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Hi, first time poster here. My husband and I are retired. We are looking to become snowbirds from Central NJ to a town around the Orlando area in a few months. We would like to buy either a home in a gated adult community, or even a condominium apartment in an adult community for our kids amd grandkids to come and stay. We are looking for a community that obviously is safe and one where we won’t get stuck in traffic on the way to the parks. I heard I-4 is a nightmare as are routes 434 n 436. Also I see some have huge HOA fees and strict rules and regs. We don’t want that. We are looking to spend a max of $225,000. and monthly HOA fees of less than $250. We are looking for a 3 bed, 2 bath place. Heard Clermont is nice, Winter Garden, Winter Park. Any others? Any adult communities or adult condo apartments anyone can recommend? When someone does not know the area, it is very confusing where to even start. Thanking you in advance, Cynthia
Hi I’m not a Floridian but I’m someone who’s done a lot of scoping and visiting to Orlando from NJ. I hate I-4 too - relieved that there ARE ways around it! Really I-4 is the only one I have hated not any others I wouldn’t call a nightmare compared to NJ highways. But again i don’t live there I’ve visited over a dozen times in my life. Last visit was August and it was strictly for getting a feel of really living there as close as I could without actually living there. My mom and I also got in touch with a nice realtor who drove us around Orlando, Winter Park and Dr. philips area. He was super helpful and a snowbird once also. Winter Park is the most expensive out of the area and I’m not sure you’ll find something super nice for the budget. Winter Garden would be your best bet imo! I don’t mean to highkack this post when I’m not a Floridian. Was checking if I had any replies to my post and since I’m from NJ too I chimed in here Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. Yes I do see that Winter Park is more exoensive than Winter Garden. Also heard that some parts of Dr Philips are better than others. Maybe some Floridians will have additional info.
Hi, first time poster here. My husband and I are retired. We are looking to become snowbirds from Central NJ to a town around the Orlando area in a few months. We would like to buy either a home in a gated adult community, or even a condominium apartment in an adult community for our kids amd grandkids to come and stay. We are looking for a community that obviously is safe and one where we won’t get stuck in traffic on the way to the parks. I heard I-4 is a nightmare as are routes 434 n 436. Also I see some have huge HOA fees and strict rules and regs. We don’t want that. We are looking to spend a max of $225,000. and monthly HOA fees of less than $250. We are looking for a 3 bed, 2 bath place. Heard Clermont is nice, Winter Garden, Winter Park. Any others? Any adult communities or adult condo apartments anyone can recommend? When someone does not know the area, it is very confusing where to even start. Thanking you in advance, Cynthia
With that budget, Windermere would be your best bet. The first choice would be Dr. Phillips because you are literally right there. No need for I-4 if there is traffic. I'll go to Disney or Universal for just 2 hours most of the time it's so close. However, you likely won't be happy with what $225k will get you, so I'd focus on Windermere.
We have been researching the area for a semi retirement move for over a year now. On our last visit to Disney in October, we toured the area and liked Winter Garden and Windermere. We will be renting at least a year before we purchase to see if we like the area. I also have heard a lot about Dr.Phillips and Winter Park are very desirable, but the houses seem older and more dated. One thing that I have learned about HOA might be of interest to you. Many HOA are restrictive in allowing the home or townhome to be rented, many HOA have restricitions of 1 yr. I personally like that as the neighborhood is more stable and less transient. Purchase in an area that is highly desirable as "down the road" you may have to rent the home, one never knows. Winter Garden and Windermere are lovely as they are accessible to Disney and Universal, but not right on top of it. Google Winter Garden Hamlin, very nice..the area seems to have good growth potential. Parts of Winter Garden use Windermere High School, which seems to be the "go to" High School, which is important for future ability to resell. Very good schools keep the values up in a community, which has been our experience with all the homes we have owned in the past 36 years. Good Luck in your continued research!
Hi, first time poster here. My husband and I are retired. We are looking to become snowbirds from Central NJ to a town around the Orlando area in a few months. We would like to buy either a home in a gated adult community, or even a condominium apartment in an adult community for our kids amd grandkids to come and stay. We are looking for a community that obviously is safe and one where we won’t get stuck in traffic on the way to the parks. I heard I-4 is a nightmare as are routes 434 n 436. Also I see some have huge HOA fees and strict rules and regs. We don’t want that. We are looking to spend a max of $225,000. and monthly HOA fees of less than $250. We are looking for a 3 bed, 2 bath place. Heard Clermont is nice, Winter Garden, Winter Park. Any others? Any adult communities or adult condo apartments anyone can recommend? When someone does not know the area, it is very confusing where to even start. Thanking you in advance, Cynthia
We also are retirees from north NJ who moved here about 3 years ago and could not be happier with our decision. There are so many considerations that go into the decision. It's all about what you prefer. Here are some of our biggest decisions:
The Location: Agree that I-4, 436 and 434 can be a mess! We wanted to be close enough to Orlando for the theme parks and other advantages but in a more rural area where we could feel safe and not have to navigate heavy traffic every time we go out. We found northwest of Orlando to be a match and ended up in a charming small Lakeside community called Mt Dora that has a bit of a resort town atmosphere because of the music and art scene. A few miles north is the Ocala National Forest. There are some times of day that 429 is busy but those times can easily be avoided. The town website is: https://ci.mount-dora.fl.us/ We can be in Disney World in about 35-40 minutes on Rt 429 and go about once a week for a couple of hours to walk around, grab lunch, etc. A Florida resident weekday select pass for about $301 per year gets you into Disney World M-F but there are blockout dates such as Christmas, June and July, and spring break...times you'd want to avoid it anyway. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passes/ I think that the Clermont area has similar advantages. We just preferred the "look and feel" of our town.
