Need help: Lake Mary, Winter Springs & Oviedo (Longwood, Seminole: HOA fees, townhomes)

[willow2270]

Hi! My husband, I and our 16 month old are looking to relocate from NY to Seminole County. I have narrowed the search down to Lake Mary, Winter Springs and Oviedo. After lots of research, including reading
many posts here on city-data, I believe these places to be the best fit for us in terms of good schools, safety, being family oriented & convenient places to live. However, I am still confused over any real differences between these places.

Could I please get any input, such as pros/cons of each, or why you would or would not chose one or all of these?

Also, I would like to stay in the 200k-250k range for a house, preferably newer or new construction, what subdivisions/neighborhoods would you recommend in these areas?

I really appreciate any help, thanks in advance!

[beckycat]

Any of those areas would be great. Winters Springs is fine except around 17/92 and 434. Where would you be working? The price range fits the bill no problem. When you say newer construction, what age is acceptable? Do you mind HOA's? Do you want a decent sized lot or that doesn't matter?

[willow2270]

The size of the lot doesn't matter. I wouldn't mind HOA's (within reason). And the newer the better, but I'd say 2000 to present. I was getting the impression that it would be harder to find something in Lake Mary, as it seems higher priced than the other areas. Do you think that is true?

Thanks!

[Parrotrosie]

We found Winter Springs to be of the highest price...if you wanted newer especially. coming from NY, you say lot size doesn't matter, however, the lot sizes down here can be very VERY small...houses right on top of each other small, so, it may end up being of concern to you.

Bottom line will be, you need to visit, and drive around, and see which area 'feels' right for you and your family. How close do you like to be to more shopping (and the associated traffic) - Lake Mary is better.
Do you like more rural areas? - Oviedo is better. Winter Springs is more of a Golf community and a little more high-brow and high priced for similar homes. They have larger yards though. It's nicer there with older trees and so forth (older homes as well)

You really just have to check it out for your self...it's a 'feel ' thing

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by Parrotrosie

We found Winter Springs to be of the highest price...if you wanted newer especially. coming from NY, you say lot size doesn't matter, however, the lot sizes down here can be very VERY small...houses right on top of each other small, so, it may end up being of concern to you.

Bottom line will be, you need to visit, and drive around, and see which area 'feels' right for you and your family. How close do you like to be to more shopping (and the associated traffic) - Lake Mary is better.
Do you like more rural areas? - Oviedo is better. Winter Springs is more of a Golf community and a little more high-brow and high priced for similar homes. They have larger yards though. It's nicer there with older trees and so forth (older homes as well)

You really just have to check it out for your self...it's a 'feel ' thing

I agree, it's best to check the areas out before you move there. I don't think Lak Mary is out of the OP's price range either. I do think Lake Mary is a good choice with all the conveniences. There's also Longwood right by Lake Mary. Oviedo is more rural, but still nice. I do agree the lots are tiny here and moving from up north, it's a shock. We experienced that by moving to Lake Mary from PA. We had a gorgeous house but no land. We've since moved a 1/4 mi down the street and have 1/2 acre, so much better.

[Parrotrosie]

I think Lake Mary is within the price range...I just went to Realtor.com and did a search on a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath in Lake Mary and found 176 listings, some were townhomes and some , of course were older homes, but I did find several that were ten years or younger homes that might fit this family's needs.

It's likely that may even be the case in Winter Springs as well, I haven't actually looked, I just know we didn't find anything we could afford when we looked that was newer, so I was projected my own experience. Best to go ahead and do a search yourselves You may find a gem.

[willow2270]

Thank-you for your responses. We are looking to have my husband go down in the very near future and are trying to figure out how to check out these areas most effectively. What are some recommendations of "must sees" or things that should be checked out when looking to relocate to the area and decide between these areas?

In addition, I should've been a bit more specific about what we are looking for in terms of subdivisions/neighborhoods. This may help to differentiate between the three areas, and where we would most likely find this. And also help to narrow down subdivisions/neighborhoods.

-Newer or new construction (2000 or newer) approx. 2,000 sqft priced 200-250k
-Decent size yard for kids/pets to play
-Modern, newer looking area but with some greenery
-Safe walking around (like walking a dog at night)
-Not bordering any rundown, "bad" areas
-Has amenities either as part of subdivision or close by (i.e clubhouse or YMCA, etc)
-If HOA's would like to have them on the lower end.
-Has parks/playgrounds close by
-Library, restaurants, shopping close by
-If in Lake Mary, then zoned for Lake Mary HS (it seems this is the better HS)

Thanks again for your help!

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by willow2270

Thank-you for your responses. We are looking to have my husband go down in the very near future and are trying to figure out how to check out these areas most effectively. What are some recommendations of "must sees" or things that should be checked out when looking to relocate to the area and decide between these areas?

In addition, I should've been a bit more specific about what we are looking for in terms of subdivisions/neighborhoods. This may help to differentiate between the three areas, and where we would most likely find this. And also help to narrow down subdivisions/neighborhoods.

-Newer or new construction (2000 or newer) approx. 2,000 sqft priced 200-250k
-Decent size yard for kids/pets to play
-Modern, newer looking area but with some greenery
-Safe walking around (like walking a dog at night)
-Not bordering any rundown, "bad" areas
-Has amenities either as part of subdivision or close by (i.e clubhouse or YMCA, etc)
-If HOA's would like to have them on the lower end.
-Has parks/playgrounds close by
-Library, restaurants, shopping close by
-If in Lake Mary, then zoned for Lake Mary HS (it seems this is the better HS)

Thanks again for your help!

Lake Mary has all these things. You may want to check out the Crossings, but then again the homes are a bit older than 10 yrs. You might have to compromise a little to get the conveniences. There really aren't "bad" areas in Lake Mary. There are a couple newer homes in Longwood in your price range. A couple in Wildmere West and one in Longwood Green. Winter Springs and Oviedo have a couple too. It's best if you check it out yourself to see what you like.

[Parrotrosie]

Well, I live in Oviedo, and I live in the Sanctuary, you can also check out Live Oak right across the street from us....we have an A+ rated Middle school with Lawton Chiles, and Haggerty High schools. I believe the elementary is Parton.

Both Sanctuary and Live Oak have their own Pools, and Rec areas and HOA fees run I believe $1200 per year. That includes (for us, and I believe they are both very similar) a gym, the pool, playground, basketball courts and a soccer field and tennis courts. The development is very walkable, and has about 300ish out of 700 plus acres set aside as conservation area so there is alot of green around.

Here is our HOA website link
Amenity Center at The Sanctuary

A link with some of the floorplans and some of the ammenty pics (it's and old link)
The Sanctuary - Crosswinds Communities


And here is the link for Live Oak
Live Oak Reserve


Both of these are less than 6-7 years old so everything in here would be newer.


Here is our local rec center if you would like to join there for pool and gym Gym & Aquatic Facility | City of Oviedo, Florida
My daughter has played basket ball there and there are lots of other things going on there as well as city activities and city info on that website.

[willow2270]

Beckycat, we really apreciate all your help.

You said that your previous house in Lake Mary had a really small yard and this is something that maybe we didn't fully appreciate. With this in mind, do you think pushing our price range higher would make a real difference? (both house and lot size)?

Obviously, we would be silly not to explore options outside our original (off-the-cuff) range if that would make a real difference considering we'd like to be there for quite a while. We have a bit of flexibility in our range, but only if there are some tangible benefits to do it.

I will definitely check out the places you mention in Longwood though.
Do you know if they are zoned for Lake Mary schools?