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After reading your situation, what is it about Venice? I live in greater Orlando area and considering buying a 2nd home to mainly use to park money and enjoy and possibly rent out enough to pay for upkeep.
My cousin has a winter home in Englewood ( lives in NJ during summer) and I soooo wanted to fall in love with it, but didn’t. Housing prices seem stupid expensive for what you get. The beaches/vibe are not as nice as what I’ve appreciated visiting Sarasota and Lido Key.
Ideas for you ( I’m checking out these areas too— )
Mt Dora - we go here a lot and have a friend that lives downtown. I’m in love with the vibe.
Dunellon ( Rainbow River area?) cute downtown and it’s not perfect but has some room to build
Dunedin
Palmetto ( maybe areas a bit north to Venice)
Deland
What is it about Venice that I don't like? A lot! Scroll up to post #26 where I answered this question on 11/12/22 at 5:53 pm because that pretty much sums it up. I probably forgot some things that aggravate me every day that I'm sure that I'll think of later. If so, I'll let you know.
I don't like Englewood either. It's very old, boring and dumpy looking. There's truly nothing to do there as far as I know. There were a couple of new communities that I looked at when I first moved to Venice, but the locations are absolutely terrible. I basically drove in and out of there quickly because it didn't appeal to me at all. I heard Englewood really had major flooding issues with the last hurricane, too.
I appreciate your list of areas to check out. Because you're looking at buying a second home to possibly rent and park money, I think our needs are very different. Every town on your list is too small for me, but they might work for you and what you're trying to accomplish. I've learned the hard way by living in Venice that I really miss living in the suburbs of a bigger city. I used to live in Lake Mary/Heathrow in Orlando. Anything I needed or wanted to do was there, unlike Venice. However, I think Mt. Dora is a charming little town that I used to periodically go to when I lived in Heathrow/Lake Mary. The next time you go there you should go to Pisces Rising, which is a great restaurant with a lovely atmosphere. I love Mt. Dora, but I think it's just too small of a town for me to live, but I'll admit that I'm very paranoid now after living in Venice. There was a time that I actually thought about checking out a new community there, but I never did. Maybe I should have since it's not far from Orlando, and it was a nice drive from where I lived. Maybe things would have turned out differently for me had I moved there instead.
I don't know much about Dunellon and Dunedin other than I think they both might be very similar to Venice - meaning not a lot there because they're small towns. I also think that Dunedin is scary close to the water, like Venice.
I'm familiar with Palmetto because it's not that far from where I grew up. I haven't been there since I was a kid, but I don't have fond memories of it. It was always considered back then, and I think it still is, to have a lot of crime for such a small town. It is on the water, though.
Deland is another small town, and it's my understanding the crime is high there, too. I bought my car there, but that's about it. When I unfortunately was selling my house in Heathrow/Lake Mary, there was a couple that really loved my house and community, but they ended up buying in Deland because they felt they could get more for their money there, which is definitely true because it's not considered upscale.
What is it about Venice that I don't like? A lot! Scroll up to post #26 where I answered this question on 11/12/22 at 5:53 pm because that pretty much sums it up. I probably forgot some things that aggravate me every day that I'm sure that I'll think of later. If so, I'll let you know.
I don't like Englewood either. It's very old, boring and dumpy looking. There's truly nothing to do there as far as I know. There were a couple of new communities that I looked at when I first moved to Venice, but the locations are absolutely terrible. I basically drove in and out of there quickly because it didn't appeal to me at all. I heard Englewood really had major flooding issues with the last hurricane, too.
