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Thanks for all your replies. It is helpful to hear everyone's opinions.
We wouldn't need to find work if we moved there. My husband is a boat pilot and currently works in another state than what we live in.
Whatever state he lives in, he will fly to the airport closest to where the boat is on shift change day.
I am a stay at home mom who sews handmade tote bags and sells them on Etsy for fun money.
It was my husband's idea to move to Florida. He would move right now if we could. I don't think I am going to tolerate that extreme heat very well but he thinks you can get use to anything.
We do live right on the Mississippi river so our town/area gets very humid also. When it is 95 or above outside, here, it is miserable and everybody just stays in the house if they can. SO I assume it gets the same way there.
I think it might be fun to work for Disney but the likelihood of you having to work OUTSIDE in the middle of the summer is what would keep me from ever doing it.
By the time we move there my kids will both be teens and able to stay home alone before and after school so I could work if I wanted to. But I probably will just keep doing what I am doing now. My husband's salary supports us well.
But the only few ppl I have ever known to live in Florida lived in St. Cloud and said all the areas they ever saw of Kissimmee was very nice residential neighborhoods.
They have told me if you can tolerate the heat and humidity then you will be OK.
But those house listings are crazy cheap and they are big nice houses in what LOOKS to be nice quiet neighborhoods.
I assume the traffic there is horrendous at rush hour morning and evening from all the ppl leaving town to go to work then coming home in the evenings.
One of the houses I found on Homes.com was half way between Kissimmee and Poinciana (sp?) and the other one was over right by East Lake Toho. I know those same houses won't be available in a few years but those areas seemed nice.
Also, on all these house listings it shows amount of homeowners insurance and all of them are less than $100 a month. I was told homeowners insurance in Florida is outrageously high and you can't get flood insurance except through the National Flood insurance program. Is that true?
We have bought groceries a few times while we were at Disney at a Walmart on Vineland Rd in Orlando and the prices seemed to be right on par with what we pay here. SO I assume cost of living is not through the roof?
I'm down in South Florida and do venture up to Kissimmee as we go to the theme parks very often.I'm not an expert on which neighborhoods are better than others but I can say we went up there to look at houses in Kissimmee and Poinciana around 2008 when the prices started sinking.What we left with is that you definitely have to avoid the cheaper houses as there's a reason they are cheap.For example I would totally avoid Poinciana,some of the houses look pretty good when you see them in pictures online,once you get there it's another story,some areas are very sketchy looking,half the houses are empty,the neighborhoods are not cared for and other areas are so far out it'll take you almost an hour to get to 192 in Kissimmee.I know there are areas people suggest like Hunters Creek close to Kissimmee that I hear are better and I'm sure there are other areas that others might suggest as well,but I also know many areas are not good,so you really have to do some research and visit the area.Kissimmee used to be the tourist hot spot where most people stayed when visiting Disney in the 70's and 80's full of hotels and restaurants,as Disney built more hotels onsite and other areas like Lake Buena Vista and International Drive grew and built more hotels,shopping and dining people stopped staying at the old Kissimmee hotels,and once the economy sunk parts of the area have just gotten downright scary.People pass by on the way to Disney but the number who stay here is probably 1/20th of what it used to be,there's only a few worthwhile hotels and they're west of 535,east of 535 the area just gets dramatically worse and worse.All I can say is even if you see a huge 2500 sq foot house that looks new for $80-$100K don't let that fool you,there's probably a good reason why it's so cheap.Again I'm not an expert in every neighborhood but I know some will be decent,not as good an area as say a Windermere,Dr.Phillips or in Seminole county but you can still find some very good deals,you just gotta be careful.
Thanks for all your replies. It is helpful to hear everyone's opinions.
We wouldn't need to find work if we moved there. My husband is a boat pilot and currently works in another state than what we live in.
Whatever state he lives in, he will fly to the airport closest to where the boat is on shift change day.
I am a stay at home mom who sews handmade tote bags and sells them on Etsy for fun money.
It was my husband's idea to move to Florida. He would move right now if we could. I don't think I am going to tolerate that extreme heat very well but he thinks you can get use to anything.
We do live right on the Mississippi river so our town/area gets very humid also. When it is 95 or above outside, here, it is miserable and everybody just stays in the house if they can. SO I assume it gets the same way there.
I think it might be fun to work for Disney but the likelihood of you having to work OUTSIDE in the middle of the summer is what would keep me from ever doing it.
By the time we move there my kids will both be teens and able to stay home alone before and after school so I could work if I wanted to. But I probably will just keep doing what I am doing now. My husband's salary supports us well.
But the only few ppl I have ever known to live in Florida lived in St. Cloud and said all the areas they ever saw of Kissimmee was very nice residential neighborhoods.
They have told me if you can tolerate the heat and humidity then you will be OK.
But those house listings are crazy cheap and they are big nice houses in what LOOKS to be nice quiet neighborhoods.
I assume the traffic there is horrendous at rush hour morning and evening from all the ppl leaving town to go to work then coming home in the evenings.
One of the houses I found on Homes.com was half way between Kissimmee and Poinciana (sp?) and the other one was over right by East Lake Toho. I know those same houses won't be available in a few years but those areas seemed nice.
