Relocating to WDW?

[Pig Pen]

See my countdown!!!!!

DH can take early retirement on Dec 1, 2010. We are planning to move down then. I am MUCH younger than DH so I will continue to work...we both will actually...and we hope to work at WDW. We want to work at a resort rather than a park.

We are DVC members, but own at Vero, so we can escape to the beach whenever we expierience WDW overload!

We hope that between our miniscule WDW salaries, DH's early retirement check, my mutual funds, eventually social security (if it's still around), and our profit from selling our house, we wil have enough to tie us over!

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

My husband and I moved to Tampa from NC 5 years ago, mostly so we could go to Disney more often! Tampa had a better job market than Orlando and we liked the fact that we would still be far enough away from WDW to spend the night in the hotels! Before we moved we were spending all of our vacation time and money to go to WDW, so moving has saved us money and now we can go other places on vacation (like DisneyLand!) I love living in Florida, and will never move again!

 

[james15]

Are plan is to do 6 months in fla and 6 months in mo.Has much has i like orlando where looking at the fla keys has first choice.Are hold up is kids in school towning several business's here in mo my 6 months will be just for pleasure lol.

 

[MainStreetFan]

Last year I went to the parks 86 times. The magic still hasn't worn off for me. There is still plenty that I haven't done.

I bought a house at a very good time. Right before the big boom so my house is worth a lot more than when I bought it 2 years ago. For once I bought something at the right time. I don't think I could afford this house now.

I know you go often and wondered how much you beat me by. I made it 64 times last year and will probably beat that this year. I think I will ask my roommates for a rebate since I spent 2 months in the MK not in Daytona

 

[nhpooh]

OK, already have the house, now need a job.

In June DD graduates from HS, there will be nothing holding me back (except the job )

I just love it in FL and can't wait to get out of New England.

I know what the costs are and believe me, It's still less than MA. I'm halfway between Orlando and Daytona, housing is going up, but still affordable. My 2/1 just appraised for 135K. I bought it Sept 04 for 74K. I figure, sell it and the house up north and I should be able to get a nice 3/2 with a pool and lanai in the Volusia area for under 300K. This still leaves me near Orlando and within easy driving distance to the parks!

Actively searching Monster and CareerBuilder, Anybody need an IT pro who does a little of everything? Please!!!

I am right behind you, we are thinking of buying something small now just to get a foot in the door. Then will be moving in 2007.

You are right, the friends that bought in Deltona in July of 04. There house is now appraised at $250, and they bought it for $155. Houses in your area are still price wise not to bad. As you said it's better than up here. The house across the street from me just sold for $299,000. It's a small cape, mine is bigger and we are hoping it would go for the low $300's. What I could buy down there for that 3/2 with a nice pool and big lanai

We will be going down in about two weeks. This time to the Tampa area, to see the friends that moved to North Port. Houses over there are more, the same house in the Deltona area goes for about $250,. In North Port it would be $290 or so.

 

[orljustin]

Housing prices have exploded in the last two years, which is unfortunate. For information you can check the property appraiser's site, which is www.ocpafl.org . The house I was going to purchase, with a pool, for $320,000 is now $450 and up. Which is ridiculous, because there is still a ton of land around there.

 

[heaven2dc]

After 2 trips in 3 months to wdw from SE PA area, we, as a family, have been talking about relocating ourselves to have better weather, better cash flow (no state taxes and the property taxes are lower than here...you don't even want to know what we pay), closer to beaches and of course, Disney! My husband's job is portable...as long as he is close to an airport, we are good to go. The thought, though, of selling this house and moving everything 1000 miles on our own seems a bit daunting. The kids are little so adjustment wouldn't be too bad. I would love to live at the beach up here, but it is soooo expensive to even look at a decent place, plus, I would rather be able to go to the beach all year, or most of the year, than only 3 or 4 months. I'm glad to see that we aren't the only crazed ones out here on the boards.

If anyone has advice on moving yourself that far, please let me know!

We took the plunge in 1994 to move from Oregon to Florida and sold everything we owned, packed our van w/5 kids and headed to Orlando. We weren't totally sure at that point if we wanted to move there but definitely wanted to see WDW for our first time. If we didn't like it, we were going to head up north to where my husb family lived (sadly tho my hubby died of a heart attack in the hotel before we even looked at houses or went to Disney). I would have stayed there with my kids (we had no family there but loved the area, esp St. Cloud) but decided to move up north. I really wish now we had stayed there; mostly since I really didn't know any of his family anyway but we just never can seem to make as many trips back as we'd like (we went back once in 1997). We loved the area, loved the excitement of the move there (got to see the Grand Canyon ) and am looking to one day move back at least within an hour of Disney.

