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Old 09-13-2018, 07:50 AM
 
11 posts, read 18,660 times
Reputation: 16

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Hello All!

I have a potential job offer for a position in Lake Mary, FL. I am from Pittsburgh and would like to inquire about general information on the Lake Mary and surrounding areas. The potential job would have me moving down in October. I have a wife and 18 month old. Any general information on Lake Mary (seems like a nice and family oriented area) or surrounding areas to consider would be most helpful. The position would be located in Lake Mary, FL.


Please see some specific questions below:

1. Job pays around $90k a year. Is this a solid salary for the area to live off of?
2. Recommendations for buying vs renting (family of 3 with an 18 month old)?
a. I see that rent is around $1500 for apartments
b. Would you purchase a home in Lake Mary or are their other nearby areas where the cost is lower?
3. Wife is a art teacher. Is there a demand for teachers in Seminole County/Florida in general?
4. Any negatives to the Lake Mary area (i.e., over crowded, crime, bad schools, etc.)

Essentially, any information that would help a young family in a potential move to central Florida would be immensely helpful. Ideally, my wife and I would like to buy a house and continue to grow our family, but I feel that renting and getting a lay of the land would be best considering we do not know the area well.

Thank you all for the help!

AJ
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Old 09-13-2018, 08:18 AM
 
24,322 posts, read 26,692,720 times
Reputation: 19740
Lake Mary is a nice family community, you’ll be happy.

1) Yes

2) I always recommend buying if you can afford it, but renting a year first doesn’t hurt either

3) I know there is a demand for teachers, but art I’m not sure

4) Not really, it’s on the very North end of Orlando, so it’s a bit of a drive to theme parks, MCO, etc but Lake Mary is a nice area, so it’s fine
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Old 09-13-2018, 09:34 AM
 
Location: Orlando, FL
617 posts, read 824,017 times
Reputation: 555
Congrats on the job! $90k is a pretty good salary to live off of, especially if your wife can get a teaching job to add to the income on top of that. It'll be enough to afford a nice 3/2 or 4/2. You probably wouldn't be able to get into the more desirable areas of Lake Mary though on the west side of I-4, such as Heathrow, Alaqua, Markham Woods.
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Old 09-14-2018, 06:18 AM
 
26,803 posts, read 43,267,473 times
Reputation: 31388
Quote:
Originally Posted by aclg311 View Post
Hello All!

I have a potential job offer for a position in Lake Mary, FL. I am from Pittsburgh and would like to inquire about general information on the Lake Mary and surrounding areas. The potential job would have me moving down in October. I have a wife and 18 month old. Any general information on Lake Mary (seems like a nice and family oriented area) or surrounding areas to consider would be most helpful. The position would be located in Lake Mary, FL.


Please see some specific questions below:

1. Job pays around $90k a year. Is this a solid salary for the area to live off of?
2. Recommendations for buying vs renting (family of 3 with an 18 month old)?
a. I see that rent is around $1500 for apartments
b. Would you purchase a home in Lake Mary or are their other nearby areas where the cost is lower?
3. Wife is a art teacher. Is there a demand for teachers in Seminole County/Florida in general?
4. Any negatives to the Lake Mary area (i.e., over crowded, crime, bad schools, etc.)

Essentially, any information that would help a young family in a potential move to central Florida would be immensely helpful. Ideally, my wife and I would like to buy a house and continue to grow our family, but I feel that renting and getting a lay of the land would be best considering we do not know the area well.

Thank you all for the help!

AJ
90K plus your wife's salary is more than adequate for the area and enough for purchasing in a desirable area. Housing in the area is on an upward trajectory and purchasing in the median-priced sector would most likely continue to yield modest gains or at worst remain stable. Besides Lake Mary, neighboring Sanford has nice neighborhoods which by/large border Lake Mary or are within a mile or two. If working in the area there is no need to look further away for housing as you won't gain in desirability, housing budget or in finding anything not already present. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...24_rect/14_zm/

Teacher demand in Seminole County fluctuates but do know that Volusia County (just across the St Johns River from Lake Mary-Sanford) is facing significant teacher shortages and would be a reasonable commute from the area if assigned a school on the west end in/around Debary, Orange City or Deltona.

There are no true negatives to the area in terms of being over-crowded, crime or bad schools as in fact the school district in Lake Mary-Sanford is one of the best in the state.
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Old 09-14-2018, 10:15 AM
 
Location: California ( Bay area)
38 posts, read 59,388 times
Reputation: 44
Are you sure Florida is the place you want to move? Most people who move down here don't last very long. They always end up moving back Norther or wherever they came from. Weather is absolutely dreading, but your coming in when the weather starts cooling down..


