Considering a move to Kissimmee/Orlando from South Florida (Miami: houses, safe neighborhood)

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Ann474

Thank you. Unfortunately I can not rent because I need to buy before a year is up in order not to pay the taxes on my home sale. What you are describing as crime doesn't sound too bad when in the area I can buy 500k in Miami for the size I need it's gunfire as a common thing and I can not afford Broward county since I want to pay cash. I'm really becoming more confused as to where is the nice homes in Orlando and what people's expectations are?

I have nothing to compare it to and would love to hear from some previous south florida transplants so I know if this is even worth continuing to look in Orlando. It's starting to sound like Orlando is basically a not so good area.

Orlando has a lot of nice areas, but those areas won't get you 1/2 acre lots with modern homes.

Some of the nicest areas are...

Lake Mary
Winter Park
Oviedo
Dr. Phillips
Windermere

I've lived in a lot of cities one of them being Boca Raton, so I know quite a bit about South Florida. I still have friends scattered from Jupiter to Miami.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Ann474

Dumpy????? Ok, wait lol.....this is what 500K buys you in Miami...

https://www.redfin.com/FL/Miami/2921.../home/42750883


https://www.redfin.com/FL/Miami/3165.../home/42744678

https://www.redfin.com/FL/Miami/1128.../home/42929564


Now you can find the odd larger home with volume ceilings here and there in Miami, but many times not in the best areas. You may find a gated community with a few nice homes for sale, but you have to go through the houses from the links above to reach the nice pretty gated community to get there. I do not see any dumpy stuff in Apopka compared to Miami, but maybe I just haven't been up to Orlando yet to see what you are talking about.

Also, this is what I live in now that just hit the MLS to give an idea of what I'm used to. I'm looking for a smaller version of this in an area and NEED the land. My significant other has a race boat we need to park, and we need to put a shed in the yard for all of his tools. We NEED land.

You can find nice homes in any city in America, even the world, I'm sure even Somali has some nice mansions, but if a city is a dump, it's still going to be a dump even if you live in a nice house.

I moved from San Francisco, which makes Miami look like a bargain. The city of Apopka reminds me of Kissimmee, very limited high paying jobs, pretty far out from the city center, lots of low income people, only major grocery store available is Publix etc. It's just not a nice area overall. Apopka isn't a ghetto, just like Kissimmee isn't a ghetto, but they aren't desirable areas either.

[Ann474]

I am just going to have to take a trip to see for myself I suppose. I just wanted a starting point I guess. If I was going to go to Winter Park or the like, I may as well stay in South Florida, and not even sell my house for that matter. Sorry, but for me yucky, but to each their own. This is why we have chocolate and vanilla ice cream lol

I would rather live in a middle class area (I am not a yuppy, is that word still used? lol) and have a lot of land, a nice home, and a more rural feel while still being close to some action. I really don't want to be in the HUB of it all, but 15 to 20 min out of it. The other side of me actually likes the idea of being in a vacation area. In a vacation area we would constantly be meeting new people, and life would never be boring with the typical wave hi to your neighbor every morning.

I'm just going to make the trip this weekend and look with the realtor and see. I already know I am not a fan at all of Winter Park. It's a bunch of overpriced homes in my opinion, pretty, but too similar to the way I've been living for years. I've lived that life for much too long hence why I'm selling and down sizing and looking for a new way of life.

[Ann474]

I have decided I'm not even going up there to look. Many here have convinced me against many Orlando areas or Kissimmee in general. The areas that were suggested just don't have homes I even remotely like. Thanks for the help!

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Ann474

I have decided I'm not even going up there to look. Many here have convinced me against many Orlando areas or Kissimmee in general. The areas that were suggested just don't have homes I even remotely like. Thanks for the help!

Unfortunately your budget is too low to get all the things you want in a good area that isn't out in the boonies.

[Tominftl]

Don't move to Kissimmee. My relatives live in that area and the changes haven't been good. That's all I'm going to say. Visit the area first and see for yourself. Check the police blotters.

[clearlevel]

Originally Posted by Ann474

I have decided I'm not even going up there to look. Many here have convinced me against many Orlando areas or Kissimmee in general. The areas that were suggested just don't have homes I even remotely like. Thanks for the help!

