OMG...we are moving to Orlando!

[loveysbydesign]

Hi everyone! So I finallyconvinced dh to move to FL!
We sold our house last week and have closing June 17th, then we are renting it from our buyer for 1 month so we can move to FL July 10th.
We are looking at the Oveido, Ococee and Clermont areas.
I have 2 job offers and will be interviewing when we coem down the week of June 20th to look for rentals. DH does not have any offers yet and he makes 2x what i make(which isn't much) so if he does not find a job then the kids and I will be in FL while he stays back in PA.
We are having a hard time finding a rentla for under $1600 a month that is 4 bedrooms and allows pets.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Hi everyone! So I finallyconvinced dh to move to FL!
We sold our house last week and have closing June 17th, then we are renting it from our buyer for 1 month so we can move to FL July 10th.
We are looking at the Oveido, Ococee and Clermont areas.
I have 2 job offers and will be interviewing when we coem down the week of June 20th to look for rentals. DH does not have any offers yet and he makes 2x what i make(which isn't much) so if he does not find a job then the kids and I will be in FL while he stays back in PA.
We are having a hard time finding a rentla for under $1600 a month that is 4 bedrooms and allows pets.

 

[ChristmasElf]

You realize that Oveido, Clermont and Ocoee are all 3 areas of Orlando at opposite Corners of the city right?
Clermont is in Lake county. Schools are not as good as Orange County schools.
Oveido is located northeast of Orlando. If your job is located north of Orlando, then your drive time shouldn't be too bad depending on your route. But, if you will be working say in Dr Philips or Kissimmee, your drive each day will be brutally long and very frustrating.
Ocoee. Housing prices are a bit lower than other two areas. Orange County schools. Close to Pine Hills though which is not good. We call it Crime Hills.
If your new employment pays you a decent salary, then you should be okay waiting for your DH to also find a job. But, if not, you may want to possibly reconsider your move plans for the moment, and I'll tell you why.

Living in Orlando is not as cheap as people think. Our utilities are pretty high compared to other parts of the country, especially water. Electric is also a doozy. We recently sold a house we lived in for 6 years. 5100 square feet, 2 story open floor plan, high ceilings and ten months out of the year the electric bill averaged $950per month due to a/c and the pool filter. Also wasn't energy efficient like newer houses are now.
Another thing to consider is homeowners insurance or renters insurance which is very high in Florida due to hurricanes.
Florida is known as a Service Industry state, with not a lot of high tech companies that bring in high paying jobs. Many of my neighbors live and work in other states and either are able to work from home or commute back and forth on a regular basis, or as in my case has a husband that commutes back and forth with a well paying career, that doesn't care where we live on a daily basis.
A lot of people move here because they think it will be so great to be able to visit the parks on a regular basis. But, like anything else, it does get old fairly easily.
Finding a 4 bedroom house at $1600 per month in a decent neighborhood will not be easy. Expect to pay about $2300-3300 not inluding utilities per month in rent for a single family home.


I love Florida, I don't like the high cost of Florida though!

 

[NewRVLady]

Hi everyone! So I finallyconvinced dh to move to FL!
We sold our house last week and have closing June 17th, then we are renting it from our buyer for 1 month so we can move to FL July 10th.
We are looking at the Oveido, Ococee and Clermont areas.
I have 2 job offers and will be interviewing when we coem down the week of June 20th to look for rentals. DH does not have any offers yet and he makes 2x what i make(which isn't much) so if he does not find a job then the kids and I will be in FL while he stays back in PA.
We are having a hard time finding a rentla for under $1600 a month that is 4 bedrooms and allows pets.

Gosh-if the DH doesn't have a job I can not imagine living in 2 cities with that uncertainty!Esp since he is the major breadwinner=and to live that far apart?
My sis lived north of Orlando for a year...hated it. Left after one year=she said too transient neighborhood-houses selling-people moving in and out all the time

 

[diznygirl]

Please don't move here without a job. Florida is already supporting enough people who came here to live the dream and have been homeless and out of work ever since.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Sorry I'm going to chime in too that people really have no clue when it comes to living in FL. The job market is still horrible, the unemployment % rate does not count all the people that have just given up.