The Community: Unless you already have friends here, meeting people can be tough. Like you, we wanted a 55+ community because we thought there would be a lot of people like us who were transplants and wanted to meet others and activities and events through which to do that. That was exactly what happened. We've met a lot of people and our circle of friends consists of at least 3 couples who first lived in a non-55+ community and hated it because they were so isolated...so they moved here and tell us it's 100% different. Of course, the size of the community and amenities matters. A place like the Villages has many, many activities but also consists of over 110,000 people and is still growing. There also are some communities that are beautiful but isolated or in an area where the surrounding vicinity is a bit "tough". I will not mention any but one of our friends moved here from such a community...so check out what's outside the community, not merely what's in it.
The Fees: You have to look deeper. It all depends on what you get. One community we know charges almost $400 a month but that includes lawn care, TV, internet, irrigation, repainting your house every 5 years, and a couple other things. We pay $236 per month and get cable TV, high speed internet, and lawn watering. I do my own lawn but most of our neighbors have a service and pay $110-$150 per month (depends on what you get) so when you factor that in, a $350-$375 HOA is about the same. And don't overlook the cost of watering your lawn... in Florida, that can be more costly than you planned! Another factor is whether the community has an activities director and other staff. We don't but many residents wish we did. We have an incredible volunteer group that organizes great activities in our clubhouse but there is no guarantee if they get tired! A key thing is not to get trapped in a new community that is stalled. Developers go "belly up" and you could end up having to split the costs with many fewer homes than was expected. Ours had that problem when the 2009 subprime fiasco hit but a new developer came in a couple of years later and we are going strong. But, by Florida standards, we are a small community. There will be only about 1100 homes when it's done. You might want something bigger...sometimes even we do. But, we have no wait for pickleball (if you don't know about pickleball, you will!) the pool, the exercise room or anything else.
The House: There are some communities in which you can purchase a manufactured home for $100 or so but after you've gone through your first hurricane scare, you may wish you were in a block construction home. Many 55+ communities tend to be all block or all manufactured but there are a few that have mixed construction formats. And, of course, you get what you pay for in terms of security, amenities, etc. In our community, it's occasionally possible to get a small (about 1400 sq ft) block construction with 2 or 3 bedrooms for about $230,000 but even the smaller homes tend to go for $250K to $275K. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...27_rect/16_zm/
For many people, a smaller home works just fine! We even know someone who just downsized from a much larger home to a smaller one in our community. Of course, it all depends on setting/location, construction, age, etc. The average home is probably about $320,000. You definitely can find something comparable for a cheaper price but most likely it will be in a non-55+ community.
There are other considerations but I've already rambled on way too much. I do hope this gets you thinking about some things (although it seems you already are doing that) and good luck with that process. I also hope you end up enjoying living in Florida as much as we do.
Grumpyprof, your insight is very valuable. Thank you, for all thinking about relocation to Orlando suburbs! You have a great point about the fact that meeting people may be easier in a 55+. We have read positive comments about Mount Dora. It is nice to hear that you are quite happy with your move.
Proximity to good hospital care and medical care is important to us and from our research, Tampa and Orlando have excellent hospital care. There are some retirees that return to their original area because they are unhappy with the availability of good medical care. Hope that your happiness continues!
You should really look at The Villages. Your budget and what you are looking for are in line with what is available there. They're building out the south side (closest to the turnpike) now and you can be in Orlando or the parks in an hour. It's affordable, no shortage of activities and probably the winter home of many people from your NJ community. My NY parents love it.
You should really look at The Villages. Your budget and what you are looking for are in line with what is available there. They're building out the south side (closest to the turnpike) now and you can be in Orlando or the parks in an hour. It's affordable, no shortage of activities and probably the winter home of many people from your NJ community. My NY parents love it.
Thanks for your input
Any tips on where a younger couple in their 30's should live?
We're both in the medical field. 1 cat, 1 dog. No kids in between us. He has twins from a previous relationship.
Looking to rent a 2 bed room the first year. Buy a home the second year once we figure out if we like it.
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Good luck!
