Considering a move to Clermont, Florida

[ChristmasElf]

Hello! I know I've seen threads in the past about folks who are relocating to Florida and I remember reading responses from a lot of DISer's that live in Clermont.

My dh and I are planning a trip down in March to check out the Clermont and Lakeland areas, with plans for a possible move in early 2012 unless we find our dream home, then things could move a lot faster. I would appreciate any and all help and suggestions you might offer.

A couple things I'm wondering about is pool home vs. a community pool; insurance rates and weather issues, I love gardening and would love to hear from gardeners about what wonderful things you can grow there.

Thanks is advance. I look forward to hearing from some future neighbors. .

Susie

I haven't read any posts so forgive me if I repeat anything.

Clermont: One of the only areas in Florida that have rolling hills. There is a wide range of housing options.
Really has been growing in the last few years with lots of shopping options now. Close to WDW in fact there are several cast members that choose to live in Clermont.
Depending on which subdivision you choose to live in, take Kingsridge for example, They are an over 52 community that have a community pool. They also are a golf cart community and you will see that folks even use a golf cart to go to PUBLIX which is right around the corner.

Personally, I love having our own private pool right in the yard, but some people hate the maintenance. Just depends on what you like.

As far as gardening goes, by the time it is late March, the tomatoes and lettuce are tough to grow here due to the heat. At least I have never had much luck past late March!
Strawberries I don't bother with anymore since they are so easy and cheap to come by this time of year.

 

[denisem]

Don't mean to be a downer, but *I* can answer the gardening question.

Moved 6 yrs ago to Ocala (1-1/1 hrs north of WDW) from Metro Detroit, also looking forward to gardening (I grew up on a perennial/shrub farm). Quickly learned Mid-Central FL is one of the more difficult areas of the US. Too cold/dry for tropicals in the winter; too humid/wet by mid-summer for everything else. (There's a reason Disney regularly replants.)

It's a challenge if you're up to it. We live on total sand, so I got into container gardening (via advice from Davesgarden.com). Had our first tomatoes late March on our SW facing lanai. THIS year...we still had freezing temps at that time,

You haven't mentioned...are you retiring to FL or still in the workforce? I have advice on that, too.

 

[lucas]

Subscribing as I'm interested in the area, also.

 

[Pig Pen]

We recently bought a mobile home in Winter Haven, but we are actually closer to Auburndale than Winter Haven. We haven't moved down yet, but what we liked was the easy commute to either Orlando or Tampa via I-4, while preserving a small town feel. We are about 30 miles southwest of WDW.

We had looked at Clermont and decided it was just too far north for us. My parents used to live in Ocala but now live closer to Tampa. They think there is a big climate difference in being north of Orlando versus south. After 35 winters in Vermont, I have decided I want to be as far south as possible!

 

[KodakFigment]

DH and I have just been thru this. It was hard trying to pick an area when all we really knew was Disney. By visiting all the surrounding communities we began to get a feel for what seemed like home. You specifically asked about Clermont. We found Clermont to have two distinct personalities depending on where you were. Southern Clermont near Disney was very different from the more rural Clermont further north by Rt 50. We were very surprised by this. We visited Celebration, Davenport, Kissimmee, Winter Garden, Summerport and Independence in Windermere and Dr. Phillips. Because we had a month to look around (we stayed in a vacation condo) we got to see the neighborhoods and the traffic. In the end our decision was much easier than we thought it was going to be. Like I said, some places just feel like home. Now we just have to find a way to meet some other transplants and locals so we can begin to build our new lives here.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

We rented a house in Clermont for a year while our house was being built in Lakeland. I would have preferred to live in Clermont, but we bought during the housing boom when prices where skyrocketing...and a 1300 sq ft house in Clermont was pricier than a 2800 sq ft house in Lakeland (new construction). I live in a gated subdivision and like my neighborhood, but the schools were I am are terrible. My DD7 has been on the Magnet/Choice school wait list for 3 years now and it looks like she will finally be going to a good school next year...although she has done wonderful in school ( Student of the Year in her class for 3 years in a row!!) and her teachers have been great.....the school system leaves much to be desired. While there are many middle class neighborhoods interspersed throughout my area....there are also poor areas. Many children come to school in rags....parents could care less about their education...and this is reflected back into the schools. If you are planning on a private school then there are several church based schools that I have heard great things about.