Personally I think it is ridiculous to maybe put yourselves in a position to have the expenses of 2 places to live (here and PA) and a family is not together. Is moving here really worth that ? I don't get it.

You also said you have 2 job offers but then will be interviewing with those companies. No guarantees yet is how I am reading that. May I ask what you do for a living and what your husband does ?

I have to agree with the other posters for what you're looking for in a rental that is going to be tough.

 

[phorsenuf]

Hi everyone! So I finallyconvinced dh to move to FL!
We sold our house last week and have closing June 17th, then we are renting it from our buyer for 1 month so we can move to FL July 10th.
We are looking at the Oveido, Ococee and Clermont areas.
I have 2 job offers and will be interviewing when we coem down the week of June 20th to look for rentals. DH does not have any offers yet and he makes 2x what i make(which isn't much) so if he does not find a job then the kids and I will be in FL while he stays back in PA.
We are having a hard time finding a rentla for under $1600 a month that is 4 bedrooms and allows pets.

Where about will you be working? We live in Davenport near Champions Gate and Reunion area (exit 58 off of 4). Beautiful area with great subdivisions. You could easily find what you are looking for around here.
People complain about short term rentals but they are getting lesser and lesser all the time it seems. I know of one in my development. The street I live on everyone has been here for years. They are either long term renters or owners.
Check out the area if it seems close to work. We found our house on Craigslist.

 

[ilovefh]

Where about will you be working? We live in Davenport near Champions Gate and Reunion area (exit 58 off of 4). Beautiful area with great subdivisions. You could easily find what you are looking for around here.
People complain about short term rentals but they are getting lesser and lesser all the time it seems. I know of one in my development. The street I live on everyone has been here for years. They are either long term renters or owners.
Check out the area if it seems close to work. We found our house on Craigslist.

What she said! Love and miss that area!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would strongly suggest renting for your first year. Then you will learn the area as a resident (not as a tourist) and will have a better feel for where you want to live.

 

[NewRVLady]

Hi everyone! So I finallyconvinced dh to move to FL!

We sold our house last week and have closing June 17th, then we are renting it from our buyer for 1 month so we can move to FL July 10th.
.
I have 2 job offers and will be interviewing when we coem down the week of June 20th to look for rentals.

DH does not have any offers yet and he makes 2x what i make(which isn't much) .

I am just re-reading this post
When you look for rentals in late June you are just THEN interviewing? So you are moving without a firm job?
I really wonder if anyone will rent to you in this situation-seriously

 

[Dax]

I am just re-reading this post
When you look for rentals in late June you are just THEN interviewing? So you are moving without a firm job?
I really wonder if anyone will rent to you in this situation-seriously

I can tell you, as a long term renter in the Orlando area, who has had a steady job for well over 11yrs combined between DH and myself, getting rentals in this area is HARD. A lot of the landlords have burnt numerous times by tentants and are no longer trusting. Moving to this area with no guaranteed job is a very high risk move that I would not risk or suggest to anyone.

 

[jerseygal]

I would strongly suggest renting for your first year. Then you will learn the area as a resident (not as a tourist) and will have a better feel for where you want to live.

We RENTED a year when we were transferred to an area that we didn't know. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND it because it gives you a year to really "live a community" before commiting to a home purchase. PLAN to do it again when we move south somewhere. A neighbor is reocating to Lake Mary. How is that area? Supposedly the school district is good. Using schools will not be an issue directly for us, but always is a factor in purchasing since great schools always keep home value up!

