Best communities near Disneyworld (Orlando, Winter Garden: relocation, real estate, hoa fees)

[Wilshire81182]

Tangelo Park? Not the nicest, I think he was joking LOL.

[cfIfan]

Celebration is nice but is at a minimum twice the price of any other decent area and you can expect to pay a minimum of twice the amount in taxes. For example my parents have a 3 bed 2 bath 1600 sq ft townhome in Celebration, and their yearly tax bill is $7000. My in laws have a 5 bed 4 bath house in Winter Garden and their taxes are the same on a 3500 sq ft house. Celebration other than the downtown area isnt well maintained anymore, if you walk around you will see pavements unlevel, and all they have done is spray painted some red paint so people see it, some of the communal areas are not well maintianed either. You do the math. Also Tainter i notice you have put some strange remarks on numerous threads and wondered what you meant by the nuts?

[luvthatmouse]

Celebration. You can pick up a home for much less now, so hopefully the taxes will go down soon. No other community except Winter Park (about 20 minutes-1/2 an hour from WDW) is going to have the amount of things going on. This weekend is the Great American Pie Festival and the Exotic Car Show. Celebration, Dr. Phillips and Winter Park are where everyone else in the area come to hang out

Celebration, FL | Events

Celebration Front Porch

[cfIfan]

Do you live in Celebration?

Originally Posted by luvthatmouse

Celebration. You can pick up a home for much less now, so hopefully the taxes will go down soon. No other community except Winter Park (about 20 minutes-1/2 an hour from WDW) is going to have the amount of things going on. This weekend is the Great American Pie Festival and the Exotic Car Show. Celebration, Dr. Phillips and Winter Park are where everyone else in the area come to hang out

Celebration, FL | Events

Celebration Front Porch

[TrishP7]

Hunter's Creek is about 15 mins away from Disney..nice area.

[luvthatmouse]

Originally Posted by cfIfan

Do you live in Celebration?

Yes, for about 4 years now,

[cfIfan]

So you dont agree that taxes are high, that homes can be bought in other nice areas for alot less than in Celebration, and that the only part of Celebration that is maintained well is the downtown area?

You only have to watch channel 5, or read the front porch to see how furious people are that they pay so much money to live in this idyllic idea of a town that Disney built, but that isnt maintained to the standards that it was when Disney were in charge. Just to take into consideration on what is on the market currently, why would someone pay $300,000 for a 3/2 1600 sq ft townhome with taxes of $7000 when they can get the same size and square footage, much closer to Disney, brand new for $180,000 and their taxes are $2900.

Dont get me wring i used to live in Celebration, and my parents still have properties there, but it simply does not live up to its reputation anymore. The HOA dues and CDD costs are extortionate, and a number of people are disgusted with the HOA elections and are either claiming foul play or that there was a break down in the system. Contrary to what people like to say about Celebration, there is alot of dischord in the town.

[luvthatmouse]

Originally Posted by cfIfan

So you dont agree that taxes are high, that homes can be bought in other nice areas for alot less than in Celebration, and that the only part of Celebration that is maintained well is the downtown area?

You only have to watch channel 5, or read the front porch to see how furious people are that they pay so much money to live in this idyllic idea of a town that Disney built, but that isnt maintained to the standards that it was when Disney were in charge. Just to take into consideration on what is on the market currently, why would someone pay $300,000 for a 3/2 1600 sq ft townhome with taxes of $7000 when they can get the same size and square footage, much closer to Disney, brand new for $180,000 and their taxes are $2900.

Dont get me wring i used to live in Celebration, and my parents still have properties there, but it simply does not live up to its reputation anymore. The HOA dues and CDD costs are extortionate, and a number of people are disgusted with the HOA elections and are either claiming foul play or that there was a break down in the system. Contrary to what people like to say about Celebration, there is alot of dischord in the town.

Before we moved from MA we looked all over Central Florida at homes/communities. The only places we would live were Celebration, Dr. Phillips, Winter Park or Windemere. At the time Windemere (the real part) and Winter Park (the good part) were too expensive. Winter Park was also a bit far from work and we wanted to avoid I-4 at all costs. Dr. Phillips was nice but getting too built up. The traffic near the restaurants/stores now is insane.

I do not think homes in Florida are built well at all compared to the NE. I think the wood, cement, roofs, etc.. stink. We got a good deal on our place at the time and did not over pay. Yes, taxes are high. I could have an acre in NH for less. The HOA is fine at $800/year. They maintain the parks, downtown and common areas very well here. There are tons of town events. I am fine paying the HOA for the miles of biking and walking trails and pools, we use them often. Most other communities (except for the ones I mentioned) in Orlando are just blocks of homes. No downtown, no trails, no pools, no activities. To shop and eat you have to leave the area (and drive.) I hate to drive-I grew up in NYC taking the subway and taxis. Celebration is ideal for someone like me.

We think it is nice community. The homes are dropping back to reasonable prices. Taxes better adjust. Disney still has their hand in everything. They never left The Celebration Company IS Disney. Do we like it better than the NE-NO WAY. Florida has nothing on NY, MA, NH except the weather in the winter.

[cfIfan]

Celebration is a very pretty town. If it wasnt i wouldnt have moved there. But even in this current Market home prices are over priced and in all honesty will always be over priced in Celebration simply because it is the town that disney built. Just as the taxes will always be comparitively high, for this same reason. The taxes arnt assessed on the value they would be sold for, but on the county assessors value of them times the millage for that area. In terms of upkeep, as someone who is around the area quite alot because my parents are there, many areas are not well maintained. Sidewalks etc. Add this to a letter my parents recieved from the HOA which was addressed to all residents saying that during summer, please keep noise to a minimum, turn down TVs and radios if you have windows open. I think this ridiculous. Talk about Big Brother. The olny well maintained areas are the Downtown area. There are some nice resteraunts there. I actually got married at Celebration Golf Club and had our reception at Antonios. We went back there for Dinner a couple of months ago and it was like eating a frozen Lean Cuisine. Dreadful. But with all the new office development particularly by Siena, you can see and hear I4 right next to you. And if were being honest Disney isnt there anymore although people like to think and say it is. Whilst TCC may exist, they do so to expand the commercial properties etc and put their input on the corridor. Disney no longer is really part of Celebration, Watch Channel 5 and that is why so many people are disgruntled because Celebration isnt being run to the standard that it used to be when Disney were involved.

[luvthatmouse]

You are probably seeing more sidewalks pushed up as the trees mature. It happens a lot of places. Homes and construction today are nothing like like they used to be years ago. The wood is younger and not as good. All the good cement has been sent to China for them to build their dams, so we use crap cement here. Sidewalks crack within months. There are many illegals in construction that are not trained like people years ago. Stonework, woodwork, roofing, landscaping- they all used to be trades that people got years of training for. Now it is all rushed and falls apart a few years later. I would never buy a house in Florida (we bought a cheap condo.) I would also never buy a newer home unless I had millions to custom build it. If we ever buy a house it will be an old quality home in MA, NH, Canada or Europe!