What is comparable to Celebration?

[HeatherPage]

Hi Lisa! I'm not the OP here but we are interested in possibly moving to your area maybe next year (Summer). Right now we live in NC just outside Raleigh - so basically we live in a town with a population of around 13,000+ (Clayton) right near another town of about 25,000 (Garner) and travel in to Raleigh for jobs, more shopping, etc. It has a nice smaller town feel to it but we are nearby shopping areas, restaurants, etc.

So anyway, that's what we were kind of looking for in your area. A place to live that wasn't in the metropolitan area of Orlando that kind of had a smaller town feel to it yet was close enough to WDW and all the other stuff there we love (but just don't want to live in the middle of). I've also read that the schools in Seminole County and particularly Winter Springs are very good and that it has a low crime rate which is very important to me with having a 6 year old.

Would you say Winter Springs might fit the bill we're probably looking for? I really want to move down there but I'm a little worried of getting down there and going into culture shock. I met someone down there on our last trip that said they moved to Castleberry from West Virginina and said it was a big adjustment. I think WV is a lot more rural than NC so maybe we wouldn't have the same problem that she did. I think as long as I didn't have to drive in Orlando or I-4 traffic every day, I'd be okay.

Thanks for any input you can give!

 

[mco-missy]

The schools in Winter Springs are good (with the exception of Winter Springs Elementary). The crime rate is low. It is about 40 minutes to Disney. I never really drive on I-4 - except to go to WDW!! Pretty much everything I need is about 10-20 minutes from my house (mall, grocery store, doctors, etc). I do drive on the toll roads (417 & 528) daily because I work at Orlando Int'l Airport. Where would you be working?
Winter Springs is a nice town but there are a lot of nice towns in this area. I would definately stick with Seminole County for the schools. Lake Mary is also a very nice area with good schools, so is Oviedo. Take a trip down and look around!

 

[HeatherPage]

Well, I'm a legal secretary by trade (though not working at the moment) so I guess pretty much anywhere law firms would be hiring I could go. Though I don't think I'd want the hassle of driving into Orlando every day though I'm sure it would pay alot more. My husband installs nurse call alarms for hospitals in our area now and I've already found two companies that deal with that (one is in Altamonte Springs) and the other in Orlando. So, basically if my husband got a job similar to what he's doing now, he'd probably be driving to hospitals all over the area. He's fine with driving in all kinds of traffic, grew up in Jacksonville, Fl where traffic maybe seem similar?

At any rate, we're going for a trip probably the beginning of this August and wanted to take a day driving around Seminole County and see what we may like.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[DisGal520]

SafetyMom and mco-missy - if you had a good experience with a realtor in your areas that you feel you could recommend, please go ahead and send me a PM. A name and website would help.

We will most likely want to rent in FL and give us time to find the right place to buy. Being within 45 min of Disney is our goal (and that of our niece and nephews who want to come visit).

thank you

DisGal

 

[luvdsny]

(and that of our niece and nephews who want to come visit).

LOL That's our situation too. All of a sudden we went from wanting a smaller home to needing a bigger home for all of the family who promise to visit!!

 

[MyGoofy26]

Wow, it's been pretty quiet on this thread! Hopefully some of you are still here to check this out. The new issue of Money magazine had some info that you all may find useful. Might be best to rent for awhile if you're considering moving anytime soon. Orlando is listed in their "Top 10 Biggest Losses Forecast"

Here's the info.

Median Home Price: $245,000
Median Mortgage Payment (% of income): 25
Change in Home Prices One Year: -13.1%
Change in Home Prices Five Years: 62.5%
Forecast Change to 2009: -21.0%

Bear Market Outlook
When Prices Peaked: Q2 '06
When They'll Bottom Out: Q3 '10
% Drop from Peak: -42.8%

Change in Foreclosure Rate (past year): 399%




So basically if you wait til late summer 2010, you can get a house for nearly half the price as your neighbors who bought mid 2006!

