Location recommendatons for a Mom with 2 teen girls (Orlando, Tallahassee: low income, real estate market)

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by poobears

We found a couple of houses about 20-30 minutes out that look like they go through the owner that could possibly work. They are fairly close to the mall. Girls could grab jobs there for now. Rent is decent, crime didn't seem bad but I just hate to lock into something that far out, just yet. Going to look around a little more.

2 places we found yesterday both showed a shooting on the street within one to two houses of the one for rent, so we passed on them. Houses were nice though and the rent was great. LOL

Which mall are they close to? Generally the areas around the malls are pretty bad.

[poobears]

We had to take the mall one off the list. They used an address that pulled up not too bad of crime but it couldn't pull up the exact address. So I google mapped it and it pulled up a spot in the middle of the street. I used the photos of the outside of the house and google maps street view images to find the house. It was no where near the partial address they provided. It was way down the road. When I found the exact address I put it into and there have been 4 residential B&Es since the first of the year with one being in the last couple of weeks with in a block or two of the house. Nope not happening.

So we start the search again. This is why I wanted a place in DP. I could just find a house and rent it. Wish I could find someone that wasn't using a rental service and would just rent a place there.

[poobears]

I'm not sure how many more houses I can look at online. I have to be in the 3-5,000 range by now LOL At this point I will take any safe town in Fl, where we can find close jobs and a landlord that will take us. It's that or I'll have to stay local for a year to build up a rental history and wait for my credit to bounce back, that would be something be the absolute last resort.

[OTownKnight]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wi...2!4d-81.442852

Have you tried looking in the Williamsburg area? It's literally right next to Sea World and has a lot of affordable options. It's an older neighborhood but much safer than Millenia, Parramore, etc. Decent amount of theme park employees living here due to the location so I'm sure there's some rentals available.

[poobears]

Originally Posted by OTownKnight

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wi...2!4d-81.442852

Have you tried looking in the Williamsburg area? It's literally right next to Sea World and has a lot of affordable options. It's an older neighborhood but much safer than Millenia, Parramore, etc. Decent amount of theme park employees living here due to the location so I'm sure there's some rentals available.

I did check a few places there, wasn't much available last time I looked and what was, was the same price as DPs. I'll have to look again and see if anything new has opened up. We are coming down to the wire and need something within the next couple of weeks.

My oldest daughter has talked about working at one of the warehouses so may start looking out that way. Not sure how safe the areas are out there. I know the publix one is almost 30 minutes from DP and for a while I'd be taking her to and from work so that wouldn't be ideal. I'd rather move closer out that way if she wants to try doing that. I did warehouse work for years but have limited motion in one shoulder now so doubt I'd get on. Wouldn't mind it though. Can do it along with my home business.

[OTownKnight]

Originally Posted by poobears

I did check a few places there, wasn't much available last time I looked and what was, was the same price as DPs. I'll have to look again and see if anything new has opened up. We are coming down to the wire and need something within the next couple of weeks.

My oldest daughter has talked about working at one of the warehouses so may start looking out that way. Not sure how safe the areas are out there. I know the publix one is almost 30 minutes from DP and for a while I'd be taking her to and from work so that wouldn't be ideal. I'd rather move closer out that way if she wants to try doing that. I did warehouse work for years but have limited motion in one shoulder now so doubt I'd get on. Wouldn't mind it though. Can do it along with my home business.

I wouldn't recommend living out there, if you're referring to the Publix distribution facility on Sand Lake Rd. This is close to OBT and not a desirable or safe place to live. Stick to the original neighborhoods you've been looking in. I know rentals are stupid expensive now, but most important factors considering you have daughters is location and safety.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by poobears

I did check a few places there, wasn't much available last time I looked and what was, was the same price as DPs. I'll have to look again and see if anything new has opened up. We are coming down to the wire and need something within the next couple of weeks.

My oldest daughter has talked about working at one of the warehouses so may start looking out that way. Not sure how safe the areas are out there. I know the publix one is almost 30 minutes from DP and for a while I'd be taking her to and from work so that wouldn't be ideal. I'd rather move closer out that way if she wants to try doing that. I did warehouse work for years but have limited motion in one shoulder now so doubt I'd get on. Wouldn't mind it though. Can do it along with my home business.

