Friendly Communities Near WDW for Relocation

Flayre

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Hi all! Sorry if there has been a thread on this recently, but couldn't find one and I know some communities do change over time. So the SO and I have been discussing this loosely since our last trip down in January that at some point, it is going to be cheaper to just move closer to the parks instead of taking two long trips each year. I've tried to do some research on areas that are "family" friendly, but as soon as I think I found one there are comments about how unwelcoming it is.

I would assume in this day and age that having tolerant neighbors shouldn't be an issue, but I did live in Oklahoma for 15 years and had to deal with that foolishness there at times. So I'm reaching out here for input on what is a good area to look. To give some more details on what we are looking for is a fairly quiet-ish suburban community, with decent cost of living, and home prices not insanely high (thinking $140-170k give or take). Property taxes are an issue where we are in Ohio, but so far from what I've seen on Zillow things are more manageable down there.

I've found a few houses that were pretty nice around Kissimmee, but haven't found a clear answer on just how far leaning on the conservative side it goes.

Any help and input would be welcome! TIA. :)
 
We live in Winter Garden and have lots of gay friends (we aren't gay ourselves but are allies) in the general area. None have ever mentioned an issue about conservative/intolerant neighbors. You'll find the area around Disney to be pretty accepting overall.

A few comments about Kissimmee and other neighborhoods where you see home prices in the range you quoted. You'll likely find that a home in that range is located in the short-term vacation rental market sections of town. As a result you may find you have new neighbors every week. You may also find a home that really needs work - especially if you look at foreclosures/bank-owned homes. Be sure to do your homework and spend some time just driving around on your next trip to WDW.

Traffic is also something to consider. We try to avoid anything that involves 192 because of all the tourist oriented businesses which brings a lot of traffic and traffic lights. Also, if you must take I-4 to get places that's another negative. However, Kissimmee is very close to a really good hospital, Celebration Hospital, and associated medical services.
 
Thanks for the details, sorry it took so long to respond. Yeah the goal is to not get something that is foreclosed or bank owned - too many potential pitfalls and headaches. We aren't in a major rush either, so that just means browsing Zillow every few days to see a diamond in the rough pops up. Are there specific areas of Kissimee and others that are more prone to be the vacation home sections? I've been trying to research everything from crime reports, property taxes, and voting records to the location of the nearest Costco. LOL

I've seen a lot of options pop up down around Davenport and Haines City, but I've also heard Polk County tends to move into the more "traditional South" that I got away from when we left Oklahoma. Not saying the people from there were bad people, just some people were more aggressive in displaying and professing their beliefs. We also thought that may going closer to Tampa could be an option, but I'm kinda wanting the ability to get off work and just go to Epcot for dinner and ride Test Track a few times to blow off steam. :)

Price wise I'm definitely feeling the low end of our range isn't going to happen, and we are willing to go up to $200k. I just can't see spend that and getting a project home that's going to require another $50-100k to get it fixed up. Appreciate the feedback thus far!
 
Are there specific areas of Kissimee and others that are more prone to be the vacation home sections?
There are. Unfortunately I don't know just were they are. When we were looking for homes our Realtor knew the areas and would let us know if a house we were interested in was in one.
 


We just moved back after 16 years in DC and Boston. We are currently in Windermere and LOVE IT. People have been super welcoming and friendly. There is a lot being built up here now too. We are near a new Publix and it's like a gay club in there sometimes (tons of couples, etc) so we feel safe. We will be buying soon but houses in Windermere are pretty expensive. We are even looking at Townhouses.

We also spend some time in Winter Garden and love that area. We are looking at houses in Windermere, Winter Garden and perhaps Ocoee. We looked at Davenport because houses are more affordable but now I'm hearing good stuff. Seems a lot of the neighborhoods are mostly vacation rentals. So if you buy you could be next door to a rental which means you'd have different people coming and going all the time and we don't want that.

When we last lived here we lived in Hunters Creek and Celebration which were both great areas. Not sure how Hunters Creek is now but houses are affordable there. Celebration is super pricey, in fact we can't afford anything there now except maybe a one bedroom condo.

Kissimmee can be very touristy because of all the tourism traps there so I might avoid that if you could.

Dr. Phillips is another nice area and more affordable. Let me know if you have any questions about moving etc as we just went through the whole process. We have been down here one month now and couldn't be happier.
 
We are currently in Windermere and LOVE IT. People have been super welcoming and friendly. There is a lot being built up here now too. We are near a new Publix
Sounds like you may be near us if you're talking about the Publix on New Independence Parkway near 429. Welcome to the neighborhood!
 
Sounds like you may be near us if you're talking about the Publix on New Independence Parkway near 429. Welcome to the neighborhood!

I think so? Haha..still learning our way around. I'm talking about the one in the Lakeside Village Plaza with French Cafe etc.

Thank you!
 


I'm talking about the one in the Lakeside Village Plaza with French Cafe etc.
Ahh, then you're on the other end of Reams Rd from us. We're in Summerlake, but we are down that way frequently for hair, nails, massage & facials. OH, and to eat at the Big Easy!
 
So revisiting this as we think we are finally going to pull the trigger. Any thoughts on the Windsor Hills, Indian Ridge areas west of Celebration? Definitely appears to be several vacation rentals there, but overall doesn't look bad from what I can tell on Google maps. Found a nice house, fully furnished (aka rental house) that would make the move super efficient.
 
We just moved back after 16 years in DC and Boston. We are currently in Windermere and LOVE IT. People have been super welcoming and friendly. There is a lot being built up here now too. We are near a new Publix and it's like a gay club in there sometimes (tons of couples, etc) so we feel safe. We will be buying soon but houses in Windermere are pretty expensive. We are even looking at Townhouses.

We also spend some time in Winter Garden and love that area. We are looking at houses in Windermere, Winter Garden and perhaps Ocoee. We looked at Davenport because houses are more affordable but now I'm hearing good stuff. Seems a lot of the neighborhoods are mostly vacation rentals. So if you buy you could be next door to a rental which means you'd have different people coming and going all the time and we don't want that.

When we last lived here we lived in Hunters Creek and Celebration which were both great areas. Not sure how Hunters Creek is now but houses are affordable there. Celebration is super pricey, in fact we can't afford anything there now except maybe a one bedroom condo.

Kissimmee can be very touristy because of all the tourism traps there so I might avoid that if you could.

Dr. Phillips is another nice area and more affordable. Let me know if you have any questions about moving etc as we just went through the whole process. We have been down here one month now and couldn't be happier.

I have been looking at properties to buy in Windermere and Winter Garden for the past two years. I would love to pick your brain if you have time.
 
Maybe something else to throw out here, anyone know of any good resources to find a real estate agent to work with that is community friendly? I don't want to outright ask for names in case it would violate board rules.
 

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