THoughts on 'Independence' community (Orlando, Winter Park: real estate, foreclosures, for sale)

[bostontoorlando]

We are starting to narrow choices on homes to visit on our house hunt late this month. There are quite a few listings in a community called 'Independence' in WInter Garden, with some lakefront homes. Does anyone have any thoughts about this community? has it been hit hard by foreclosure? how would the commute be to downtown? Is it related to 'Celebration'?
thanks
BTO

[cfIfan]

Independence is one of the communities i specialize in and i would highly recommend it. It is different to Celebration in that it doesnt have a downtown area yet, although there is talk we will get a small one. Commute to downtown dependent on traffic is approx 30 min because of the great access we have to the 429/408 and turnpike.

Nicely built homes, all concrete block. Much lower in price in terms of Taxes and price of homes simply because you are not paying to live in the town Disney built.

There are still some very high priced homes, although i have managed to source low priced homes for my clients simply because i not only specialize in this community as well as many others in the area, but also because i live there aswell.

[jemelb]

cfIfan is right on...

Last time I checked Schools were rated A, and one day access to 429 through the subdivision(New Independence Pkwy) to 429. Even though 429 is really just minutes away anyways... In my opinion when that happens the prices will sky rocket...one day

[bostontoorlando]

Thanks to both of you- I had heard that there were many buyers backing out of deals on some of the higher priced home when they learned their address would be in Winter Garden rather than Windermere. I was interested in finding if this was a community that was healthy and growing or one where there were many foreclosures/short sales etc. We're going to have to sell low here (moving from a 2yr old 6000 sf+ home) so I'm hoping to buy low to offset this in Orlando. Glad to hear the commute is good. I take it that the west-east commute would be better than a north south commute to for instance Longwood or Lake Mary?
thanks

[GregTraub]

Any commute going North South where you have to use I-4 is killer during rush hours. East to West has gotten pretty bad, but hopefully will get better once they finish expansion of the 408 on that side of town. For now West to East isn't that bad of a drive at all.

Independence is a great area, very nicely planned, looks great, with great schools. But, like most communities that had their peak building during the peak of the real estate market, there are going to be quite a bit of foreclosures. I just did a quick search in that general area and found 25-30% of the homes for sale are being advertised as short sales or bank owned. Don't get those numbers scare you off though, see how the community looks, check out the amenities and judge for yourself the location.

In my opinion high foreclosure rates do raise a flag, but if the community still looks great, I can see myself living there, and can see the potential once the whole foreclosure mess passes in a year or two, I see the high foreclosure rate as a plus. I mean it's the foreclosures that are dropping values every where now, so I know if I buy in a community that has been hit with foreclosures I know I"ll be able to get a great deal and will most likely see a higher appreciation rate down the road. Just my opinion though...and you always have to see the community yourself to judge if the community will rebound when foreclosures are purged from the market, or if it will stay a bad area.

If you want area's close to downtown and with low foreclosure rates, check into Dr. Phillips or Winter Park. Both area's didn't see as many transactions during the boom. Dr. Phillips having large homes that don't cost an arm and a leg with less than 10% of properties listed advertised as Short sales or Foreclosures. And the great area of Winter Park actually has closer to 2% of properties on the market advertised as such.

[ThePolyPrincess]

So is there more 'prestige' being able to say you live in Windermere rather than Winter Garden? And if so, why? Just curious.

Thank you, GregTraub, your reply is very informative.

[GregTraub]

'Prestige' that really is the only difference. Winter Garden I guess has gotten a certain reputation as it's been a nice quiet working class town for so long. While Windermere is newer and known for Isleworth and the ultra affluent.

I never buy into the whole prestige crud. If it's a nice neighborhood, you get to go to the schools you want, an address is just an address. Would a rose called by any other name not smell as sweetly?

[ThePolyPrincess]

Thanks. I really was curious. We live in a town where if you mention it by name people usually (not always) presume that we are "wealthy". Makes me crazy to have that sort of label put upon us, but it is what it is, silly as it may be. Thanks again.

[bostontoorlando]

thanks Greg, that is a very helpful answer. Our agent had painted the foreclosure issue in a different way, its good to have another perspective. We'll definitely have a look at the community- like you say, the upside should be better. The 'prestige factor' only interests me and probably most buyers from the viewpoint of resale value. When buying in the boston area, we passed on the super pricey prestige areas to find a really nice area with good schools/community and more reasonable prices but a longer commute
BTO

[cfIfan]

Indepndence is unique in terms of it is actually in Windermere, although for some reason it was given a Winter Garden Address. I prefer it that way, we get the great schools with a slightly lower tax bill