It actually takes me a shorter amount of time to get to Disney (although mileage is longer) than it did when I lived in Clermont. Going up Hwy 27 to Hwy 92 to get to Disney is one big traffic jam....now I just go up I-4. We are 1 1/2 hours from the beach...and about 30-45 minutes from Busch Gardens, Tampa Aquarium, Lowery Park Zoo.

We do have a great scrapbook store though!! There are also a couple within an hours drive that I really like in the Tampa area.

School wise I would choose Clermont......I think the rolling hills are so pretty too! With the way the housing industry is now...I would take advantage of the buyer's market and live where you really would prefer to be.

PM me if you have any questions about either area! Clermont has grown since we lived there, but I still visit friends in the area.

Thank you for sharing some great thoughts and suggestions. While we don't have any school age children (we're retirees) a good school district is still important to us.

Clermonts looking better every day.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

I haven't read any posts so forgive me if I repeat anything.

Clermont: One of the only areas in Florida that have rolling hills. There is a wide range of housing options.
Really has been growing in the last few years with lots of shopping options now. Close to WDW in fact there are several cast members that choose to live in Clermont.
Depending on which subdivision you choose to live in, take Kingsridge for example, They are an over 52 community that have a community pool. They also are a golf cart community and you will see that folks even use a golf cart to go to PUBLIX which is right around the corner.

Personally, I love having our own private pool right in the yard, but some people hate the maintenance. Just depends on what you like.

As far as gardening goes, by the time it is late March, the tomatoes and lettuce are tough to grow here due to the heat. At least I have never had much luck past late March!
Strawberries I don't bother with anymore since they are so easy and cheap to come by this time of year.

We would love to have our own pool but we don't have a clue about maintenance. Does it require a lot of upkeep?

I guess I should have specified that I'm more interested in flower gardening. Just wondering if you can grow things year round or how many times you have to replant during the year.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[Ricky's Girl]

Don't mean to be a downer, but *I* can answer the gardening question.

Moved 6 yrs ago to Ocala (1-1/1 hrs north of WDW) from Metro Detroit, also looking forward to gardening (I grew up on a perennial/shrub farm). Quickly learned Mid-Central FL is one of the more difficult areas of the US. Too cold/dry for tropicals in the winter; too humid/wet by mid-summer for everything else. (There's a reason Disney regularly replants.)

It's a challenge if you're up to it. We live on total sand, so I got into container gardening (via advice from Davesgarden.com). Had our first tomatoes late March on our SW facing lanai. THIS year...we still had freezing temps at that time,

You haven't mentioned...are you retiring to FL or still in the workforce? I have advice on that, too.

Hey! A fellow Michigander! Where did you live up here? We're in Canton. I was born and raised in southwest Detroit. Dh was an east sider. We met at Wayne State University.

I have a huge perennial garden and one of the things I was most excited about was being able to grow lots of lovely tropical flowers. Your news is a downer but I appreciate your telling me.

We're retirees, although dh does some occasional consulting for engineering firms. I think when we make the move he will work on being a full time retiree.

Thanks for you help!

 

[Feralpeg]

We would love to have our own pool but we don't have a clue about maintenance. Does it require a lot of upkeep?

I guess I should have specified that I'm more interested in flower gardening. Just wondering if you can grow things year round or how many times you have to replant during the year.

Thanks for your comments!

I've lived in this area for six years. The first five years, I had flowers and had no problem with them year round. This past year, the cold killed them. I even covered them. It was just too cold for too long. Strange winter this past year.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

Thanks everyone for all of your great advice and suggestions! Sorry I didn't respond sooner - for some reason the boards wouldn't accept my password last week.

