Might get a great job in Lake Buena Vista, so please... (Orlando: apartment, rentals)

[kerc]

...Tell me about a nice place to move in initially.

My wife has some relatives living in St. Cloud, and they have a house in Poinciana that they could rent to us, but I'm having second thoughts about Poinciana from stuff I've read here.

I still have time (headhunter is supposed to confirm interview for next week), but not a lot of time.

Ideas? Tips? Advice?

Thanks!

[AJ67]

Well rent in Poinciana and then look around for where you would like to live....st cloud is nice but a bit of a Haul to the disney area...
you can always check out Celebration

[cmj_fla]

Originally Posted by AJ67

Well rent in Poinciana and then look around for where you would like to live....st cloud is nice but a bit of a Haul to the disney area...
you can always check out Celebration

This is great advice that I would listen to. You may also want to look in the Clermont area or Davenport if Celebration is too pricey.

[JohnN]

clermont or davenport, I agree,

poinciana is horrid

[kerc]

Thanks for the tips.

[HammockDreamer]

Just agreeing with the previous advice....try to stay clear of Poinciana. We moved down last fall and rented in a new vacation developmpent just south of hwy 192/27---we enjoy the house---but schooling is a REAL issue (if you have kids). This area (Four Corners) is really starting to pop--lots of construction-residential and commercial. Good luck with everything!

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by kerc

...Tell me about a nice place to move in initially.

My wife has some relatives living in St. Cloud, and they have a house in Poinciana that they could rent to us, but I'm having second thoughts about Poinciana from stuff I've read here.

I still have time (headhunter is supposed to confirm interview for next week), but not a lot of time.

Ideas? Tips? Advice?

Thanks!

As long as the "great job" is not Disney, you could be ok, IF:

1. You factor is the high cost of living. People come down here to then change the info on their car insurance and find out insurance will cost you $1,000 more a year or more than you pay on your home state. Or worsem you could come down here looking for apts then end up paying $1,500 a month for an apt on Kirkman road (a crime ridden area), thinking a $1,500 apt must be nice... but WRONG! But by the time you figure out the area is bad, TFB, you signed a lease, your life is now bound to it.

2. You factor in the cost oif having a home of your own down here. That is another buggie. My friend from VA came down 2 years ago, hoping to rent 1st and then buy. When it came time to buy, she realized she cannot afoord anything in terms of housing, that she needs at least $300k to gets omething half-way decent.

3. You look at crime info and learn of the 'hot spots' like downtown, Paramore, Pine Hills (Crime Hills), Eastern Orlando, etc. Or you will be shot/robbed/stabbed/raped before you know it.

4. You take in consideration the weather. Are you ok with 100% humidity at least 300 days per year?? Do you sweat a lot and if no, is that because your current local weather is dry or is it because the weather is cooler? Are you ok with 80 degrees and 100% humidity at 7am from April - December? Are you ok with 90 degrees daily during the day, with a heat index of 100 degrees everyday?? Do you like to sweat a lot walking from your job's parking lot to the office, even though it's only 8am??

These are some of the major issues to consider.

Best wishes to you on your new job. Hope this gets you to consider all aspects of your move.

[kerc]

Nirvana-Guy, why do you say that I'll be OK of the job is not with Disney? It's supposed to be with them, although I'll be on contract at first (I'm a senior software developer, so I won't be working in the parks or something similar).

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

Kerc - don't listen to everything you hear. I know people who love working at Disney. Life in Orlando is hot and humid, but don't you already know that before you even come here? Non issue for most of us since everything is air conditionedand most people have pools.

I just have to crack up when people say it's expensive living in FL. I moved from the NE and my house was 100k LESS here than what I sold my house for up there. People have this pre-conceived notion that FL is supposed to be cheap living. There was a day maybe... but FL has just caught up with the rest of the country. There is no escape folks unless you move to the country somewhere. On a side note, so apartment rentals are over 1000 a month here. They are that high in the Philadelphia suburbs too and most of them are old falling apart dumps. Here, for that price, most of them are newer and have fitness centers and nice pools. And oh by the way, my car insurance was the same price monthly as Philadelphia and didn't go up when I moved to FL. Oh and Nivrana, I'm so sick of your rant about East Orlando being crime central... paleeze, give me a break! If you consider "east Orlando" is east of I-4 then we are talking about complete different worlds. Waterford Lakes in East Orlando I live in is pretty darn nice.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by BeenAroundTheBlock

Kerc - don't listen to everything you hear. I know people who love working at Disney. Life in Orlando is hot and humid, but don't you already know that before you even come here? Non issue for most of us since everything is air conditionedand most people have pools.

I just have to crack up when people say it's expensive living in FL. I moved from the NE and my house was 100k LESS here than what I sold my house for up there. People have this pre-conceived notion that FL is supposed to be cheap living. There was a day maybe... but FL has just caught up with the rest of the country. There is no escape folks unless you move to the country somewhere. On a side note, so apartment rentals are over 1000 a month here. They are that high in the Philadelphia suburbs too and most of them are old falling apart dumps. Here, for that price, most of them are newer and have fitness centers and nice pools. And oh by the way, my car insurance was the same price monthly as Philadelphia and didn't go up when I moved to FL. Oh and Nivrana, I'm so sick of your rant about East Orlando being crime central... paleeze, give me a break! If you consider "east Orlando" is east of I-4 then we are talking about complete different worlds. Waterford Lakes in East Orlando I live in is pretty darn nice.

Working for Disney, unless in management (that includes parks, cruises, and etc) is not that good. But life's best school is LIVING IT. You will remember my warning once you land at Disney. I worked for a law firm who represented several Disney workers complaining of everything from harassment from management to Disney's trying to buck paying people overtime, among other things. Oh get hurt at Disney and yoiu will have a HELL of a time trying to get work comp. They will fight you every step of the way.

As for the comment that a house in FL was $100K cheaper than in the NE... well, true. BUT you never factored in that in the NE you get paid almost twice as much than you do in FL. Why do you think Boston and Philly get all the illegal aliens that leave lower paying states, like FL and Alabama?? Because they get paid sometimes 3x as much in the NE than here.

FL was traditionally a very low cost of living state. How do I know that? I lived here since I was 6! That is 20 years in the area, so I know better. Now it's very expensive, no wonder you meet people and then a few months down the road and they have a U-Haul moving truck in front of their house and they are heading north, out of FL or to northern FL.

East Orlando is crime Central. We used to joke about Goldenrod being 'a rod up'.... well... you get the idea. Waterford Lakes is nice, but super crowded, very expensive, and not to mention with a ton of Spanish people in that are who do not/refuse to speak English. My brother in law lives in East Orlando over by UCF, actaully, 2 blocks south of University blvd, in a $1,400 mo 2/2 apt, and he says once you drive not even 1 mile away from his house to Dean Road, or Semoran, or most of the areas nearby, you are in the rundown ghetto, city-trash area. So it's nice area for 2 city blocks then the rest is ghetto. Think crime doesn't spill over? Go to the Walmart right off Alafaya and see if anyone speaks English there.

Do not venture too far off your neighborhood in East Orlando or face the consequences, which can be kidnapping or death.

Tell you what. Call the Orange County Sheriff and OPD and they will tell you the same. Go to the WhitePages.com andf search for the phone numbers. If you cannot find the #, I'll get it for you.