I appreciate your list of areas to check out. Because you're looking at buying a second home to possibly rent and park money, I think our needs are very different. Every town on your list is too small for me, but they might work for you and what you're trying to accomplish. I've learned the hard way by living in Venice that I really miss living in the suburbs of a bigger city. I used to live in Lake Mary/Heathrow in Orlando. Anything I needed or wanted to do was there, unlike Venice. However, I think Mt. Dora is a charming little town that I used to periodically go to when I lived in Heathrow/Lake Mary. The next time you go there you should go to Pisces Rising, which is a great restaurant with a lovely atmosphere. I love Mt. Dora, but I think it's just too small of a town for me to live, but I'll admit that I'm very paranoid now after living in Venice. There was a time that I actually thought about checking out a new community there, but I never did. Maybe I should have since it's not far from Orlando, and it was a nice drive from where I lived. Maybe things would have turned out differently for me had I moved there instead.
I don't know much about Dunellon and Dunedin other than I think they both might be very similar to Venice - meaning not a lot there because they're small towns. I also think that Dunedin is scary close to the water, like Venice.
I'm familiar with Palmetto because it's not that far from where I grew up. I haven't been there since I was a kid, but I don't have fond memories of it. It was always considered back then, and I think it still is, to have a lot of crime for such a small town. It is on the water, though.
Deland is another small town, and it's my understanding the crime is high there, too. I bought my car there, but that's about it. When I unfortunately was selling my house in Heathrow/Lake Mary, there was a couple that really loved my house and community, but they ended up buying in Deland because they felt they could get more for their money there, which is definitely true because it's not considered upscale.
I mean this with goodwill and sincerity, you just need to bite the bullet and just move back to Lake Mary. I don’t think any other area will compare for you. Tough pill to swallow and might cost you but that just might be the cost for your happiness. Best of luck.
I mean this with goodwill and sincerity, you just need to bite the bullet and just move back to Lake Mary. I don’t think any other area will compare for you. Tough pill to swallow and might cost you but that just might be the cost for your happiness. Best of luck.
Totally agree with this. The only other area I felt would be suitable was Lakewood Ranch, but OP nixed it.
I'll preface this by saying that if you love the beach and it's the only thing that matters to you, you'll absolutely love Venice. The beaches are gorgeous in this area, and it's very close (too close for me). However, I could write a book on what I don't like about Venice so I'm going to start ranting now because you asked.
It's next to never that someone's second-hand smoke isn't hitting me in the face, and it was next to never that I was exposed to this when I lived in Lake Mary. When I first moved here, I couldn't understand for the life of me why so many people drove around with their windows down in the summer, but I quickly found out when I was constantly breathing smoke the reason why! I used to love opening my sunroof on beautiful fall and winter days in Lake Mary. I could never do that here.
There are Goodwills and other thrift stores, vaping and tatoo shops and car washes everywhere, but regular stores and restaurants are extremely limited around here, and they're not convenient. Most of the ones that are here are dumpy looking and smell. Restrooms in the stores are mostly filthy and disgusting. Prices often ring up wrong, which I rarely had happen in Lake Mary. The stores that are here also have limited merchandise because they say they're a small store. I have to spend so much time going to different towns or other stores just to get what are simple things. I'm constantly amazed at how totally empty the shelves are around here. When the snowbirds are here, the stores never have anything. When they aren't here in the summer, the stores often don't have the things I want because they think they'll waste and have to throw out things because there aren't enough people here then to buy everything. It's VERY annoying. There are also countless, and I mean countless, empty and abandoned stores and buildings everywhere.
People are so rude and not friendly in stores, doctors' offices and it seems everywhere I go, although there's the rare exception. I can ask a simple question of a clerk in a store, and they'll look dazed and bite my head off like I committed a crime for asking.
The majority of the doctors, dentists and other healthcare providers that I've dealt with in this area have been nothing less than horrible. So many are semi-retired or about to retire. It's sad.
There are a lot of homeless people that hang out at the libraries and other places all day, and I see panhandlers all the time.