We're planning to spend the month of March in Clermont so we're currently looking at some vacation rentals. If you have any suggestions as to neighborhoods or rental properties we should look at I'd love to hear from you.

I also have a question about pools. Is there a lot of upkeep needed? Daily, weekly? Heated, unheated? Also I'm hearing a lot about salt water pools - can you change an existing pool where you use chlorine or whatever to a salt water pool? I've got a lot to learn about pools.

 

[perdidobay]

I don't live in Clermont but my daughter and son in law moved there last August and I have spent many weeks with them. They live in the Legends subdivision which is just north of Lake Louisa State Park. The mailing address is Clermont although they aren't near the city. They are in a great area for shopping, with Publix, Kohls, Walmart, BJ's, and so many other stores nearby.
it is really pretty there with the rolling hills and I love driving down 27 with all the orange groves lining the road. My daughter works at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford and doesn't find the commute too bad from where she lives.

I've had a swimming pool in our yard for 10 years, but if I lived in a community with a pool (esp as nice as the one in Legends), I wouldn't bother - it is alot of upkeep and add the cost of chemicals, if I had to pay association dues for a pool anyway, I'd just use that one and leave all the work to someone else.

http://www.legendsclermont.com/legendsclermont/page.html

 

[mom2of2]

most people I know have a pool service. They come once a week to vaccum, test and add chemicals. The service generally runs in the $40-$75 per month range. My last house had a pool and having the service was great! Our guy came early mornings and the pool was fine to swim in by mid morning

 

[Ricky's Girl]

I don't live in Clermont but my daughter and son in law moved there last August and I have spent many weeks with them. They live in the Legends subdivision which is just north of Lake Louisa State Park. The mailing address is Clermont although they aren't near the city. They are in a great area for shopping, with Publix, Kohls, Walmart, BJ's, and so many other stores nearby.
it is really pretty there with the rolling hills and I love driving down 27 with all the orange groves lining the road. My daughter works at the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford and doesn't find the commute too bad from where she lives.

I've had a swimming pool in our yard for 10 years, but if I lived in a community with a pool (esp as nice as the one in Legends), I wouldn't bother - it is alot of upkeep and add the cost of chemicals, if I had to pay association dues for a pool anyway, I'd just use that one and leave all the work to someone else.


http://www.legendsclermont.com/legendsclermont/page.html

Thanks for some great info and for the link to the legends site.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

most people I know have a pool service. They come once a week to vaccum, test and add chemicals. The service generally runs in the $40-$75 per month range. My last house had a pool and having the service was great! Our guy came early mornings and the pool was fine to swim in by mid morning

Thanks for putting a price tag on it - at least it gives me a ball park figure. I didn't have a clue.

 

[mickeysaver]

Count me among the group of folks looking at a move to Clermont in the next few months. Thanks for all of the input. We are looking at homes and hoping to find some wonderful place to call home. Good luck to everyone who is community and house hunting! I am right there with you.

 

[minnie56]

We have finally bought in Clermont! All things being equal..we should close in about 6 weeks....fingers crossed!!!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Bumping this thread as it has some great info! We are thinking of possible moving in the summer of 2012. Looking to be withn 45 minutes of WDW.
I hadn't thought about renting before buying but that does make a lot of sense. I;m wondering how difficult it would be with 3 kids in tow to house hunt. I'm thinking maybe we will shcedule 2 trips just form me and dh to scount out the area. Is it possible to rent month to month or do most places only rent yearly?

 

[okeydokey]

We are heading down next month to look at both Clermont and Davenport..we like Highlands Reserve there. Will be interesting to see your feeback

We have rented homes in Highlands Reserve and it is very nice with lots of shopping nearby. However, most of the homes seem to be used for vacation rentals so there are lots of folks coming and going, and not much of a neighborhood feel.