Lake Mary vs Windermere schools & neighborhoods (Orlando, Plantation: for sale, real estate)

[AJ510]

Hi, We are considering a move to Orlando. I lived in Orlando back in 2004 & 2005 but I was single and lived by Lake Eola. Now, I am married with a 2 & 5 year old, so my priorities have changed. We will definitely be looking in suburbs, which unfortunately, I know very little about. Any advise to the below questions would be greatly appreciated.

FYI- Our price range in 350-450k. We would only pay 450k if it was a completely updated home. We would even consider buying a house in a lower range/ foreclosure/ short sell and fixing it up. I would like to stay around 3000-3500 square feet if at all possible.

Windermere- Which schools (Best elem, middle & HS) should I look to be zoned for? Which neighborhoods should I look in and or stay away from? I'd like a stable neighborhood with lots of families.

Lake Mary- Which schools (Best elem, middle & HS) should I look to be zoned for? Which neighborhoods would you recommend? Heathrow seems nice but maybe a little too expensive and uppity? Or do I have the wrong perception?

Are there any other suburbs that I should look at? Schools are the most important to me. As well as stable and safe neighborhoods with a great community feel. With my husbands job, we can really live anywhere in surrounding Orlando area.

Thanks!

[brinkofsunshine]

I only know about Windermere, and the most desirable area of Windermere is around Main St., but after plugging your numbers into Zillow not a lot of properties came up. You'll have to either up your price range or lower the square footage. There are some foreclosures in the $400's.

I'd look at Dr. Phillips as well. Good schools and it's not quite as expensive overall.

[kyle19125]

In terms of Lake Mary any area within your price range is desirable and the school options are all pretty much excellent without any schools inferior to the others. In terms of Heathrow being "uppity" that may have been the case a number of years ago but given the emergence of neighboring areas such as Alaqua, Alaqua Lakes, Lake Forest and Magnolia Plantation not so much anymore as it's no longer the sole "more exclusive" neighborhood. In my opinion you're better suited focusing on the smaller custom home subdivisions in the area up and down Markham Woods Road or Orange Blvd (most of which are minus the steep monthly HOA fees), as well as The Estates at Pearl Lake or Versailles where you can move into new construction homes well within your price range.

The Estates at Pearl Lake: Sanford, FL, New homes by Taylor Morrison
Versailles: Sanford, FL, New homes by M/I Homes

Also many may not consider it initially but the Fountain Parke neighborhood in Lake Mary which is all luxury townhomes is quite the bargain well under your price range, with brand new 2500 sq ft/three story, 4 bedroom/3.5 bath with a two car garage units selling for 300K-325K.

Fountain Parke: Lake Mary, FL, New homes by Ashton Woods Homes

[Eric1026]

When we moved to Orlando 10 years ago those two cities were the finalists. We ended up choosing Windermere and even today still love the area BUT nothing against Lake Mary which is really nice. We liked the safe feel of Windermere and the surrounding areas of Windermere and at the time and with young kids the ability to get the Florida Disney Pass and be less then 5 miles from the back entrance to the parks.

The schools that I continually hear good things about in the area are Windermere Elementary, Keene's Crossing Elementary, Lake Whitney Elementary. Bridgewater Middle School is awesome and is rated one of the best in the entire Central Florida region. Olympia HS is solid but if you are slated for West Orange HS then depending on where your house is a new High School will be built by the time your kids are in middle school. They have already approved the build of new HS but the community is fighting over what parcel of land to put it on. Check out Cranium Academy as a preschool or maybe even private school choice.

I think the best value is in and around the Summerport Housing community and area. There are new homes being built right next to or behind it which are adjacent to the elementary school and middle school. They are also slated to open a huge multi-acre public sports and activity complex next to the middle school and two more miles down the road will be a brand new "Village" opening up on Lake Hancock that will offer the ability to take your boat to park at a dock and go eat and shop at the retail location.

But again with all the above said......if you choose Lake Mary you will NOT go wrong either and do not discount up and coming Lake Nona.

[AJ510]

Thank you for your responses and information. I should also mention that we would like a house to either retain or gain value in the next 3-5 years. It seems with my husbands job, we are being moved about that often.

Are there advantages/ disadvantages of being in Lake Mary vs edge by Sanford? What about bring in Windermere vs edge in newer neighborhoods?

We were burned by the last housing bubble. So, stability is on the forefront of my mind.

