Moving to Orlando, FL from Westchester, NY (Celebration: HOA fees, insurance)

[Mrclivem]

I will be moving to Orlando within 6 months and was looking for some feedback abot the 32834 and 32837 zipcodes. I am looking at houses with a pool and at townhouses with a resort style community pool.

What are the monthly costs to maintain a pool year round in FL?

What are the pros and cons of owning a townhouse (Brand New) in FL? Are they harder to resell? I know the HOA fees can be high due to the ammenities.

Any feedback would be helpful.

[Fl1150]

I think those areas are ok from looking at them and you have a lot of options for living that type of lifestyle and if may suggest Celebration fl. Its a nice family oriented community with a nice town center and has that lifestyle your looking for. Lake Nona is a newish community full of professionals but it has nice amenities so check out that area as well . As far the pool goes I'm not really sure about that nor about owing a townhome so you have to wait till someone responds.

[kyle19125]

Neither zip code seems to have a commonality in terms of location (32834 being on the east side and 32487 on the south side), and neither are among the most highly sought after though certainly not near the bottom either. Where will you be working in the Orlando area? This area has quite a bit of sprawl and not the best highway infrastructure, so it's important to be certain you're in an area convenient to work in my opinion. Monthly costs to maintain a pool in Florida averages around $100 a month. Townhomes can have high resale demand but the monthly condo fee (not HOA) can be quite expensive ($300+ per month) due to the cost of not only common ground maintenance (landscaping) but also amenities such as pools and other public use areas, insurance and even security. The gamble with new construction if you plan to stay awhile is that you don't know how upkeep is going to continue. Some communities maintain a desirable appearance while others do not. The advantage to a well-kept established older community is that you buy into an in-demand property that will keep/increase in value, versus the unknowns of a brand new one. There are many examples of new gone bad in this area, so it is in fact a gamble.

[BrokerHarry]

I was a pool builder in LA, CA for 2 decades. Owning a pool is like owning a boat. Be prepared to spend, & don't expect to come anywhere near breaking even.

It's going to cost at least an extra $100 a month in electricity, depending on how big the pool is, which determines the number of hours the pump has to run daily to achieve at least one complete turnover. Then factor in a serviceman, or your own labor & chemicals.

Heating your pool in the colder months will add up even more.

I love using my new HOA paid heated pool & spa. No muss, no fuss, & it's always ready to go.

Many of the new home communities here in Orlando feature heated pools. I think you come out ahead going that direction, in the long run.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by BrokerHarry

I was a pool builder in LA, CA for 2 decades. Owning a pool is like owning a boat. Be prepared to spend, & don't expect to come anywhere near breaking even.

It's going to cost at least an extra $100 a month in electricity, depending on how big the pool is, which determines the number of hours the pump has to run daily to achieve at least one complete turnover. Then factor in a serviceman, or your own labor & chemicals.

Heating your pool in the colder months will add up even more.

I love using my new HOA paid heated pool & spa. No muss, no fuss, & it's always ready to go.

Many of the new home communities here in Orlando feature heated pools. I think you come out ahead going that direction, in the long run.

You just don't have much privacy in community pools, though. Some of us do enjoy the privacy of a personal pool. I, personally, love to lounge with my wife by the pool. Being that it's in our back yard, we can get much more comfortable than, say, at the community pool where kids and elderly hang.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

You just don't have much privacy in community pools, though. Some of us do enjoy the privacy of a personal pool. I, personally, love to lounge with my wife by the pool. Being that it's in our back yard, we can get much more comfortable than, say, at the community pool where kids and elderly hang.

I'm with you on this one, but I also know people that don't want to deal with pool maintenance or hiring a person to maintain their pool, so I see both sides. I personally like having the privacy of my own pool. It shows how spoiled people are in Orlando when we are talking about whether we want a community pool or a private pool lol.

[tinytrump]

A small pool is great- seen some smaller homes with Olympic size pools and wonder who sold them that? I like my privacy but mostly its from my grands - don't like the ol geezers looking at my gals.. and for some reason every smoker in the world shows up in the community pools