Former Orlando resident - wanting to move back to a decent part of town... (foreclosure)

[spite]

I grew up in Orlando, and as a young teen moved to Georgia with my parents (ten years ago). I'm married with a baby now, but I've always wanted to move back to Orlando. It is my ideal place to raise my family.

I dislike Georgia, a lot. So does my husband, but he also isn't sold at all on moving to Orlando. He's not a big fan of the weather there and he doesn't want to move into something half the size of our home now.

Ideally in a dream world, I would live in 32801, 32803, or College Park. Basically as close to downtown as possible. Unfortunately, we lack the finances to purchase something decent in those areas. We would probably get $135-$145k for our house now, which is all we've got if we want to move. Currently we have a 1400 sq ft 3/2 home in a nice neighborhood, and we don't want to downgrade (or downsize too much).

I grew up in the 32825 zip, which was nice in the 80s and 90s, but I want to be much closer to downtown.

I have found a couple houses on Clear Lake (the canals) in Isle of Catalina for $130 and $140k, and are larger than our home currently. My concern is that it's in the dreaded '32805' zip... Even from my childhood I remember Parramore being an undesirable area, but does that go for the entire zip code? Clear Lake seems a little further off the path from Parramore. I know the local elementary (Catalina) is a Title 1, and it's not meeting AYP which I'm far from thrilled about, but is there promise that this area is improving significantly and it'll be worth it by the time my son is elementary-aged (he's not quite one year yet)?

If there's little hope for the Clear Lake area, are there any affordable, yet nice recommendations that aren't too far from downtown and have decent schools?

Thanks in advance!

[Cierra3]

My suggestion would be to move down and rent for a small amount of time so that you can spend some time really researching and finding a good area to live back here in Orlando. You might be able to find a good deal on a shortsale or foreclosure but when you submit a contract it typically takes 3-6months to get accepted by the bank.

I have a 1500 Sqft Villa available for rent that is not far off the exit for Altamonte that possibly be suitable for a short term.