I tend to agree with other posters on here to move at least an hour away as it would seem to add to the excitement. Good luck to you if you decide to take the plunge!!

 

[missouridisneyfans]

My husband and I moved to Tampa from NC 5 years ago, mostly so we could go to Disney more often! Tampa had a better job market than Orlando and we liked the fact that we would still be far enough away from WDW to spend the night in the hotels! Before we moved we were spending all of our vacation time and money to go to WDW, so moving has saved us money and now we can go other places on vacation (like DisneyLand!) I love living in Florida, and will never move again!

Hi - my husband is really serious about accepting a position in St. Petersburg. I have been trying to get information about housing in the surrounding areas, but have never been there before. Can you recommend areas that a middle class income could live in. It is just my husband and I and we would like to purchase a home or a condo. I am just about to freak out about changing my live after 20 years in the same area. Although, I will admit, we have always hated the cold weather and wanted to live in Florida. Would living in Tampa be feasible with a commute to St. Petersburg? Any assistance you or any one else could give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GrumpyC.Hook]

My mom and I are moving down in September to the Orlando area and we can't wait. We already know that we will limit our time at the parks to keep it special but it will be nice to maybe go once or twice a month to have dinner.

Vacations to us will be to like DL or DLC or the DCL.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

Hi - my husband is really serious about accepting a position in St. Petersburg. I have been trying to get information about housing in the surrounding areas, but have never been there before. Can you recommend areas that a middle class income could live in. It is just my husband and I and we would like to purchase a home or a condo. I am just about to freak out about changing my live after 20 years in the same area. Although, I will admit, we have always hated the cold weather and wanted to live in Florida. Would living in Tampa be feasible with a commute to St. Petersburg? Any assistance you or any one else could give would be greatly appreciated.

most people I know who work in Pinellas county(St. Pete/Clearwater) live there as well. if you look a map you'll see why. it's almost an island connected to the Tampa area by a causeway and 3 long bridges over the Bay and the Gulf. the problem with a commute is if something happens on one of those bridges, it shuts everything down. last year there was a suicide jumper on the Sunshine Skyway and the bridge was shut down for hours with thousands of people stranded hundreds of feet up in their cars. that's a worse case scenario. but that whole area is very nice. you're close to an array of beaches. we live in an eastern 'burb of Tampa, so we don't go over there much. everytime we do, the condo building craze is still in effect. remember, the closer to the water, the more expensive as a general rule.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

We already know that we will limit our time at the parks to keep it special but it will be nice to maybe go once or twice a month to have dinner.

Vacations to us will be to like DL or DLC or the DCL.

that's one of the coolest things. we can drive over and have dinner at 'Ohana for no particular reason.

 

[palmtreegirl]

Last year I went to the parks 86 times. The magic still hasn't worn off for me. There is still plenty that I haven't done.

We go all the time too and the magic is still there and in fact it's better then ever. When I still lived in NJ/PA I use to tell myself if I moved down here it wouldn't be as special (just to make myself feel better) boy was I wrong.

 

[doombuggy]

mom2of2: Thank you for your post. I felt like the big ol' wet blanket. But what you said was right on!

I looked at buying a home in Deltona, but the area is very low lying - sinkhole city. I looked at a lot in Debary (which is basically on the other side of I-4 from Deltona) that Renar was going to sell me (at $33k I think) last spring, and build my choice of their houses that I could afford (about $113k & up), but it would take a year to build (and they do not have any floor plans that have a roman tub). When I looked at the prop. taxes for that county, my heart sank. It would have cost me at least $2200 in taxes. Then there was the commute. The moral of this story is if you are looking at a county other than Orange, check out their prop. appraiser site to check out the millage rates. Someone posted a link to the OCPA site. The address is the same for each county, so if you are looking at Volusia, type VC...

Sure there are plenty of good neighborhoods: Dr. Phillips, Windermere, Celebration, Clermont, Winter Springs, Lake Mary, Waterford Lakes..Then there is those communities like Baldwin Park, Avalon Park, etc. The townhomes start at around $250k (at least). Other new home builders around here are Lenar, KB Homes, Ryland. IF you can find some land on your own, there are plenty of builders around here to chose from to build your home. Good luck finding a lot that is reasonable fo you to have that lani & pool! Don't forget the septic if you are not on city water. Any the insurance...gotta have that hurrican insurance with the 2% deductable. Some insurance companies are dropping FL after last year (then some left after 2004 also).

