Where to live in MCO?

[ATA73Pilot]

House price range - $250 - $300
Good Schools
Suburban Area
Away from the tourists.
Easy acess to MCO.

Any ideas of good areas?

Thanks....

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Go north, along the greenway.

Winter Springs has the Tuskawilla area, best schools in town, in Seminole county.

Winter Park, closer to the north end of downtown, but Orange county schools.

Stay away from close in west side of town (Pine hills = crime hills).

Stay away from SW tourist district.

Lived in Winter Springs 5 years and enjoyed it. 45 minutes and $1.25 to MCO on the greenway expressway with few traffic headaches. Stay off of I4 unless you like to taxi into work at 10mph.

Enjoy the mouse house...

Just noticed your D8 & SD3 types. You ex Air Willie?

 

[Skimatic]

Been here over 6 years now.

Best bet is north of town in Seminole County, this includes Winter Springs, Oviedo, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Sanford. From these areas you can take the "Greenway" SR417 (toll) which is the fastest way to MCO.

Stay away from west of town or the south/southwest. There are in Orange County with higher taxes, tourists, crime, etc.

Nice areas going near the airport off Lee Vista Drive which is about 3 miles from airport. Also due east of the airport (Lake Nona). All in Orange county.

Altamonte Springs (Seminole county) very busy with retail, restaurants, and I-4. I-4 is always jammed in the AM and late PM. Traffic slows to a crawl.

Deltona is in Volusia county about 45 minute drive north of Orlando, just north of Sanford. Greenway gets you almost there.

Seminole County schools usually get better marks than Orange County.

If buying a used house, get a termite inspection, check the roof and inside
walls for water, never get a basement, check your elevation plot.

In Seminole county 300K gets you a decent house, 350K a good one, really nice for 400K. House prices have appreciated a lot in the last 2-3 years. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper has a sunday section whcih is full of housing. Some areas have a waiting list for construction.

Winter Park in Orange county is the "culture" center with its snobs, retail, wine shops, and high home prices.

Stay away from the south side of MCO, this is mouse land with tourists but there are lots of residental stuff. Again 417 gets you to the airport in good time. Eventually 417 "Greenway" will completely encircle Orlando and avoid the inner clogged roads.

 

[Full of LUV]

Move to Clairemont

Move to Clairemont, like everyone else! Nice QOL

 

[jacko123]

I'm also thinking of moving to the area. I was told New Smyrna would be a good place for a single guy to set up camp for a couple of years. Any thought on that?

 

[FracCapt]

In addition to what everybody else stated.....check the east side of Orange County in the Waterford Lakes/Eastwood/Avalon area. Type in the zip code 32828 into Mapquest for the general area. If you're familiar with the area, it's around the East-West Expressway(408) and Alafaya Trail. Home prices have gone up quite a bit in the Orlando area lately, so I'm not sure if that would fit into your price range or not.

Wherever you buy a home...contact the county for a flood zone determination(they tell you whether or not the home is in a "flood zone", which can greatly affect insurance costs when it comes to homeowners and mortgage insurance). Search the county website for flood zones, and contact that specific department for procedures on flood zone determination.

 

[ATA73Pilot]

Thanks folks for all the good info!

Just noticed your D8 & SD3 types. You ex Air Willie? - Ralph Camden

Nope - Allegheny / Suburban '89-'98

 

[V-STALL]

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=65722&highlight=living+near+mco

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=60498&highlight=living+near+mco

 

[Phaedrus]

Move to Clairemont, like everyone else! Nice QOL

I believe he means Clermont. It's just west of Winter Garden/Oakland. Good luck finding something nice for under 300K though. I thought suburban south Atlanta was high priced until I started shopping for homes in the MCO area.

 

[Gator1999]

Check out this article from the Orlando Sentinel (Jan 1, 2006):

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-hotzones0106jan01,0,7531755.story

 

[ATRCA]

Been here over 6 years now.

Best bet is north of town in Seminole County, this includes Winter Springs, Oviedo, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Sanford. From these areas you can take the "Greenway" SR417 (toll) which is the fastest way to MCO.

Stay away from west of town or the south/southwest. There are in Orange County with higher taxes, tourists, crime, etc.

Nice areas going near the airport off Lee Vista Drive which is about 3 miles from airport. Also due east of the airport (Lake Nona). All in Orange county.

Altamonte Springs (Seminole county) very busy with retail, restaurants, and I-4. I-4 is always jammed in the AM and late PM. Traffic slows to a crawl.

Deltona is in Volusia county about 45 minute drive north of Orlando, just north of Sanford. Greenway gets you almost there.

Seminole County schools usually get better marks than Orange County.

If buying a used house, get a termite inspection, check the roof and inside
walls for water, never get a basement, check your elevation plot.

In Seminole county 300K gets you a decent house, 350K a good one, really nice for 400K. House prices have appreciated a lot in the last 2-3 years. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper has a sunday section whcih is full of housing. Some areas have a waiting list for construction.

Winter Park in Orange county is the "culture" center with its snobs, retail, wine shops, and high home prices.

Stay away from the south side of MCO, this is mouse land with tourists but there are lots of residental stuff. Again 417 gets you to the airport in good time. Eventually 417 "Greenway" will completely encircle Orlando and avoid the inner clogged roads.

Holy $hit, stay away from Deltona. Total $hit hole.

 

[jercdevil]

Surfs Up. Head east, cocoa beach area

 

[boost]

I highly recommend the Avalon Park area on the east side of town. Its only 15 minutes to MCO, close to 408 and 417 and is a pretty cool suburban town. There is the highest rated elementary school in Orange County right in town and a brand new middle school is being built as we speak. The area has a sort of suburban downtown area with locally run shops, a grocery store and gas station. We walk or ride bikes just about everywhere around town. They have website you can check out. www.avalonpark.com There are lots of different builders, everything from apartments to townhomes to custom homes. Good luck man!

boost

 

[FracCapt]

I highly recommend the Avalon Park area on the east side of town. Its only 15 minutes to MCO, close to 408 and 417 and is a pretty cool suburban town.

Try 25-30 minutes these days....unless you go when there is absolutely no traffic.

 

[ATA73Pilot]

Thanks again - you guys have been great. Lot's of good information!

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

With the price range you're looking at ($250K-$300K), you may want to hurry. Prices have gone nuts down here and they don't show any signs of slowing down. We moved here four years ago and getting ready to move again. We'll easily be asking twice what we paid for it. Orlando is becoming more like Chicago, the NE, or California in regards to the artificially high price of homes. Wish I had some big bucks four years ago to invest in Orlando property. Good luck with your decision. FWIW, we live in the Windermere area. Allegedly have decent schools. $300K will get you an OK house but may get more bang for the buck in other areas such as Clermont (W of city) or Longwood (N of city). And to fit in with all the other $40K millionaires be sure to get a new Beemer (joking).

 

[johnnyV]

Sanford?

Any gouge on Sanford. We have been looking up North & this area has some nice developments. I think my home in Phoenix has gone up a couple of million over the last year.