Might be moving to Orlando, help! (Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale: rental, employment, buy)

[mom2hn]

Hi!
We moved to Winter Garden from NC and had no problem with our southern accents!! We love our town and will miss it if we move back to NC. (to be close to family now that we have kids) Let me know if you want any specifics about W.G. Welcome!

[greggs]

it has amazed me to find that so many people are saying that the people of orlando are most unfreindly everyone i have met were all very nice people
does any one no anything about the shcools in the davenport area and if they are any good

[greggs]

it has also amazed me about the high crime levels we have our fair share of crime over here i guess when im in orlando i need to look a bit closer and get out of holiday mode

[SmokinJoe]

Be careful when buying a home in Celebration. It used to be that if you bought a home and resold it, you DID NOT get to keep the profit. I think it had something to do with Disneys' 99 year lease on the land. Celebration was set up by Disney in case gambling becomes legalized. There is a law that states that casinos have to be located in an independent community set up with certain requirements for casinos. Celebrations has all of these requirements. Disney is just waiting so that they can be the first company with casinos down here.

We would kill Vegas, as we already have the family market, but we also have the beaches. I for one am trying to move from here. It's a horrible place to live. The weather is unbearable eight months out of the year. I would suggest coming here for July and August, if you like it for those two months, then this may be the place for you. Good luck.

[Dee2e]

Originally Posted by SmokinJoe

Be careful when buying a home in Celebration. It used to be that if you bought a home and resold it, you DID NOT get to keep the profit. I think it had something to do with Disneys' 99 year lease on the land. Celebration was set up by Disney in case gambling becomes legalized. There is a law that states that casinos have to be located in an independent community set up with certain requirements for casinos. Celebrations has all of these requirements. Disney is just waiting so that they can be the first company with casinos down here.

We would kill Vegas, as we already have the family market, but we also have the beaches. I for one am trying to move from here. It's a horrible place to live. The weather is unbearable eight months out of the year. I would suggest coming here for July and August, if you like it for those two months, then this may be the place for you. Good luck.

The reason your friend did not get to keep proceeds is that the contract he signed when he bought says they cannot sell for a specified period of time and he did. This has nothing to do with the lease.

Celebration was not set up so they could bring gaming to Disney. It was part of the long range plan established by Walt many years ago.

[lilygirl]

My son and I might move to Winter Park, Fl. in 2008 when he graduates high school. He might be attending Full Sail college. Does anyone know about the area or the school? We live in Pennsylvania and want to get away from the cold.
Thank you.

[pianogal]

Lily, I lived in Winter Park for 20 years...just moved down to Orlando 2 years ago, but I'm still in Winter Park frequently. What specific things would you like to know about it.

Full Sail is a good school, but VERY expensive and Orlando is full of Full Sail graduates who can't find a job in their area. The market is saturated. There is another thread here about this by twistedstorm posted on Dec. 27th. It has alot of information you may find helpful. Just put Full Sail Florida into the advanced search engine.

[Dee2e]

Life is what you make it. If you smile, people smile back. If you scowl, people scowl back.

I have travelled our country and other parts of the world and find this to be true everywhere.

Many told me not to go to France for a long term project. I went, I was nice, I smiled and guess what, most people were very very nice.

I do agree that Windemere and parts of Winter Garden are very nice, with very nice homes and rentals. I also agree with Marylou2007 that the area around any of our colleges and universities where students live is not the best for a family because students are students. The like to party late, and do all the things that young kids away from the parents and unsupervised do. That's not just true here, it's college life everywhere.

Keep in mind that many post on threads because misery loves company.

Insurance inland is not so bad at all if you have decent credit. If you live near the beaches and have bad credit, you'll get hit with high insurance costs. The newer the house, the less expensive the insurance is too.

Property taxes are what they are. You won't spend hours doing taxes, however. You get the bill and pay it or make payments on it. Many lenders do not require escrows and that's great IF you save for the tax bill. Many don't save for the tax bill and are upset when they have to pay the bill. We put money away monthly for taxes and insurance as if we escrowed the funds but no everyone can do that.

Life is what you make it. Come down, drive around days, nights, and weekends. That will let you make a better choice of what area works best for your family.

Good luck to your husband with the job and to your family with the move!

[Eastbank]

Originally Posted by MaryLou2007

Folks in Orlando are extremely rude. Check the thread "Orlando... what is wrong with this place" thread in this forum for a bit more info. Also, watch out for the angry folk, there is a dark cloud over this city, I kid you not, people seem always defensive and hostile. People are also very distrusting, everyone seem to be losing their souls over time here, it's very depressing to see the transformation people have after they are here too long. You eventually become negative... the TV news doesn't help either, they show all the crime, non-stop, it's terrible.

Traffic is very bad if you have never dealt with "big city traffic", this will be a shocker, you will spend quite a bit of your day in traffic jams. I am talking 1h+ a day minimum, that is if you live close to work.

I find all these comments to be completely absurd and inaccurate. I almost never come across "rude" people (except on forums like this). People here seem to be much more polite, and life has a slower pace than I experienced in the big northeastern cities. People seem trusting and friendly and helpful in my community. People smile, and my neighbors wave !

Also, traffic will seem bad if you're coming from a rural place, but if you are coming from a city like Boston, NYC, LA, or SF, or Miami, Orlando's traffic will seem like a quaint small town in comparison. There are many toll roads you can take to avoid rush hour jams, and Orlando will have commuter rail before the end of the decade!!

Besides that, several communities are very walkable. I can walk from my home to every store and service I need, including work -- and in the middle of the winter - in shorts !! That alone is worth paying a bit more per sq/ft, IMO.

Take all the negativity with a grain of salt, consider the source (usually the same 2 or 3 posters) do your research and stay out of the ghetto (west side, Parramore/Pine Hills) and you'll be fine.

Best of luck with your move !!

[Eastbank]

Originally Posted by lilygirl

My son and I might move to Winter Park, Fl. in 2008 when he graduates high school. He might be attending Full Sail college. Does anyone know about the area or the school? We live in Pennsylvania and want to get away from the cold.
Thank you.

Winter Park is one of the most desirable areas to live in the Metro Orlando area. It is 100+ years old, has a chain of lakes, brick streets and old trees. The schools are "A" rated, and it has the most walkable and attractive commercial downtown in the area, as well as Florida's oldest private college, and several art museums and galleris. Because of things like this, of course, real estate is quite a bit more expensive than you'll find in suburubs and subdivisions. City-Data and Wikipedia both have extensive info on the city and its demographics.

Beware Full Sail, however, it is actually not located in Winter Park, but is east of the city limits in unincorporated Orange County. It is a FOR-profit school. Reference the prior threads on this subject.

Best of luck!