Hi again Grammy,
If you are in the Disney area this winter PM me and I will be happy to get you the code for Sunset Lakes.
As you have figured out, 3-4 bedroom homes look a lot alike in Florida, and the weather is pretty much the same 10 miles north and south of Disney, so the real question in the price range of $125K to 200K is the community, it's stability, safety, fees, number of rentals vs. owner occupied homes.
This just takes old fashion research, common sense, and gut instincts.
As you know, Florida has huge number of foreclosures and no community is immune from distressed properties.
Clermont is one of our favorite cities. Much more of a community than Kissimmee or Davenport. You are correct, addresses for Clermont start just north of
WalMart but the actual city is about 10 miles north of WalMart.
I am not familiar with any of the communities north of WalMart other than to know they are mostly rental communities until you get up by King's Ridge. and Legends Golf communites. One of the rules of thumb is to look for screened pools in the back. If many of the homes have no pool these are most likely non rentals. North of WalMart you will see several communites with only few pools out back and they are probably not rental communities.
Homes without pools sell very low, and if you do not rent it out, a pool can be a pain in the butt unless you can afford to have a professional care it at about $25/week.
South of Disney also had multiple communities with lots of weekly rentals that pretty much ends at Southern Dunes in Haines City. There are some very low home prices in Haines City of you use Realtor.com and search homes from 80K to $150K. These look to be developements that did not get off the ground and were not designed as rentals. Most have no pools but are almost new.
We did stay our first winter in Hampton Lakes in a very nice home along Hwy 27. Our big concern here was dodging 70mph cars and trucks trying to get on and off Hwy 27. Lots of stoplights since then but still a little like entering the Indy 500 from a dead stop.
Again, do your research. Look at all the costs involved, HOA fees, who does the lawn and community care and who pays for it. IMHO, the farther from Disney, the better the deal, thought deals are everywhere compared to 4 years ago.
I agree, we owned a 7 bedroom in EIsland that we sold 4 years ago, and that community seems to be mostly doing OK. It is so beautiful and so close to Disney that it is hard to image it could fail, but the HOA fees were really high when we owned and I am sure they are higher now.
I am sure it will still produce good rentals for those who work their tails off marketing or cut rates to the minimum, but really nice homes could end up sitting next to foreclosures and the weekly renter will be clueless about the condition of community if the home is nice and clean.
Good Luck and do not be afraid to ask more questions. I am by no means an expert but have watched the area with great interest, especially since we sold and felt we got out at the right tim with a home that large.
All the best...Ted