 

[Feralpeg]

A couple I know recently moved to the Orlando area. He has his own business. She doesn't work. They want to build, but it will take 6 months. They need a place to live until the house is ready. They are currently staying with a relative, but need to get out soon. They are having no luck finding a rental or even an apartment. Since they are new to the area and he doesn't work for an established business here, no one wants to rent to them. To make it worse, he us having a hard time drumming up business. Moving without a sure income is not easy.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I have been researching moving to FL for over 3 years. I have joined quite a few community FB pages about the areas we are looking at. I am also working with 3 realtors in regards to finding a rental. We are planning to pay 6 months rent ahead of time (using money we make from the sale of our home in PA) so this should help us secure a rental. I do work part time right now as a travel agent and a customer service rep.(as well as running my own small family day care) but since I am an independent contractor for them it won't count as verifiable income.
My one job offer is to teach for Head Start and I could be at any of their 8 centers. I just got a 3rd call from them today about scheduling my 2nd interview. http://4cflorida.org/locations/
5 centers are north of Orlando and 3 are south, that I why am leaning more towards just west of Orlando for renting a home. Once I have an intent to hire letter, getting a rental base on that and dh's income should not be too much of an issue.

I have priced out electric, cable, internet, car insurance, renters insurance etc in the areas we are looking at.
They are ALL cheaper then what we pay here in PA, plus here we have borough, county, school and state income taxes as well as having to pay for inspections and emissons testing every year for our vehicles.

My oldest is really interested in a few colleges in FL and he has 2 years of HS to finish, we want him to be able to get FL resident rates at those colleges as if he is out of state it costs 3X as much.

We just found out that my dh may be able to work remotely from home when we move to FL, so that would be great! if he does not move at the same time us me and the kids he will be living with a good friend of ours(bachelor in a cape cod house) that lives 5 minutes from where he works in PA.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I also just have to say that I am very shocked that so many of you are naysayers! I have been diligently reseaching the areas in FL we are thinking of moving to, I am not taking this lightly at all!
We are not moving to central FL to just be near Disney, we are doing this due to my and my son's depression we get from the 6 month long winters here in PA. Disney is just a bonus as far as I am concerned.
I've also been seriously looking at the schools and this website has been of great help http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/default.asp along with talking to people who live there and have kids in the schools. I have it narrowed down to Seminole, Orange and Lake counties and have been researching all the schools.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Not naysayers, realistic. Seen many people chase the dream and fall flat on their behinds and end up broke, brokenhearted, and returning to their home states. When you said you didn't have income it sent up flags for many of us. Best of luck to you.

 

[Feralpeg]

We are planning to pay 6 months rent ahead of time (using money we make from the sale of our home in PA) so this should help us secure a rental.

The couple I mentioned above offered to pay six months rental in cash. No go. They still have not found a place to live while their house is built.

 

[AlohaNow]

I can’t speak with any authority at all about moving to Florida, but we have made three moves to new cities without jobs in hand. To DC without kids, then to Honolulu and Denver with kids. I’m happy to say we have yet to go hungry or homeless! For renting we could prove our net worth and were never asked for more cash up front than first, last, and security. And we are by no means wealthy! We too thoroughly researched (like *crazy* researched) before each move. Well except to DC, because we were young and without a care in the world! I simply put this out there to say that it is possible to make a big move without first having a job. Not for the faint of heart, but it can be done!

 

[loveysbydesign]

OK, we just found out hubby can work from home and still keep his job from PA when we move to FL in a month or 2(woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), it makes our rental search a bit easier in regards to choosing from various locations. I have several job offers around the Orlando area(one in Celebration for DCL, habve my interview on Fri., one in Dr. phillips, one near Oveido, etc).
I'd love to know which town you think is the best to live in, in regards to good schools, safety, affordability, proximity to Disney(I know, but my kids are so excited about that), is pet friendly and you can get a 4 bedroom rental for under $1700 a month.
We had narrowed it down to Ocoee, Oviedo, Clermont, Winter Park, Winter Garden, Dr. Phillips and Windermere. Am I missing any other places that you would choose if you could???

 

[deedeetoo]

I am confused. You say you have job offers, but then say you have interviews for them. A job offer is what you get after you are finished with your interviews, and means that they have made a decision to hire you. If you are still interviewing, you don't have any job offers, you have leads that you are pursuing. Big difference.