Young professional relocating to Orlando area (Altamonte Springs, Winter Springs: smog, hoa fees, for sale)

[laurenv]

I am a 20-something professional relocating to the Orlando area in early May. I will work in an office located in Altamonte Springs. The company will put me up for one month before I have to decide. Some of the requirements I have:
1. 35 minute or less commute to work
2. A sizable city that offers weekend-activities, good restaurants, etc.
-I have lived in college towns most of my life
3. Safe, low crime rate
4. I will buy a home/condo, not rent so an affordable market ($100-125/ft2)

What cities/areas would you recommend? Thanks for your input!

[Prichard]

You might be able to find an older condo townhome around that price range right in Altamonte. I'd suggest that you start there. It is 20 minutes from downtown Orlando, lots of shopping and commercial areas in Altamonte and it's an "ok" area to live. Your biggest restriction will be price.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by laurenv

I am a 20-something professional relocating to the Orlando area in early May. I will work in an office located in Altamonte Springs. The company will put me up for one month before I have to decide. Some of the requirements I have:
1. 35 minute or less commute to work
2. A sizable city that offers weekend-activities, good restaurants, etc.
-I have lived in college towns most of my life
3. Safe, low crime rate
4. I will buy a home/condo, not rent so an affordable market ($100-125/ft2)

What cities/areas would you recommend? Thanks for your input!

Altamonte is extremely overpopulated and very crowded. I find is very unpleasant to live somewhere that is so crowded with 24/7 heavy traffic on the streets. There is a ton of noise and smell of smog in the area, from all the cars (lots of old ones too).

Since you will be in Altamonte, may I suggest Lake Mary, Oviedo, Winter Springs, or Longwood as options? I think Alta is pretty yucky to live in, because of crowded it is. Prices of condos there are getting pretty high too. There is this crappy apt building right off of I-4 and I called them to check on pricing and they START a 2/2 condo for $500,000! Only an idiot would buy there, no wonder they have been for sale for a year now and they still have a ton of units available. Overall, the cheaper condos in Alta (I see a sign for one starting at $90k from I-4) are going to be really trashy and mostly apt "converted" (sold as condos). These suck, people are NOT buying these lately because they are so bad and have such low re-sale value.

If you work in Alta, drive times from the areas I have suggested will not be bad at all. You can actually get to work quickly and still go home to a real nice area. Condo prices will be lower too. The areas I mentioned will be safer than Alta too. Alta is begining to experince some crime too and as Orlando residents get pushed there, things are bound to get worse in Alta.

As a fellow condo owner, I have to say my peace: CONDOS ARE HORRIBLE, HAVE HORRIBLE RE-SALE VALUES, THE HOA FEES WILL BE INSANE (EVEN IF THEY START LOW TO ATTRACT BUYERS AND THEN SKYROCKET FROM THERE! Most condos also have paper-thin walls and you will hear lovely noises of flusing toilets and showers all hours of the night. Not to mention weekend "bedroom fun" after the pub at 3am Fridays, Sats, and Sundays.

For the stated $ per sq foot, you can get an actual house or a townhouse, which both have better re-sale values than condos. As a condo owner, I would advise you to stay away from condos. Don't let realtors talk you into it or you might be stuck with your condo.... forever!

[rholborn]

hi there! i just sent you a private message. orlando is in orange county and altamonte springs is in seminole county. when you search from out of town sometimes it is hard to look unless you know the counties. sometimes with condos or townhomes, you need to ask about the HOA fees. they can become expensive!

[Prichard]

The difference between Altamonte and Lake Mary, Longwood and Oviedo is that Altamonte is more affordable and has a number of older condo townhomes in the area. If you do the math, the original poster might find something in Altamonte, but the other areas are generally out of his/her price range.