It's very old, junky and rundown looking. Everywhere I go I shake my head because even public areas are not consistently maintained. The grass on the medians on the roads and everywhere else seem to rarely be mowed, and I can't tell you how many times that I've pulled into a store lot where the tree limbs are hanging so far down and not trimmed that I have to be careful when I park. It took almost a category 5 hurricane for things to somewhat get cleaned up around here, and I guarantee it won't stay like that. The grass is often high and trees not manicured even at the public library!
The infrastructure is old, and there are power lines everywhere.
I have to be very careful when getting out of my car because I've almost broken my leg a few times because there are more potholes in parking lots than anything and the pavement is down to the rock where there aren't big holes!
The water is the worst, and I was diagnosed with eczema after moving here, which I've never had in my life.
I don't feel safe here.
As to Lake Mary, it's a great place to live, and I regret moving from there, but I need to find something now that I love just as much. I didn't deal with any of the things that I stated above about Venice. Everything (stores, doctors, everything) was very convenient. The only thing that I really didn't like is the Sanford Orlando Airport started having more and more traffic over the years.
Let's just put it this way...I feel constantly stressed and frustrated here for many more reasons than even this, but that's all I have time for now. I know there are people who love Venice I assume because of the beaches so beauty is really in the eye of the beholder.
Sounds to me like your focus should stay around Lake Mary, Orlando area. You said your lease was up in mid December, courious if you stayed or found somthing new. Thanks.
Last edited by dave w; 12-29-2022 at 11:02 AM..
Reason: read new info I'll try to keep up
Thank you for the suggestion. I've never even thought about considering those areas because I'm pretty sure homes and the cost of living there is way more than I can spend.
I mean this with goodwill and sincerity, you just need to bite the bullet and just move back to Lake Mary. I don’t think any other area will compare for you. Tough pill to swallow and might cost you but that just might be the cost for your happiness. Best of luck.
You're very nice. Thanks for your opinion. Maybe you're right. I don't know. I'm sure there's another area of Florida that will make me happy - I just need to find it. I also want new or at least newer construction, and Seminole County has been built out for a while. Considering everything that I've been through, I might as well try to make myself feel like all this pain was worth it. It would also be tough to not live in the community that I lived in because it's one of the nicest in the area, but I just don't think that I can do that because it will be a daily reminder of the huge mistake that I made. It's been a very rough couple of years, but they say every cloud has a silver lining so hopefully I'll look back at this unfortunate situation and see it.
This is a great link, thanks for sharing. The key metric to me is the ratio of Doctors to population. Sadly, the ratio is bad in most of the USA. Quality counties have a GP for approx 700 people, whereas that average USA county is about a GP to 1300 people.
You're welcome. I was happy when I finally found it. One of the things that I first look at after the percent of smokers is also the ratio of doctors to population, especially after living here where medical care is horrible.
Totally agree with this. The only other area I felt would be suitable was Lakewood Ranch, but OP nixed it.
Well, I recently have been looking into St. Johns County because it's considered the healthiest county in Florida, and I hope that one of my closest friends will move back to that area some day. I was actually excited about it until I found out a few days ago that they build wood frame homes there instead of block and use like a Hardie Board type of siding instead of stucco. The wood frame I definitely don't like, but I don't understand the siding yet enough to know what I think about it. These two things made me take a pause until I can look into this more.
Sounds to me like your focus should stay around Lake Mary, Orlando area. You said your lease was up in mid December, courious if you stayed or found somthing new. Thanks.
Thanks for your feedback. Since you're not the first person who thinks I should go back to Lake Mary or the Orlando area, it does make me think about it, but it's complicated, too. Even though I hate the area that I'm in now, I decided to go ahead and sign another lease mainly because he's a private landlord that agreed to a month-to-month lease, and I can really leave at any time. I also don't know what area I'm going to move to yet so it's just easier this way. I wish that I could turn the page tomorrow on 12/31/22 and wake up on Sunday and be in my new home, but since that's not going to happen, at least I'm starting to feel a little glimmer of hope that the housing market will be more favorable to me and other buyers in 2023.
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