Looking for a neighborhood with newer homes on a 350k budget within 30 min of downtown Orlando

[MrCSW]

Thanks For the replies. I recently spoke with someone from Florida who moved to Minnesota and they mentioned Florida's zoning laws or lack there of. She stated that nice neighborhoods are often near less disireable areas. Is this the case for Winderemere and Winter park?

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by MrCSW

Thanks For the replies. I recently spoke with someone from Florida who moved to Minnesota and they mentioned Florida's zoning laws or lack there of. She stated that nice neighborhoods are often near less disireable areas. Is this the case for Winderemere and Winter park?

It depends where you are (and who you are) in Windermere -- if you spent $10-million on a new house in Windermere, you might be a little dismayed that a mile down the road, you have houses for $500,000 or so.

For the Winder-Near area (not the old downtown Windermere, but the areas that have Windermere addresses in the Lakeside Village part of Horizon West, zoning laws are VERY strict, because that's part of the Horizon West model. They spent years figuring out how to zone for the "neighborhood" concept (a mix of apartments, town homes, single-family homes, a recreational/park area, some undeveloped/greenbelt area, and a central shopping area providing the essentials for each neighborhood), all of which is walkable, and that's where things are at -- getting a zoning exception there is incredibly rare. That's part of where the years-long battle about the location for the new high school has gone on, for example. There also have been commercial developers begging for zoning exceptions to really get into this hot market with so many people nearby, but they have been turned down. For Lakeside Village, there is one village center shopping center and one smaller shopping area that was grandfathered in--and that's all the shopping that is allowed to develop.

If you are really curious about it all, here's the case study about it:
http://www.orangecountyfl.net/Portal...ntyFlorida.pdf

The first Villages in Horizon West are in Windermere, and the future Villages are in Winter Garden, but all of them are under the same very strict zoning requirements.

I have no idea how Winter Park is about this, because it is an older, more established area.

[tinytrump]

Right below the airport, all new homes are being built- Boggy creek also the Narcoosee area

[Lamigra1200]

One possibility might be the Vista Lakes community off Lee Vista and Narcossee east of 417. Many newer homes under $350k with an infinite selection of architectural style and over 2000 Sq ' much less traffic and more bang for your buck.

[FlStorm]

DO you think Winder"near", Horizon West area will cater to vacation rentals or develop as family, neighborhood vibe?

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by FlStorm

DO you think Winder"near", Horizon West area will cater to vacation rentals or develop as family, neighborhood vibe?

It's absolutely family neighborhood type of vibe. (In fact, for the community where I'm building, there's two new preschools under construction and a second elementary school planned for less than 2 miles from an existing one due to large numbers of kids popping up in the surrounding neighborhoods.)

The HOA regs for the community I'm in say that no short-term rentals are allowed. If you are renting a house, the minimum lease must be for 7 months. If it falls through, you are only allowed a maximum of two rentals per year. I haven't seen HOA regs for other communities, but I would be surprised if they were different. The idea of Horizon West is to try and build this whole "small town America" type of thing within each community. (Case in point, Summerlake makes a big deal about front porches so you can get to know your neighbors.) But a lot of these communities include resort-like amenities so that you don't have to leave your neighborhood for things to do. The community I'm building in doesn't have as much as some others, but it does have a community pool, two playgrounds, two dog parks, walking/running/biking trails, a fitness trail station, lake access, community picnic areas, and a splash pad.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by FlStorm

DO you think Winder"near", Horizon West area will cater to vacation rentals or develop as family, neighborhood vibe?

Short term rentals are illegal in Orange County.

[Fl1150]

The bigger population of the county is the more likely chance that vacation rentals are not common only in areas where the population is small.

[DebSchroeder]

As BrinkofSunshine stated...short term rentals are not allowed in this area. The areas of Windermere, Winter Garden and Horizon West area are not zoned for short term rentals and thus illegal. Therefore, even if the HOA doesn't specify that information, it isn't zoned for short term rentals. I don't think the Disney hotels, nor residents, would allow a rezoning of that in the future either.

Rentals must be 7 months or longer. Most landlords would prefer a year long lease, over a 7 month, as it takes time to re-market the rental property and prepare it for a new tenant (cleaning, touchup paint, etc), so most rental properties are year long leases.

I know that some people move to the area and rent while their home is being built and would prefer a shorter lease than a year. Some apartment complexes in the area will lease for 7 -11 months with an added monthly fee.

[Not4longNY]

32837 New homes in Hunters Creek area.