Relocating & searching for trendy, modern, upper scale neighborhood. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Magnulus]

I think you might like Winter Park or Baldwin Park. They aren't exactly partying areas (few places in Orlando really are except downtown, and you don't want to live there for the most part), but they are upscale. For Winter Park and Baldwin Park the demographics tend to be somewhat more singles and retirees than other parts of the area. The suburban subdivision areas like Oviedo/Winter Springs and so forth tend to be more families and older (30's and 40's).

Just rent, don't buy. Bad time to buy a house, as prices will continue to fall for some time. Plus, you can't buy a house in that area of town for 200,000 dollars.

[hanawar1]

Lots of different opinions here on if it is a good time to buy. If you are being relo'd, they are probably paying closing costs, etc...this is a pretty big factor. Also, if you get relo'd again and you are a renter, most relo packages don't benefit a renter nearly as much as a home owner (if you look to buy in your new destination). Just a thought...all companies and situations are different.

[ymalaroo]

Whatever you do, do not move to Metro West, Pine Hills or Rosemont. Cheap but lots of crime!

Rent in lower crime areas,to buy later. Things are getting crazy here.

Y

[KrisCole]

Gucci, Check out Lake Mary. It just finished #4 in Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live". The schools are awesome. Of course, I'm a little biased since I teach at a local high school and coach basketball. My wife is a Realtor, so if your interested I can have her send you a list of properties in the price range you just listed. As for schools, you can go to the Departnment of Education for Florida's home page and compare school grades & FCAT results. This will give you insight into your future children's school system.

[krock67]

Ditto!!! Great advice.

Originally Posted by kinglouix

Maitland, Winter Park are your answers but not at that price. The housing market is depriciating 5% a month, so it would be foolish to buy anywhere now. You can get a solid rental for $1000 to $1400 in either of those areas. Sit for a couple of years and you will be able to buy in that range.

[beckycat]

There are some houses in Longwood in that price range. It is safe here and good schools. It's about 10-15 minutes from Maitland.

[gucci]

My computer totally crashed the day after my first posting and I'm just now reading all the informational responses you all have left for me (I had to purchase a new computer). Thank you all so much--I had no idea I would get so much help! I will try and sort it all out and do some more research on the areas you all have suggested; I'm so glad to have a starting point--my husband and I felt overwhelmed. Thanks again, everyone!

[ebosco]

My husband is a private home builder, he used to work for a local residential homebuilder, and he built a lot of homes in Black Bear Reserve, the homes are all built on more than an acre and the homes are new and very modern/trendy. It's in Eustice (sp?), which is a little drive, but very quaint. Also, Victoria Hills, in Deland, is a very nice neighborhood, not as much land with each house, but also on a golf course. Those are both higher-end neighborhoods. There are some very nice homes in Windermere, FL, some older and some newer, you can also still buy land out there.

[FatTony]

Originally Posted by ymalaroo

Whatever you do, do not move to Metro West, Pine Hills or Rosemont. Cheap but lots of crime!

Rent in lower crime areas,to buy later. Things are getting crazy here.

Y

Rosemont has some areas that aren't so good (the apartments on OBT), but the area generally gets an undeserved bad rap. My wife and I live in the single-family home area of Rosemont (around Lake Orlando) and it's nice, comfortable, and safe. People walking their dogs and jogging around the lake morning and evening. I've often felt that if more people knew about the neighborhood tucked in there, there'd be much more interest.