 

[PatriciaH]

Love, love, love being 5 minutes from the parks. It has not ruined the magic for us and we even work for Disney We are going to Narcoossee's for dinner on Sunday to celebrate Valentines Day. Went over to AK last Sunday just to ride Expedition Everest. You can not beat the weather either. The only bad thing here is the job market. Lots of low paying jobs even for professional positions. They want to pay $8/hr here for the type of experience you would be making $20/hr at in NY or MA. Professional IT positions, Marketing, Advertising, etc.! The type of jobs you would make $50,000+ a year at in MA you will make $20,000 here. At one time the cost of living justified this. Now, because everything is just as or more expensive here (housing, food, gas, insurance, clothing, electric) lots of folks are struggling. I am so glad we got our condo last May for $148,000 now the same one with no garage is $289,000!

 

[mom2of2]

I hated to be the wet blanket too. I do love it here, and of course going to the parks whenever is great. We go to Kona for breakfast or hop over and play some mini golf or go to the movies in DTD. I even use WDW as a short cut if traffic is bad on 192 or I4.
But and there is always a but right? It's not all pixie dust and honey hugs around here. Mega $$$$ and everything is geared toward the tourist trade so the prices are higher in some Publix's then in another one 1/4 mile down the road.
Osceola county allows short term rentals whereas Orange does not. That is huge if you are going to buy something. I think we can all agree that it's nice to know that the same people who lived next door to you last week will still be there the next and the next etc. In this day and age knowing your neighborhood and who belongs there and who doesn't is imperative. Again, this is something that I never even thought about prior to moving here.
I don't want to discourage anyone from moving here....obviously you are going to make your own decisions regarding your family. I just want people to be informed.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

every location in the U.S. has it's good and it's bad points. it took us 2 years of contemplating and research before we made the jump. we left all of our families behind. don't do it just because you want to live close to WDW.

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

Hi - my husband is really serious about accepting a position in St. Petersburg. I have been trying to get information about housing in the surrounding areas, but have never been there before. Can you recommend areas that a middle class income could live in. It is just my husband and I and we would like to purchase a home or a condo. I am just about to freak out about changing my live after 20 years in the same area. Although, I will admit, we have always hated the cold weather and wanted to live in Florida. Would living in Tampa be feasible with a commute to St. Petersburg? Any assistance you or any one else could give would be greatly appreciated.

Hey there! I lived in St. Pete and worked in north Tampa for about 6 months. Traffic here can be heavy, but I used to live in Raleigh and commute to Durham, which was about the same. A lot of people live in St. Pete and work in Tampa or vice versa. I would say it's about a 45 minute commute. Housing prices are crazy here, but there are a lot of nice neighborhoods in St. Pete (I liked living there more than I like north Tampa, but it's cheaper up here!) Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Countryside are a little more suburban. We used to live near Madiera Beach which I would highly recommend. Good luck!

 

[nhpooh]

every location in the U.S. has it's good and it's bad points. it took us 2 years of contemplating and research before we made the jump. we left all of our families behind. don't do it just because you want to live close to WDW.

I for one would be moving because I can't stand the winters up here. Would must likely move about an hour away from WDW. That would all depend on DH's job where we locate.

And as for the tax thing, we pay almost $5,000 on our house now. It would be nice to cut that in half.

 

[Sylvester McBean]

we save well over $3,000 a year in state income taxes living here. property taxes are lower, but insurance is rising. but if we break even, it's still better than Illinois.

 

[elf]

I'm going next Tuesday to look at properties in East Orlando. Florida is always somewhere I wanted to live. Our biggest problem is kids 5 & 7, I feel bad moving them from our families. Dh and I have big families that we are close too.
I chose Orlando for a few reasons.

I figured friends and family will come visit happily. DH was talking about NC because of cheaper housing but I don't see as many visitors coming there.
We found a good school for DD and dyslexia in Cocoa, it's a charter school and free.(sounds good on phone she's accepted and I"m visiting next week).
It's expensive in Orlando but even more where I am now. My taxes are $10,000, my flood insurance is $2000. My dd's dyslexia tutor is $600 a months. AND I always hated to winters here. Born and raised here and even as a kid I never liked snow and winter. Of course my two dd's love it.
Well, I can't wait to go next week and get a feel for the other side of Orlando.
We always talked about going somewhere else for vacation, but always wound up at WDW. If we move there now we can vacation in other places.
We promised to put together a $2000 visiting Long Island fund. We have plenty of places to stay. I figured our parents could visit us in the winter and We'll stay with each of them for a few weeks in the summer and try to come back for some holidays each year.