Leaning towards Lake Nona for Relocation (Orlando, Oviedo: short sale, real estate, foreclosure)

[liv2mtb]

So I am relocating to Orlando in the next 9 months or so. No date yet but its going to happen. My wife and I have decided on a short list of 1. Lake Nona, 2. Waterford Lakes, and 3. Oviedo.

I work at the airport and my wife is in the medical field and works from home. The pproximity to the airport and to medical city plus the new schools is a selling point for us.

Can anyone give us any insights to the communities in the area. With all new communities some are over priced for what you get. We are not cheap but like anyone we would like to get more bang for the buck. Our price range is pretty wide, 200k-350k. I have found a few online and plan on a trip in a couple months to start looking and another in the spring to buy.

Any real estate agents feel free to send me a message with sites to look at please. To all you john q public members, I would love to hear your advice

[Crane's Rooster]

Do alot of short sale and foreclosure shopping in that area. You could find a really good deal, particularly on Condos in that area. Shortsale homes may be harder to come by.

[lksium19]

Check out Village Walk at Lake Nona

[mlehua]

You can buy a new, short-sale, or foreclosure home in the newer areas of Lake Nona - I just moved here a year and a half ago. The Lake Nona single family homes used to sell for over $300K now people are able to find great homes in nice neigborhoods for under $250K. We looked up the market price for the home we rent and it's less than $200K. The landlord said he takes a hit every month. The rents can't go any higher as there are many homes to choose from.

If we did it again, I still like the Waterford Lakes area because of shops and neighborhoods. However my husband works less than a mile from where we live so this is our best choice. Most everything is half an hour a way. The schools in the Orange county area are all suffering from lack of funding, however they seem as good as they can get considering these economic times. Our eight year old is constantly coming home with fund raisers and stupid things like they will let them wear jeans if they pay the school a dollar. Since there's no income tax taken out in FL - no matter where you live you'll have to pay tolls to get near the airport - which will need to be a factor. Lake Nona is about 15 to 20 minutes from the airport. Waterford Lakes is another 20-30 minutes from Lake Nona, which increases your tolls and gas, not that much but it does add up driving both ways everyday.

Whatever you choose, personally I would look at Lake Nona and Waterford. Estimate the traffic and tolls to where you live and the feedback from neighbors in the neighboor hood you choose. I wrote an article on "What you need to know before you buy in this market" - Moderator cut: no promoting your own website
@mlehua

[liv2mtb]

Thanks everyone for all your help. After a few other posts and talking to many agents and some locals, my family settled on an area we are very happy with.
Waterford was WAY too crowded and seemed to grow too fast for the worst. Nice area though.
Lake Nona was too clse to railroad tracks and airport as well as the growth over the next few years may make it the new waterford.
Oviedo....Loved it.
We looked at Avalon Park, Stoneybrook and Eastwood as well as Oviedo. Decided on a home in Eastwood: South of the Waterford crowd, new bypass (innovations dr.) to get to work at airport quicker, close to Timber Creek high and Discovery Middle (awesome reviews and scores), and golf course/gated community.
It was almost a coin flip between the 2 homes in eastwood and oviedo but they were both perfect. In the end the easier drive to work and proximity to stores won. Both had great schools and was a wash.
Thanks again for all of you Floridians help. Close on the house right after Christmas and be there in mid Jan. Cant wait!