 

[luvdsny]

For those of us who want to move there, this is news that can only get better before it gets worse.

But for those who are there now...

It's a crazy market for sure!! My DH and I are still planning to come down in August to check out different areas and neighborhoods. However, we still plan to rent for a while to make sure we make a sound decision when we finally buy. It's too rocky right now to be able to clearly predict where it will finally shake out in a year or two.

Thanks for the info.

 

[MyGoofy26]

For those of us who want to move there, this is news that can only get better before it gets worse.

But for those who are there now...

It's a crazy market for sure!! My DH and I are still planning to come down in August to check out different areas and neighborhoods. However, we still plan to rent for a while to make sure we make a sound decision when we finally buy. It's too rocky right now to be able to clearly predict where it will finally shake out in a year or two.

Thanks for the info.

It feels a little strange watching the prices drop and getting excited about that house you're going to buy one day when the flip side is it took a family being devastated financially for it to be available at that bargain price.

But these numbers and timelines are definitely in my favor. I'm going to be going back to school soon for a quick program to start a new career. FL has a huge demand for that career (which will at least triple my income - and that's for my small area, a big market like Orlando could get me a lot more) and the housing prices are dropping? By the time I get my stuff in order to make a move, it falls right in line for that Q3 '10 estimate. Everything is falling into place for me.

 

[jezebella]

We used to live in Celebration and my husband's parents still have 2 houses there. We decided that living right next to 192 was a little too much. So, move to the other side of Disney! Independence is somewhat like Celebration in that it is a mix of townhomes, condos, and single family homes ranging from low 200's to 2.9 million. It's also very safe and is "technically" Windermere, but with a Winter Garden zip code. The schools are all A rated and you are never farther than 25 minutes from most anything in the Orlando area with easy access to the 429 and Turnpike.

Independence also has the same alley parking that Celebration has and most people park in front of their home. It is also 5 minutes from the Magic Kingdom "back entrance". You can see the fireworks every night! About 10 minutes down 535 is the new Fowler Grove shopping area which has high end retailers and restaurants. We hardly ever leave this side of town. Right now is a great time to buy from a builder as well. Over here we have Engle, Ryland, KB, and several other builders. If anyone needs information, just let me know--I work as a Title Agent and my husband is a realtor.

 

[englishteacha]

My DH's dream is to someday move to Florida and work with the computers that run "The World"...Walt Disney World, that is! He practically drools when the special is on TV that shows the computer room that runs the Haunted Mansion. Thanks for this thread, OPs! While it will be quite a long time until we move (when will they start paying teachers enough to afford a $200K home??), it's nice to dream!

 

[MyGoofy26]

My DH's dream is to someday move to Florida and work with the computers that run "The World"...Walt Disney World, that is! He practically drools when the special is on TV that shows the computer room that runs the Haunted Mansion. Thanks for this thread, OPs! While it will be quite a long time until we move (when will they start paying teachers enough to afford a $200K home??), it's nice to dream!

Well, if Money magazine is close, in 2 years that $200,000 home will only be about $115,000!

 

[luvdsny]

With all of the foreclosures and bottom low prices I'm fearful of investors scooping up a bunch of homes in what should be 'family oriented' neighborhoods. Does anyone else worry about this? I kind of want to see how this all shakes out, but I'm definitely eager to move asap. Of course, we still have to sell this house here before we can make any decisions and moves so I guess I have some time. LOL

 

[jezebella]

I wouldn't be too worried about investors scooping up all the properties. They were doing that during the boom and paying inflated prices. A lot of investors are getting burned big time right now. Plus, with the change in lending practices, it's much more difficult to get loans on investment homes. I'd say about 70% of what we are closing right now are FHA and VA loans. I don't think I've ever seen so many closings fall through because buyers couldn't get financing. So, unless they have cash, they're not buying up that much.