Anyone live in Lake Mary? (Orlando, Kissimmee: relocating, real estate, property taxes)

[fl1025]

I lived in Oviedo - in Kingsbridge - and loved it. I worked in Lake Mary. It couldn't have been any better!

[Freelance_Book_Editor]

keep in mind that even if you live in any area of Seminole county, if your child eventually ends up in the IB program when in high school, he/she will end up at Seminole High School in Sanford anyway, since it is the *magnet* for all of IB for Seminole County.

I know this because my neice attends school there. She's been pretty happy there, but she mainly hangs around with the kids in IB and drama (it has a great drama and music program, and the principal at seminole high is excellent).

[Freelance_Book_Editor]

oh, and Jenn, there are certain pockets of Sanford that *feel* more like Heathrow .... the pockets that are WEST of I-4 around the area of State Road 46. This little area backs right up to Heathrow, and is very nice, though since it is a Sanford zip code the property is a bit less expensive. This is where my sister's home is. Also very close to restaurants near the I-4 interchange, as well as the Seminole Towne Centre mall and theatres! And this part of Sanford is only 2 miles' drive to Colonial Town Park, a shopping/dining/entertainment complex with a great Amstar theatre, and you see many families and good high school kids there having a fun night out on Fridays and Saturdays.

[flboi85]

Lake Mary is great. Sanford is junk. Stay away from Sanford.

[smarine]

Hi,

If it helps you at all I have lived in the Orlando area for 25 years and anything around the Heathrow area has always been well known as an upscale area which it is. Sanford has changed in so many ways over the years. downtown has been renovated and there is now a Riverwalk around Lake Monroe with upscale living. The Sanford, Heathrow, Markham Woods and Lake Mary area is comprised of mostly nice homes, shopping and eating establishments. Well worth living here. You can get a beautiful large home between the 300's to millions . You will have no problem finding a great home in your price range. I am not concerned with crime here at all. We have easy access to I-4 as well as 417 and can get anywhere in no time. We are approximately 30 minutes from Daytona and 40 minutes from Disney. This area of Seminole County has a more northern look and feel with its trees and landscaping.

We moved to Sanford from Oviedo 8 years ago and live in the gated community Berington Club sudivsion and have seen the area around us grow from country dirt roads to upscale housing and shopping but not with that overgrown crowded feel. In Berington Club we have huge lots with all side car garages and community tennis court and playground. We do have an association as do most all new communities in Florida which keeps our homes values up. We are directly across the street from Wilson Elementary school which is an A+ school. Our community is made up of mostly adults in their thirties with babies to middle age school children. We do have families with teenagers and some empty nesters too but mostly young families.

We have community events such as Yard of the Month, Holiday contests and parties and will soon be having our big Spring Fling at our park with games, a dj, face painting and lots of good treats.

Yes, 10 years ago or more the Sanford schools were considered not good but things have changed a great deal. Sanford Middle I believe is now a science magnet school. The demographics have changed due to the influx of higher income homes. As in all schools you will hear good and bad. I could not give exact details on how the schools are doing right now or much about the zoning because my son is now out of school. I no longer keep up on those things. From what I know from friends and what I see Wilson is great and they just had their school carnival which consisted of train rides, pony rides, a roller coaster and police helicopter for tours along with many games and food.

My husband and I check out other areas and always come back and are glad to be home. We love it here. The whole area is the best place to be in Seminole County. Hope this helps you out. Hey maybe one day we shall be neighbors. Good luck!!!

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by jenndotcom

My husband has a new job in the Heathrow area, and we are trying to decide where to live. Is Heathrow worth the money? What do you think of Timucuan? Any other nice developments in LM? (our budget is around 450K for a house)

If not Lake Mary, what would you recommend? Thoughts on Sanford (worried about crime/schools?) or Oviedo?

Any info you have would be appreciated. We are in our mid-30's with a 2-year old, so looking for family-friendly area.

Lake Mary (LM) is 100,000,000 better than Orlando!! A definite top-pick!

With a $450,000 budget for a house, it might be a bit of a disapointment for you, when it comes to Lake Mary housing (I am assuimg you expect something spetacular for $450k, but in Lake Mary, housing is VERY expensive).

Crime in LM is relatively low, traffic is much more moderate than in Altamonte or Orlando. Schools are good in the area, unless the county tries to force your kids to go to some crappy school because they need people of a certain race to go to a different school. Tons of shopping nearby, Colonial Plaza in LM is very nice! LM is really pretty too!

The ONLY problem with LM is the rising cost of housing (rent and buy) and traffic on I-4 if you work in Orlando. Other than that, LM is my fav in the Orlando metro area!

Go for it, but stay away from Orlando! Crime in Orlando is very high and Orlando is getting very crowded and sprawled. LM is the last bastion of niceness in the area!

[rholborn]

HI Jenn!
have you got my private message(PM)? i live in lake mary, and have been a happy resident for over 10 years, and i am happy to help give advice about this great community!

[TravelingDude]

Originally Posted by jenndotcom

My husband has a new job in the Heathrow area, and we are trying to decide where to live. Is Heathrow worth the money? What do you think of Timucuan? Any other nice developments in LM? (our budget is around 450K for a house)

If not Lake Mary, what would you recommend? Thoughts on Sanford (worried about crime/schools?) or Oviedo?

Any info you have would be appreciated. We are in our mid-30's with a 2-year old, so looking for family-friendly area.

Heathrow is next to Lake Mary and it is MUCH more expensive than Lake Mary and yet you can never tell when you have crosse dover cities.

Both Heath and Lake Mary are EXCELLENT communities and with a $450k budget, you can buy WHATEVER you want! That's a big budget!

Sanford has been "the ghetto" for as long as I can remember. Wed rove through it and the city and developers are REALLY trying to clean it up, but there is still plenty of trashy areas to go around. Expect crime to be very high in Sanford.

Oviedo is nice, but with $450k, go for Lake Mary/Heathrow! If you can afford it, then go 4 it!

Good luck!

[plumeria313]

I'm so excited, I'm moving to Lake Mary in spring 08! My company is opening an office either there or in Heathrow. I'm excited about the school systems, and no matter what school district I get in there, it will be 120 times better than the school district here in Memphis where I live.

I just had a question. I'm looking for apartments, and I haven't visited the area yet but does anyone know of some apartments near a park and that allow large dogs??

[msmandal]

that will be hard to find these days. most are opposed to big dogs.