Also, on all these house listings it shows amount of homeowners insurance and all of them are less than $100 a month. I was told homeowners insurance in Florida is outrageously high and you can't get flood insurance except through the National Flood insurance program. Is that true?
We have bought groceries a few times while we were at Disney at a Walmart on Vineland Rd in Orlando and the prices seemed to be right on par with what we pay here. SO I assume cost of living is not through the roof?
Home owners INSURANCE or Home Owners ASSOCIATION?
Don't believe it if you are being told insurance. While it's possible, it highly unlikely. Homeowners is expensive, partly because all of us are forced to subsidize Citizens instead of forcing Citizens to charge premiums high enough to cover their potential losses, even if we don't insure with CItizens. Even if you don't own a house and just have car insurance, you'll still be subsidizing the guy in the million dollar mansion on the beach in Boca.
By the way, ALL flood insurance is through the national program, there is no such thing as private flood insurance, regardless of your state or the type or value of your home.
Agreed, the main issue though is what kind of pay and what kind of commute are they willing to put up with on a daily basis. A terrible commute can easily wipe out any "better" paying jobs with gas costs alone. Even a few extra bucks per hour after taxes and gas weekly is a waste.
I am considering investment in a small townhouse in Ocoee switch glass circle. is it a good location? Safe and easy access to shopping?
I am considering investment in a small townhouse in Ocoee switch glass circle. is it a good location? Safe and easy access to shopping?
This is a nice area and you'll be perfectly safe. You won't be walking to any stores but they aren't that far maybe a couple of miles.
While looking at this property tho, I'd see what part of the circle the property is on. There are RR tracks that run right to the south of it. I wouldn't want trains waking me up in the middle of the night.
Kissimmee is very heavily Hispanic. Some people, unfortunately, are uncomfortable with that, or assume that it's a high-crime area because of it.
I have been around Kissimmee many times and I cannot see anything wrong with it. I have a couple of friends from college that live around the area, they are all engineers and while they prefer to speak Spanish at home their English is very good. My impression of schools in Florida is that they are pretty crummy in general. Any region that has a large concentration of retirees (like Florida) are not going to have the best schools, since they have other priorities. Based on what the OP is describing as her current location, I see an area like Kissimmee as an improvement.
This is a nice area and you'll be perfectly safe. You won't be walking to any stores but they aren't that far maybe a couple of miles.
While looking at this property tho, I'd see what part of the circle the property is on. There are RR tracks that run right to the south of it. I wouldn't want trains waking me up in the middle of the night.
Sounds like the perfect place for me as we are 1/2 block from RRX here in PA(in a very small town though) and the freight trains barrel through here at all hours of the day and night-lol!
Location: that's a good question...I don't even know
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I wouldn't trade my place in Kissimmee for anything. I live in Kissimmee west of Hoagland and down Pleasant Hill Road. My area is made up of very nice housing developments and small acreages (like little horse hobby farms). I personally bought an acreage and although we have racial/cultural diversity in my neighborhood (which is not in an HOA) I find my neighbors to be very pleasant. We look out for eachother, the kids play together, we take our dogs for walks together, and it is overall the best experience I've ever had with my neighbors. I find Poinciana to be more hispanic non-English speaking that Kissimmee itself. Granted there are touristy areas of Kissimmee but you can't judge and entire city by one area. That would be like saying that all of Orlando is exactly like the Parramore/OBT or Pine Hills areas. As a person who used to live in downtown Orlando (on Church St) I can say that I much prefer my area of Kissimmee to any of the areas in Orlando that I lived in.
In short, Kissimmee isn't all that people say it is...it's so much better than that.
sglenn19, those houses are in Poinciana (34758-59), not Kissimmee, so they'll be further out and cheaper. Those links also were for smaller homes (1200-1400 sqft). You prob can get them if you pay cash, though your realtor might say to bid a bit higher if you really want them.
On the schools, I think they are improving. On the last FCAT rankings, it was Seminole #7, Brevard #8, Orange #34, Osceola #38, Lake #44, Polk #59. https://app2.fldoe.org/Ranking/Districts/
Thanks for the input. I saw a listing for a house in Hunters Chase Kissimmee, FL 34743.
Is this a decent community? Also, is there catholic churches in the area? I noticed that it's approx 10-12 miles away from the new VA hospital in Lake Nona.
Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessizadorable
I wouldn't trade my place in Kissimmee for anything. I live in Kissimmee west of Hoagland and down Pleasant Hill Road. My area is made up of very nice housing developments and small acreages (like little horse hobby farms). I personally bought an acreage and although we have racial/cultural diversity in my neighborhood (which is not in an HOA) I find my neighbors to be very pleasant. We look out for eachother, the kids play together, we take our dogs for walks together, and it is overall the best experience I've ever had with my neighbors. I find Poinciana to be more hispanic non-English speaking that Kissimmee itself. Granted there are touristy areas of Kissimmee but you can't judge and entire city by one area. That would be like saying that all of Orlando is exactly like the Parramore/OBT or Pine Hills areas. As a person who used to live in downtown Orlando (on Church St) I can say that I much prefer my area of Kissimmee to any of the areas in Orlando that I lived in.
In short, Kissimmee isn't all that people say it is...it's so much better than that.
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