Would lake mary be best? (Orlando, Deltona: real estate market, apartments, for rent)

[tonihowe]

Myself and my husband will be relocating to Florida in july 2011. We have been researching towns in Florida over the past year and had a shortlist of places, but it all depended on work.
I have a job offer I'd like to accept in the Orange city area and my husband will be working in the Orlando area.

Lake Mary was on the short list and its kinda half way between both our work locations. It seems to be a popular place to live.
We are in our mid 20's and newly married, we have no kids but do plan to have some in the near future.
Lake Mary area had been an area we were going to move to when we had kids because of the school's and nice communities.

We have been looking at areas in Orange City area including Deltona, Debary and orange City itself. Liked orange city, not too keen on Deltona though. What are opinions of these areas? Thought of maybe living somewhere else first, somewhere cheap, and lots of oppurtunities for us to get to know peopleand get to know the area, then settling in Lake Mary when we have kids.

Are we best to start somewhere else first, or would living in Lake Mary be just as good place for us to start?
Thanks

[Broker Dave]

Based on age group Lake Mary offers some meet & greet along with a quick drive to more like downtown area etc..., not much to do in Orange City, Debary, Deltona or Deland as they are typical bedroom communities.

Find an agent your age that knows the areas of interest and understands the real estate market.

Hope this helps,

[beckycat]

Lake Mary is a great choice. It is affordable too. I agree with Broker Dave on there is alot more here to do. Also, you are halfway between both jobs. If you are planning on ending up here, why not move right here? I agree schools are better too for when you evntually have kids. What are you looking for? (house, apartment) What price range? I might be able to help you out with suggestions in Lake Mary.

[tonihowe]

Hi,
Thanks, we are pretty certain we will go with lake mary. I have family in sanford too, which is close by so it seems the perfect spot.
We don't mind too much if it's a house or apartment. We will be renting not buying, we do not want to be tied down to a property at the moment.
The main thing is we would like to be in a community so it is easy to get to know people. We like the idea of the gated community apartments because of the amenities such as pool, gym, etc. But house in a nice community would be nice to, to have our own garden, etc. We also like the fact that some housing communities have events during holidays for the neighbourhood. These could be great ways for us to get to know people.
We have a cat who is coming with us, we adopted him from a shelter after he was abandoned in a plastic bag in a restaurant. So pets being allowed is a must. He would be fine both inside and outside.
Price range is up to $1000 per month for rent. Ideally around $750 would be about right. A 2 bed and furnished.
We've seen a few places on craiglist. However we will be looking a bit nearer the time because we don't move until summer!

[Broker Dave]

Careful with Craigslist, last year I had a client that packed a truck, drove straight through from Indiana to unload at a property that when he drove up another truck was unloading, the owner had rented it to another group as he was driving here.

He called me as he now had nowhere to go and a loaded truck with the family in the front seat. Found a property for him to rent and here's where it gets weird I just tonight received an email that he's ready to buy a home.

Owning is now cheaper than renting due to home prices and interest rates.

Hope this helps,