Moving Question

[MissLiz]

Hi there everyone!!!

I know there have been multitudes of "moving to Orlando" threads, but I still have questions.

My husband is looking into an opportunity of working in Leesburg, FL with one of the doctors he works with now. This move wouldn't be for another year, but we are trying to find enough information to make a "good" decision.

I've found info about houses in the Orlando area, but I already know that a house will not be in our budget just yet. We are in an apartment here in Atlanta and will be renting in Florida as well.

Does anyone know of any nice apartments in the Clermont or Winter Garden area? We want to be fairly close to Orlando, but not so close that my husband has to drive hours to get to work everyday. Also, we are looking at elementary schools since my daughter will be starting Kindergarten next fall. I know she is still fairly little, but I'm very, let's call it anxious, about schools since I want her to get a great education.

We have only been to WDW in this area, so we aren't too knowledgeable about the cities around there. If there would be a better place to find an apartment, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for any information!!! I figured I could count on my fellow DISers to help!!!!

 

[SillyMe]

You might want to check with a realtor down there. My sister just moved to Deltona and their realtor found them a beautiful house to rent with a 6 month lease.

 

[lesroi]

Hi MissLiz,

As a Realtor living and working in Clermont, I can tell you that you will LOVE it here! Clermont is different from the rest of Florida in that it actually has some hills, lol! It is very pretty and the people are so nice! It has a very small-town feel

The previous poster was right, there are many rental homes here if you want to go that route. You can find a very nice home for a very reasonable rental rate.

Good luck, moving long-distance can be stressful but also very exciting!

Tracy


Edited to add: Oh my gosh, just noticed your pics. Your daughter is a real cutie, and I LOVE Duran Duran!

 

[MissLiz]

Thanks so much for the info!!!

Tracy--we have been leaning toward Clermont because it doesn't seem as far away as Leesburg from the Orlando area. Thanks for the info and I pm'd you!

I'm very excited and looking into the prospects of work for me. Not to mention being so close to WDW!!! How can I pass that up?


Thanks for the compliments, too. And any fan of Duran Duran is a friend of mine!!!!!

 

[hmp2z]

Hi! Quick question: why do you want to be close to Orlando? Just wondering whether that was where you planned on working, because that could affect the response you get.

If you're looking at school districts, I would avoid Osceola & Orange counties at all costs. I'm a teacher, and, though schools are rated "A" here, that doesn't mean a thing. When we first moved here, I had been hired by Osceola County to teach in one of their "A" rated schools. Only 54% of the kids were passing their FCATs. Not sure about much, but I do know that 54% does not deserve a grade of A. The school was dangerous & totally unacceptable, so I left after only a few weeks there.

Lake County schools appear to be decent, by Florida standards. Which means that yes, classes will be crowded, so no, your child won't get the personal attention she deserves. It stinks, but that's how it is here. Just don't be too hard on the teacher; it's really, really tough to communicate closely with the parents of ALL those kids - I have over 120 students (middle school).

The counties aren't building new schools quickly enough to keep class sizes manageable. They do pump a good amount of money into the fine arts programs in Lake County, which is more than can be said of Osceola or Orange, and the schools I've looked at in Lake County appear to be safe, which is also good. But if you're coming from a place with a strong school record, prepare to be disappointed in the public schools here.

I taught in a great district in NC, and we had 93% of our kids reading on grade level & passing their state tests. Average class sizes ranged from 12-18 kids, as opposed to 27 kids here. They will tell you the average is 22, but that is not the per-classroom average. Rather, it's the average ratio of total kids in the school to total teachers. The special ed classes have smaller sizes, which means that the regular ed classes will be much larger, in order to hit that 22 average.

As far as apartments, there is a pretty nice complex in Clermont off of John's Lake Road (by the Super Wal-Mart, so in Lost Lake Elementary district). That school has gotten A's for the past few years, but, again, take the Florida A ratings with a healthy dose of salt. The name of this complex is Sundance Apartment Homes.

If you're looking to rent a house, the Howey in the Hills area is just gorgeous, and is to the north of Clermont. Mount Dora is great, and it has a LOT of charm. The downtown area is beautiful. It's not too far away from Orlando, either; you can get on 429 and head South. I just did this yesterday, and it was about a 45 minute drive from Mt Dora to the 192 exit in Kissimmee (I was headed to Celebration).

Lake County has several nice parks. The chain of lakes is gorgeous, and it's fun to go for a ride on the lakes. The farther north in Lake County you get, the nicer it is, because it's away from the touristy junk. Right now, we're renting in Kissimmee, while our house is being built. We thought it would be fun to be within a 10-15 minute of Disney, and in some ways it is, but the novelty wears off REALLY quickly when you have to deal with terrible drivers who are lost and so are driving slowly or else will suddenly cut across 2 lanes, cutting you off, because they just realized the Sizzler was on the left side of the road, not the right. It's also exhausting to be around all neon, all the time, so we're definitely looking forward to our move out to normalcy!

Let me know if you have any questions in particular. We live out here, and I'm a teacher, so I can look into things a bit more closely if you need help. Just PM me & I'll send you my e-mail address.

Cheers!
Heather W