Where are the warehouses located? There’s two industrial warehouse areas that I can think of in SW Orlando, one over by Sand Lake and OBT, the other off of LB McCloud (I would not recommend living near this one). The best area by OBT/Sand Lake is either Conway, Belle Isle or Hunter’s Creek.

[Nevezan]

If Doctor Phillips isn't an option right now, Hunter's Creek is pretty comfortable. If you do most of your errands in the morning and evening, driving on JYP is much faster than coming from Sandlake + Orange Avenue (Belle Isle and Conway). The latter areas are closer to the train station and Taft (run down industrial bordering area) which is not only farther away from Universal, but more prone to tight, heavy traffic. JYP can be sluggish during rush hour, but I find it easier to get through.

Maybe you can try some of the apartments on Central Florida Parkway between John Young and OBT? They're in the process of adding more, which might seem like a deterrent, but they're right by all the schools so I'm sure it's mostly families moving in. It's very easy to access SeaWorld and Universal and can't be more than a 10-15 minute drive. Williamsburg is right next to it.

Also a credit scoring tip: Leave a new balance between 1-9% reporting every month. You'll see a major score increase provided you aren't late on payments. When you report a 0% balance, it doesn't show evidence to the bureaus you used your credit line, so they just mark it down like none was used at all. Make sure you still pay off your original statement balance though, otherwise you'll get charged interest. Rinse, cycle, and repeat for a year and you'll look good for DP.

Best of luck to you and welcome to Orlando!

[walmill]

I know everyone's experiences vary greatly and that there are statistics for everything but I just don't get some of these threads sometimes.
The general consensus seems to be if you don't life in Dr Philips, Windermere, select areas of Seminole county or Waterford Lakes, then you are pretty much living in the projects and crime is a constant cloud over your head.
I've been in the Union Park area for nearly 20 years and have never personally experienced or witnessed criminal activity. Only once have I heard of a neighbor's house being broken into but I had a few assumptions about their lifestyles.
Also, just because you live in a "safe" area shouldn't be a reason to "let your guard down" Crime can happen anywhere at any time. Plus, I personally feel that some of the mentioned "safe" areas are in pretty close proximity to some of the most troublesome areas.
Walking around my brother's neighborhood in Dr Philips I don't feel any "safer" than walking around East Orlando. I used to go jogging at night, never felt anything off.

[poobears]

I think most people have their "preferred" areas and their "ghetto" areas LOL whether it's fact or just learned from others opinions over the years. I have noticed you can't just look at Zillow at the level of crime because it's all relative to the surrounding crime. It could show it's low crime and there could be a ton of crime locally, it's just low compared to what's around it. Or it could show it's a little higher on crime, when there's really only been a few crimes there, but the crime around is low so it makes it appear higher there. Also the type of crime matters. If it's all petty stuff, I'm not too concerned or if it's only looking high because there's a lot of shop lifting near by due to it being close to stores, that has nothing to do with the crime at the house. I'd much rather live there than have it be in a low crime area but have a murder next door, or on the same block (yep have seen that more than once in my search).

As far as what warehouses we were considering for working, I'm not sure what warehouses are even in Orlando at this point. I've found Publix, Universal and Amazon (think I marked Amazon off the list). I know Publix is out Sand Lake, think that was the one showing about 35 minutes away in heavy traffic in the afternoon. If we are both working over there, 35 one way isn't a big deal, if only she got on, that would be a sucky round trip. Especially since their wages are horrible for warehouse work. They really don't pay anymore than the grocery stores do, which amazes me. Here grocery stores don't pay anything but warehouses pay awesome. There it your grocery stores pay great (for grocery stores) but warehouses don't pay anything LOL Not sure if it would even be worth it, other than it would be a 40 hour week and grocery stores look like it would be part time most of the time. If you know of any other good employers toss them this way.


Wlmill, how far is your area from Universal and Disney Springs?