To get the land that you want, and the quality of house that you want, you'd have to either pay more in these neighborhoods we mentioned or go to places like Clermont, Apopka and other outskirts. Also, it may be that the inventory of the really, nice houses in Orlando is too short. Compared to South Florida, where there are many snowbirds with lots of money that flock to splurge on huge housing, that kind of money doesn't really float around as often in Orlando. There really is no neighborhood in Orlando that is as big or ample or approaches the long stretches of regalia you see in some of these Palm Beach coast cities. I've seen neighborhoods in some of these Miami area counties, where there are a few miles of neighborhoods that has partitions where each property is it's own island with water and has like 3 acres of land and gardens in each property. It's out of this world.

Tiger Woods used to live in Islesworth, which is arguably the best neighborhood in the Orlando area in Windermere, and he had a big house and everything and there are some mega mansions there, but even Orlando was not fancy enough for him. He moved out, probably 'cause it wasn't luxurious enough for a billionaire. I mean, when you compare to the billionaire houses, like Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate and the surrounding areas in that part of South Florida, there's really no comparison. Maybe that's the difference. The millionaire houses are like the regular neighborhoods in some of these Palm Beach coasts and then the billionaire houses are at a whole other level. New York City has the Hamptons with miles and miles of billionaire homes as well. We don't have that in Orlando.

There are some very unique properties in Orlando and unique neighborhoods that are one-of-a-kind, but none of them have reached that billionaire status or even ultra millionaire status. Orlando doesn't even have that many 5-star hotels, for example, let alone the 7-star hotels we see with spaceship-era designs and supertall skyscrapers of Dubai. Orlando has a lot of catching up to do compared to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dubai, that are much better equipped in this regard. There just aren't enough people and money and investment, I think.

I'm from the northeast, so I can compare, and I can tell the biggest weakness the Orlando area has is the education. The truth is even the "good schools" in Winderemere/Lake Mary/Winter Park, are nothing compared to schools up north and the private prep schools in Orlando are not in the same league as the zoo-containing, garden-esconced prep schools from other parts of the country. The public high schools in some parts of the northeast are better than even the best private schools in Orlando. Orlando is woefully lacking in its educational department and it also shows in the behavior of its citizenry where they're just not willing to pay for education, the way people pay in foreign countries and even in the Northeast do. Barack Obama pays to send his child to school. Many people I know who are regular workers (not millionaires) pay the $10,000, $20,000 and in some cases even $30,000 a year to send their kids to a private school, because education means that much to them.

For all these reasons, Orlando as much as it is able to attract fun-lovers and fun-goers with its attraction, cannot really keep the attention of the ultra refined person or even any person with class. Orlando lacks class.

That being said, Orlando still is good, because it is affordable, it has an unusually high concentration of retail and restaurants due to its tourism, and it has Disney and the theme parks (which if you like) then there's nothing like it anywhere else. It's also very calm and to be honest, doesn't really have that big of a nightlife. It's more of a boring place and lots of people come to retire and for that it is enjoyable. Apparently, Orlando is starting to add a new 7-star hotel on International Drive, maybe that'll be the start of something new.

Oh, well, thanks for at least showing some interest in Orlando. I feel like you brought up a lot of issues that helped all of us understand Orlando even more. Hope you have fun with whatever you do.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Realtor.com is for dinosaurs.

Redfin.com is the best one, you don't need to use their agents and it shows all listings as it draws everything from the MLS. It's also very easy to use and the filters are great. You can narrow it to only open houses or new listing within the past 24 hours etc.

In which dimension? It's the site most recommended by real estate professionals for most up to date/accurate and the most comprehensive. Redfin only operates in the top 75 metro areas which works here obviously, but not nationwide.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Ann474

I have decided I'm not even going up there to look. Many here have convinced me against many Orlando areas or Kissimmee in general. The areas that were suggested just don't have homes I even remotely like. Thanks for the help!

I think your budget, housing style and your husband's occupation is probably more suited to the coast versus inland. Have you considered Tampa? Your housing dollar would go further and your son/his girlfriend could just as easily attend USF.

[OTownKnight]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Unfortunately your budget is too low to get all the things you want in a good area that isn't out in the boonies.

Exactly. Based on the picture that OP showed of her current home that's about to be listed, I'd say for SoFla that's at least a $2M home, but probably way more. You can't expect to go from that to a budget of $500k and have a wish list where certain items contradict each other (plenty of land & being close to the action).

I can't think of anywhere that would have a half acre lot with a 3000 SF home, in a safe neighborhood, AND being close to the heart of Orlando for under $500k. Looking into Winter Park with that criteria and you're now talking $1.5M estates.