Opinion on homes in Horizon West near WDW

[Liquidice]

Couldn't find the right forum to put this in so I figured off topic made the most sense.

I've been casually browsing and looking at areas near WDW to buy a vacation home. I know mortgage rates are awful right now, but I have started to notice home prices have been going down a bit.

I've primarily been looking in the Winter Garden (Horizon West) area. I'm not interested in using the home as an AirBNB or anything - just want to be able to use it for myself and perhaps have friends and family stay there if they want.

We casually looked at an open house last weekend near Flamingo Crossing, off of Avalon Road, there are a lot of recently built homes around there - curious if anyone has any opinions about that area? It is very close to WDW, but the area seems a little underdeveloped - but changing quickly. I noticed that Avalon Rd in that area is scheduled to be expanded to a 4-lane divided highway in the next 3 years but wasn't sure how that would effect homes in that area - I assume it would be a good thing.

Curious to get other's opinions of the area if you live in Orlando. Thanks!

 

[MICKIMINI]

We have been looking for a few years, but for more of a permanent move. Stone Creek in Ocala is gorgeous (55+) and prices are finally going down as you mentioned. A villa for sale at SC is 329K (they were 400K plus this summer) and sold in 2021 for 218K. We will be in the area in 10 days and have two appointments for new builds. The plan is to sell our house and pay cash for a new build. Prices IMO could go back to 2019 prices in the next year or two.

I think we checked out that Avalon Road area with a drive by after we met a couple at BLT who are building there (55+). We didn't care for the area compared to SC. Celebration houses are still high but coming down. Condos are finally dropped under 300K.

Good luck shopping!

 

[fla4fun]

I still have a problem calling the Flamingo Crossing area Winter Garden. To me, Winter Garden is still up along Hwy 50.

The whole area along the 429 is set to be heavily developed as an area called Horizon West. All those lovely, empty rolling hills will have houses and businesses. Keep that in mind if you are looking at that area because of the lack of development. It is not going to stay that way. We are farther west, and I hope the heavy development stops before it gets here, or waits until after I have passed away to arrive. We moved here thirty years ago because we did not want development like that around us, and at this point, have no intention to move again.

If you like the idea of getting in on the ground floor of a developing area, it’s convenient to Disney, and can be a moderate commute to most areas in Orlando now that they are close to finishing the beltway.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Coming from rural NH we like Ocala because it is not as overbuilt. The Villages is creeping toward Orlando, but we do have an appointment there to see what the new southern development will look like. We plan to keep our DVC and WBC and will stay more frequently for 5 nights rather than two 2-3 week trips a year.

200-300K to 400-450K was a shocker rise in 2 years and much of that blamed on lumber prices. Starter new builds are in the mid 200K's but once you add a few upgrades you are up to 300K and the houses are small at 1000 sf. We'll be back in May and then October, so we'll see what prices look like then.

 

[Liquidice]

I still have a problem calling the Flamingo Crossing area Winter Garden. To me, Winter Garden is still up along Hwy 50.

The whole area along the 429 is set to be heavily developed as an area called Horizon West. All those lovely, empty rolling hills will have houses and businesses. Keep that in mind if you are looking at that area because of the lack of development. It is not going to stay that way. We are farther west, and I hope the heavy development stops before it gets here, or waits until after I have passed away to arrive. We moved here thirty years ago because we did not want development like that around us, and at this point, have no intention to move again.

If you like the idea of getting in on the ground floor of a developing area, it’s convenient to Disney, and can be a moderate commute to most areas in Orlando now that they are close to finishing the beltway.

Yeah I was mostly going by the mailing address which says Winter Garden, but you're right Horizon West is probably a better way to describe the area (I updated my post).

I don't mind them developing the area - since it will be a vacation home and not a permanent home for us (at least right now) - it would be convenient to eventually have more shopping, food etc in the area. I know one thing a neighbor told us was that there was no gas station close to the area, closest was to go back to the Epcot resort area

Thanks!

 

[MillauFr]

Looks like a nice area. Our last visit we stayed at Flamingo Crossing area and it was convenient. I like they are building the neighborhood with sidewalks to encourage more walking. Just wish they had bicycle paths and stores that you could walk/bike to without driving in a car.

 

[fla4fun]

Yeah I was mostly going by the mailing address which says Winter Garden, but you're right Horizon West is probably a better way to describe the area (I updated my post).

I don't mind them developing the area - since it will be a vacation home and not a permanent home for us (at least right now) - it would be convenient to eventually have more shopping, food etc in the area. I know one thing a neighbor told us was that there was no gas station close to the area, closest was to go back to the Epcot resort area

Thanks!