I would stick to Lake Mary, once you get the out skits of towns like Volusia county, your confronted with locals who aren't very friendly or open to outsiders. Confederate flags are also very prevalent in people's front yards, ( seems like a normal thing in Northern Florida areas).

As far as a parenting community, not the friendliest of states, imho. I am relocating to a city in California that was voted one of the friendliest cities in America with the lowest divorce rates ( LOL). After living here ( Sanford are) Totally, I agree 1,000 percent. I just don't find the parenting community very tight knit. Each person for themselves unless you have decent neighbors. Join and read the comments in Facebook Local Groups, you will get a good glimpse of the people, how they react and think.


Just my peace
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Old 09-14-2018, 10:46 AM
 
24,322 posts, read 26,692,720 times
Reputation: 19740
I moved out of California (San Francisco) in 2016, so happy with my decision. I also owned my condo there outright as I paid cash in 2011. I love the weather in FL that was one od the reasons why i moved. You can actually swim in the ocean here. It’s not brown 2/3 of the year. However, we are all individuals with different tastes in food, weather, landscapes who also value things differently too.

Lake Mary is a nice community.
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Old 09-14-2018, 04:28 PM
 
3,753 posts, read 5,266,776 times
Reputation: 6154
I have in-laws that live in Lake Mary, on a lake, and love it. I would highly recommend buying a house rather than entering Rental Hell. The in-laws bought a fixer and now have something very nice in which to live out their retirement years. We visit every other year, but the bugs and humidity are not to my liking so I will stick with a climate in which the bugs die annually. What I do like about my visits are the extreme choice in restaurants, especially South Asian (Indian).
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Old 09-14-2018, 04:31 PM
 
Location: California ( Bay area)
38 posts, read 59,388 times
Reputation: 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw335xi View Post
I moved out of California (San Francisco) in 2016, so happy with my decision. I also owned my condo there outright as I paid cash in 2011. I love the weather in FL that was one od the reasons why i moved. You can actually swim in the ocean here. It’s not brown 2/3 of the year. However, we are all individuals with different tastes in food, weather, landscapes who also value things differently too.

Lake Mary is a nice community.

Yeah I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to move into the San Fran area either. I am in the bay near San Jose, However, I LOVE it. I am a runner and hiker, so those aspects are important to me. I love the change which is what we all strive for I feel-- Change of environment.

One this is certain, Florida's beaches are magnificent and beautiful. You sure won't find that anywhere else in the US. When I first went out to the bay this summer as a visitor, I was like oh lawd, what kind of darkness is this! I am originally from the Midwestern Great Lakes area, even our beaches up North can be clear as green, similar to Florida. It's no ocean tho...
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Old 09-15-2018, 01:37 PM
 
24,322 posts, read 26,692,720 times
Reputation: 19740
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxlikestoplay View Post
Yeah I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to move into the San Fran area either. I am in the bay near San Jose, However, I LOVE it. I am a runner and hiker, so those aspects are important to me. I love the change which is what we all strive for I feel-- Change of environment.

One this is certain, Florida's beaches are magnificent and beautiful. You sure won't find that anywhere else in the US. When I first went out to the bay this summer as a visitor, I was like oh lawd, what kind of darkness is this! I am originally from the Midwestern Great Lakes area, even our beaches up North can be clear as green, similar to Florida. It's no ocean tho...

Exactly, you only live once, it's good to experience as much as you can. Santa Cruz has some nice areas to go hiking as well as Marin County, which has my favorite hikes, especially the "Dipsea, Steep Ravine, and Matt Davis Loop" it takes a good 6-9 hours to do the entire loop, but it's worth it. It's a bit far from San Jose area, but check it out or at least drive around that area. It's the most beautiful part of the Bay Area in my opinion.

I personally felt like San Jose is another Orlando just without Disney/Universal yet the single family homes are older and 5x more expensive, which is why I moved to San Francisco instead since it's a complete 180 from anything Florida. It was a great experience, but I really like the weather in Florida and I like the laid-back atmosphere in Orlando. San Jose and the surrounding area is still very nice, especially these days with all the gentrification going on. Cupertino is a really nice area too. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Bay Area as it sounds like you just moved there, but I could be wrong. If you have any questions about that area feel free to ask. I lived in the Bay Area a total of 7 years and was constantly exploring the entire time.
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