Such a different market in Orlando than where we are now and it is a little daunting.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by AJ510

Thank you for your responses and information. I should also mention that we would like a house to either retain or gain value in the next 3-5 years. It seems with my husbands job, we are being moved about that often.

Are there advantages/ disadvantages of being in Lake Mary vs edge by Sanford? What about bring in Windermere vs edge in newer neighborhoods?

We were burned by the last housing bubble. So, stability is on the forefront of my mind.

Such a different market in Orlando than where we are now and it is a little daunting.

I can only speak to Lake Mary versus Sanford. I would say yes to the "advantage" in Sanford in terms of price because overall Lake Mary has the better perception of image, as about 40% of Sanford isn't so nice and has a significant Black population ...which most of the largely racist Central Florida population has issue with. The west side of Sanford (west of I-4) where the high end neighborhoods are located are further away from the "bad sections" than most areas of Lake Mary, but suffer in terms of price/value to similar properties located in Lake Mary because of the Sanford "tag". The schools are actually a tinge better with Sanford's Seminole High School ranked higher and performing better than Lake Mary High School but again is avoided by some because of it's Sanford location and higher Black population. The elementary and middle school options would be much nearer to your potential neighborhood and are identical in quality and demographic to what is found in Lake Mary. Sanford is trending up with a lot of commercial/residential expansion around the Seminole Towne Center Mall (and west of I-4), plus the recent climb to match (and eclipse) Lake Mary's public schools will continue to bode well for real estate prices in my opinion as all of the new construction is geared toward a higher end demographic. Lastly Lake Mary/Sanford trumps many areas of the Orlando metro in terms of location due to excellent road infrastructure with easy access to the overall area via I-4, the 417 and US17-92 plus closest proximity to the beaches (within 45 minutes).

[AJ510]

[quote=Eric1026;34838374]When we moved to Orlando 10 years ago those two cities were the finalists. We ended up choosing Windermere and even today still love the area BUT nothing against Lake Mary which is really nice. We liked the safe feel of Windermere and the surrounding areas of Windermere and at the time and with young kids the ability to get the Florida Disney Pass and be less then 5 miles from the back entrance to the parks.

The schools that I continually hear good things about in the area are Windermere Elementary, Keene's Crossing Elementary, Lake Whitney Elementary. Bridgewater Middle School is awesome and is rated one of the best in the entire Central Florida region. Olympia HS is solid but if you are slated for West Orange HS then depending on where your house is a new High School will be built by the time your kids are in middle school. They have already approved the build of new HS but the community is fighting over what parcel of land to put it on. Check out Cranium Academy as a preschool or maybe even private school choice.

I think the best value is in and around the Summerport Housing community and area. There are new homes being built right next to or behind it which are adjacent to the elementary school and middle school. They are also slated to open a huge multi-acre public sports and activity complex next to the middle school and two more miles down the road will be a brand new "Village" opening up on Lake Hancock that will offer the ability to take your boat to park at a dock and go eat and shop at the retail location.

But again with all the above said......if you choose Lake Mary you will NOT go wrong either and do not discount up and coming Lake Nona.

[AJ510]

Hi Eric,

Where do the lines for Windermere stop? Couldn't help but see lots of homes for sale in Summerport. Is the Summerport area stable? Ie- if my husband was transferred yet again in 3-5 years would we be able to sell our home or would we be competing with several other new shiny neighborhoods? We can't afford to be burned like we were burned 5 years ago.

Thanks

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by AJ510

Hi Eric,

Where do the lines for Windermere stop? Couldn't help but see lots of homes for sale in Summerport. Is the Summerport area stable? Ie- if my husband was transferred yet again in 3-5 years would we be able to sell our home or would we be competing with several other new shiny neighborhoods? We can't afford to be burned like we were burned 5 years ago.

Thanks

My unsolicited advice, but that's going to be an issue in my opinion in that area of town versus Seminole County which isn't prone to that type of buyer (shiny an new only) nearly as much.

[AJ510]

Thanks Kyle. I guess my confussion is on the lines of each individual suburb. We live outside Memphis TN in an area called Collierville. We are on the boarder of Collierville/ Germantown (both their iown cities) which have the best schools in the area. This area (especially Germantown) is pretty built up. So, we feel protected from giant new subdivisions lowering our value. But, I am originally from here and I knew exactly where the best area to raise a family here was. But, in Orlando there are so many areas (that are supposedly the best), my head is spinning. Lake Mary seems very nice. Just watched a you tube of Markham woods road and it's beautiful!