Winter Park - area immediately around whole foods

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

All those house flipping shows are pretty much fake and staged.

Oh, totally. That said, I've never run into anyone who has renovated a house who says "It is amazing…we came in well below our renovation estimate, finished earlier than expected, and loved the whole process (especially if living in it)."

[florida321]

Yeah, those shows are always too good to be true. But one can dream.

it sounds like a good area for me. Thanks everyone for giving me insight!

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by EditorJul

Oh, totally. That said, I've never run into anyone who has renovated a house who says "It is amazing…we came in well below our renovation estimate, finished earlier than expected, and loved the whole process (especially if living in it)."

It depends upon expectations and doing your homework, much like any major investment. I do find it fascinating that most would rather pass on the return in investment/added home equity in order to avoid the "inconveniences".

[dalmain]

Is the area with the whole foods latin kings or black lords territory?

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by dalmain

Is the area with the whole foods latin kings or black lords territory?

There is no gang activity in this area.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by dalmain

Is the area with the whole foods latin kings or black lords territory?

LOL, not even close. Perhaps the Yoga Mom equivalent...

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

It depends upon expectations and doing your homework, much like any major investment. I do find it fascinating that most would rather pass on the return in investment/added home equity in order to avoid the "inconveniences".

It really depends if you can get your investment out in the end. For the house we had, if we had put the renovations in that we wanted, we would have priced our house out of the market by at least 30%. Now if you're planning to live in a place for 20 years, you will get your money out of the use of it all. I just don't know of too many people who can guarantee that they will live in a house for more than a decade or so.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by EditorJul

It really depends if you can get your investment out in the end. For the house we had, if we had put the renovations in that we wanted, we would have priced our house out of the market by at least 30%. Now if you're planning to live in a place for 20 years, you will get your money out of the use of it all. I just don't know of too many people who can guarantee that they will live in a house for more than a decade or so.

I disagree regarding the 20 year assertion or pricing out unless doing a gut renovation with ridiculously high end finishings. One can buy into a nice established neighborhood via a fixer priced 25%-30% less and invest 10%-15% of the value back in order to get it up to neighborhood standards, as evidenced by those who house flip for a living.

[evilcart]

we were looking at winter park. I suggest you visit and walk around the worst parts you can find, get a real feel.

Back when I wanted purchase my first home about 1.5 million years ago, my wife and I went to the area at night, walked around had a few drinks in the local bar on a Friday night. did some grocery shopping and generally hung out to get a real feel for the area.

It allowed us to buy in an up and coming spot that was actually much better than its out of date rep and it allowed us to avoid the first spot we picked because while walking through the area early morning I noticed dealers and at night I walked the same routes and there were twice as many . They were lower middle class thugs, not the stabby shooty type, more the face punching bollox kicking sort, but enough to know that area was headed the wrong way.

of course crime stats are here on this site and that navigator site too...

Winter park is mostly nice but quickly turns to low rent areas with people trying to sell $500k homes two houses away from a -$20,000 shack sitting on a $100k bit of land....