That’s odd about the gasoline. There is a Wawa and a Racetrack on 192 where Avalon intersects, and I wouldn’t consider that the Epcot Resorts area. However, there isn’t anything on Avalon again going north until Hwy 50. I expect that to be changing soon. I believe there is a gas station adjacent to the Walmart on Independence Parkway, just past the 429 interchange, which wouldn’t be a big detour off of Avalon, and as other grocery store centers go in, I am sure the gas stations will follow.

 

[Liquidice]

That’s odd about the gasoline. There is a Wawa and a Racetrack on 192 where Avalon intersects, and I wouldn’t consider that the Epcot Resorts area. However, there isn’t anything on Avalon again going north until Hwy 50. I expect that to be changing soon. I believe there is a gas station adjacent to the Walmart on Independence Parkway, just past the 429 interchange, which wouldn’t be a big detour off of Avalon, and as other grocery store centers go in, I am sure the gas stations will follow.

Actually I assumed Google Maps gave me the closest one as the first "hit" when searching near the address for gas stations, the first hit is the Speedway in the Epcot Resorts area. I figured this sort of made sense since Flamingo Crossing didn't have a gas station and the neighbor mentioned the lack of a close gas station as being one thing they didn't like about the neighborhood.

I looked more carefully, and you're right the closest actually appears to be the RaceTrac down on 192 which is 3.8 miles away - so not too bad.

 

[GAN]

Couldn't find the right forum to put this in so I figured off topic made the most sense.

I've been casually browsing and looking at areas near WDW to buy a vacation home. I know mortgage rates are awful right now, but I have started to noticed home prices have been going down a bit.

I've primarily been looking in the Winter Garden (Horizon West) area. I'm not interested in using the home as an AirBNB or anything - just want to be able to use it for myself and perhaps have friends and family stay there if they want.

We casually looked at an open house last weekend near Flamingo Crossing, off of Avalon Road, there are a lot of recently built homes around there - curious if anyone has any opinions about that area? It is very close to WDW, but the area seems a little underdeveloped - but changing quickly. I noticed that Avalon Rd in that area is scheduled to be expanded to a 4-lane divided highway in the next 3 years but wasn't sure how that would effect homes in that area - I assume it would be a good thing.

Curious to get other's opinions of the area if you live in Orlando. Thanks!

I lived in the Orlando years ago so I’m not the person regarding Horizon West, but I’ve heard good things about that area in general. While no one knows for sure but the chatter is that rates will drop to 4.5/5 in the first quarter of ’23. So like you said, properties are definitely trending toward the buyers favor with inventory going up. If it were me, and I’m looking myself but not necessarily Orlando, I would try to time the market with the lower rates while buyers still have the leverage. Personally, I think a major softening is coming… you’ve got stocks like Amazon, Google in a bad place so others are sure to follow.

 

[MillauFr]

That’s odd about the gasoline. There is a Wawa and a Racetrack on 192 where Avalon intersects, and I wouldn’t consider that the Epcot Resorts area. However, there isn’t anything on Avalon again going north until Hwy 50. I expect that to be changing soon. I believe there is a gas station adjacent to the Walmart on Independence Parkway, just past the 429 interchange, which wouldn’t be a big detour off of Avalon, and as other grocery store centers go in, I am sure the gas stations will follow.

I wouldn't worry about the gas station. Sure in the short term that is going to be a problem but going forward people will be moving towards EVs.

 

[MillauFr]

Personally, I think a major softening is coming… you’ve got stocks like Amazon, Google in a bad place so others are sure to follow.

Having Google and Amazon decline is going to impact the housing market in San Francisco and Seattle. Orlando? Not so much.

 

[GAN]

Having Google and Amazon decline is going to impact the housing market in San Francisco and Seattle. Orlando? Not so much.

I’m saying it’s a signal of things to come… and none likely good. Including all housing markets

 

[MillauFr]

I’m saying it’s a signal of things to come… and none likely good. Including all housing markets

In Seattle having a massive collapse in demand for housing would be considered a huge positive by most residents. At my employer we have hired several high level managers from Los Angeles making close to $200k per year and none of them could afford to buy single family houses in the city. They all ended up in condos because they didn't want to commute from the suburbs where the houses are far cheaper.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I’m in Horizon West and there’s a lot of stuff just opening and more on the way. Should be getting a Chick-fil-a and a Taco Bell at Hamlin (429 and New Independence) plus maybe a Sam’s Club down the way. And the counties are going to be improving access east-west between 27 and Avalon in the next few years (connecting Western Way and Sawgrass and improving Schoenfield) so that will make it easier to go out to Clermont.