[Lookingforaplace]

Is lake county an affordable place to live?

[SouthernBelle3]

It's about the same as the rest of Central Florida. Are you looking to purchase a home? If you are, new home prices may increase due to a proposed impact fee which will make Lake county the highest in the state. If you are buying a resale, the impact fee doesn't apply. The sales tax is 7%. The millage runs from 16 to 22.

[pianogal]

We spent last weekend in Lake County and did some looking around while there. The prices seemed to me to be significantly lower than most good areas of Orlando and Seminole County. However, not being familiar with the area, I was just going on the looks of the homes, they seemed a good value, but they may have been in a terrible school district.

[faithfulFrank]

Lookingforaplace,
I'm not sure how to answer your question......it's a bit vague. I just bought a home in lake county, and i'm thrilled with it, but as to the question on if it is affordable......I would ask, "to what"??
Taxes are lower then what i'm used to in NY,.....($3000 compared to $6000)
Water is higher.......(about 3x's as much)
Homeowners insurance is higher...(about 3x as much for a less expensive home......but probably better then coastal prices)
Gasoline is cheaper.....(We are at $2.83/gal now here in NY)

One thing I did find out is that in Florida, the biggest box of cheap wine you can buy is 3 litre....up in NY, you can buy 5 litre boxes of wine for the same price....(smile).

Anyway, good luck in your quest....

Frank D.

[FL_TN_Nana]

Originally Posted by Lookingforaplace

Is lake county an affordable place to live?

Where are you now? What is "affordable?" Renting or buying? Any particular area?

I live in Lake County and it's affordable for us, but we bought our house in '92so you certainly can't go by what we pay!

In our area, water is cheap (I whisper that because I don't want to pay Frank's expensive prices!) Our electric is very reasonable at .087000 per KWH.

The cheapest gas I saw today was $2.65, others were up to $2.71.

It seems that home purchase prices have come down significantly in the past year. I would say there are lots of deals to be made about now! Depending on your needs/wants, there are some places for under $200k, unheard of last year unless it was a disaster waiting to happen.

Happy Hunting!

[faithfulFrank]

Fl_Tn_Nana,

I hope I did not sound like I'm complaining......(MUCH too much of that on this forum already...)
Does Clairmont have cheaper water then Leesburg? I do not know if the water is expensive......i'm just a newbie comparing things to what I am used to up here in cold NY....

In NY, I get my water bill every three months. In 3 months, I used 21,000 units of water in 107 days and my bill was $72.82

In Leesburg, my first water bill was for 29 days, it said that I used 14 units, and my bill was $73.18, (plus a one time connect fee of 25.00, that i'm not counting.)
The house was empty for about 1/2 that time, but I know I may need to adjust my sprinkler usage.

It just looks like water here is about 3x the cost as it is in NY...but we have other things like taxes and heating costs to make up for that.....

It is interesting to learn about the different costs of things we have in different parts of the country.....it is still the greatest country in the world..

Frank D.

[FL_TN_Nana]

Frank,
Yikes! Your water is high, but every company or district has a different price. I didn't take it that you were complaining, just stating a fact. We don't live within the city limits so aren't paying what the people in Clermont would pay--and I don't know what that is. We have Lake Utility Svcs. and for my husband and myself, we pay maybe $20 for a 2 month bill -- that's the billing cycle. We do have a well that we use for irrigation. That probably wouldn't be allowed in a development with HOA, but I don't know how that works.

Water is a precious commodity for all of us, but Florida in particular is going to be in trouble if we don't start managing it better. I cringe when I see water being wasted -- you know, that pavement really does need all that water doesn't it? Ok...that's for another topic!