely understand wanting to be away from everything. We love Disney so much but I don’t want to be in that area every day. I love the idea of being close to Disney but still having that small town feel.

I’ve never subbed/taught in a private school but it’s something I would consider to get smaller class sizes. Big class sizes are hard for a sub to come into

Glad I could offer some info... Dr. Phillps is a nice area, but it is older area and more and more the city/tourist areas are pushing in on that area... Ocoee is a nice quite area with a small town feel, we have friends that live over there and they really like it, we did look at house over there when we were deciding on where to build at... one reason that we choose not to was it was harder for DH to get to the main road ways that he travels, 429, (toll road) Fl Turn Pike, I-4, 528, hwy 27 and hwy 50 and the other main ones to get around Orlando...

We live in Winter Garden, and just love it. It honestly met everything we needed on our list and then a whole lot more. So we jumped in and we are glad that we did. We did have a advantage we are both from Florida, and we both grew up in the central Florida area. When we moved back from GA, after almost 6 years, things changed alot... so we decided to rent for a year then it was another year while the house was being built... We are living the lifestyle that we want, close to the parks without being in all the tourist stuff, close to the water, we have a boat, and its easy to pick it up and head out on a weekend, to the river, lakes, or haul to the gulf for scallop season, or head to disappearing island for the day, fishing, swimming relaxing...

I do think that I saw that you were interested in a YMCA we have a really nice one here in Winter Garden... You can see it from the turnpike when exiting off of the turnpike onto the 429 coming from I-75

I will give you a bit of advice, I hope you don't mind.... I know your looking for a single family, which is a big commitment, and since your not familiar with the area, you might want to explore renting for a year, before jumping in to buying house. Getting to know the area is really important, and I tell everyone that ask about making the move, to look at this option. We had some friends that made the move here, and were going to buy a house right away, then they decided to wait, and rented (single family home) in the area that they were thinking about buying in. They were so glad that they did not buy in the area that they were renting, they realized that what they thought the area was like and what the realtor told them it was like was not in fact what they were looking for... They spent a whole year trying on different areas, shopping, eating, going to the movies, driving through areas at night, they figured out what type of lifestyle that they wanted to live here... He started playing golf then she started playing and they ended up buying a house in Clermont at Legends its one of the communities that has a golf course, and Kings Ridge is across the hwy. They used to wonder why we went to the parks all the time, now they know... and are AP holders now...

Another thought is when you are looking at home, you need to know if the home will require flood insurance if it is in a flood zone or low lying area, which will add to your overall mortgage payment, and whatever you do get a home inspection and use someone that you are paying directly, so that they are working for you and your interest... as well as make sure the house has had termite treatments and if the contract can be transferred to you.

Let us know if how things work out.