Moving to/living in Orlando

[Haley R]

You should be able to view the HOA fees in the listing. From my research, it seems "average" seems to be about $200 a month. Zillow, Realtor.com, lists all the HOA fees. In my research, I have ran across communities that even include maintenance on the irrigation system for the lawns, thought this was interesting. One of the realtors we spoke with, pointed out that some HOA's have restrictions on leasing the units, one year minimum. That was important information and appealing to us as we prefer a stable community. Even though the definition of long term rental, seems to be 7 months or more, I like the 1 year restriction. With the popularity of Airb&b, Homeaway, etc it would concern me if I moved to a home and the next door neighbor was renting out their home daily, weekly, etc. Sometimes I feel that HOA's CAN be so restrictive, BUT for us, the positives outweigh the negatives.

$200/month is a lot!! A lot more than I was thinking so we’ll definitely have to consider that when we purchase a house. I’ll have to look more closely on Zillow and see if I can find the HOA costs. I do like that some of them have a workout facility because we would definitely use that.

ETA: I took a closer look and our Ocoee houses are $111-116/month while the winter garden houses we have saved are $166/month. Thanks for sharing that! I didn’t know we could see it on Zillow

 

[Haley R]

I was thinking about this last night, with the lakes, finding one that is open to the public - lots of private lakes or lake that only offer a few spots to put in at, or that is swim-able... no algae, not alot of hydrilla, and the bottom is not covered in grass and is okay to swim in... is hard...- As well finding a boat ramp to launch from can prove challenging... they fill up fast...
As far as choppy water, once you get boats of all different size causing different size wakes, then you have some of the jet skier, that have the need for speed, and race around doing tricks, or seeing who can make the biggest spray... then water just gets natural choppy. Also you have to take into consideration the weather, and watch the boating report they report the chop and if the lakes are white capping you don't go out...... it is normally pretty accurate, as well as the famous afternoon thunder storms.... which is why we love our boat more stability in the water.

I will say that the boats have bigger heavy duty trailers, so its more stable launch and loading process. Some of the jet ski trailers, kinda bob around in the water, if the water is too high or too low it makes for a difficult time launching and getting them back on the trailer... and the trailer tongue isn't as long as most boat trailers, so that puts your truck/SUV closer to the water... we have seen a several occasions, a vehicle trying to pull out a jet ski trailer almost slide into the water... scary...

Lot's of folks think because the water is murky its dirty... that can go either way... the water takes on the tea like color due to the Cypress tree roots cause this look... during the summer month you have to aware of the water temp, if it gets to warm, nasty little amoebas get in the water and can make you sick, so cool water that moves like on the river, or springs are what you want to check out... As the summer heats up we will head to the springs where the water is ice cold a safe to swim in...

To help your DH get his sea legs, you also can rent pontoon boat on the St. Johns river for the day, check out blue springs I think that they rent boats for the day from there... we see them passing by our "beach area" which is really not a beach, it just a area along the river that a bunch of boats stop at and hang out for the day...

On another note... How is your DH feeling? and any word on how the interview went yet? still sending pixie dust...

I’m thinking we may just rent jet skis like you said as an option. It sounds like such a hassle to find a good spot to ride them that isn’t as choppy. When I rode as a kid our dock and lake house was in a cove so you never had to worry about it being choppy. A lot of the times we just rode the jet ski in the cove and if we wanted to tube we went outside the cove. I’ll keep that in mind about going to the springs when it’s really hot. I don’t want amoebas in my body lol.

Dh said he still feels like he did really well. He hasn’t heard anything since it’s only been two days but hopefully soon. They asked him during the interview how soon he’d be willing to move down so he thought that was a good sign

 

[Feralpeg]

$200/month is a lot!! A lot more than I was thinking so we’ll definitely have to consider that when we purchase a house. I’ll have to look more closely on Zillow and see if I can find the HOA costs. I do like that some of them have a workout facility because we would definitely use that.

ETA: I took a closer look and our Ocoee houses are $111-116/month while the winter garden houses we have saved are $166/month. Thanks for sharing that! I didn’t know we could see it on Zillow[/QUOTE

HOA fees vary a lot. I live in a very nice neighborhood called Ashlin Park. We pay $195 a quarter. We live in a single family home. There are also townhouses in our neighborhood. They pay a lot more, but their HOA fees cover all exterior maintenance including lawn and shrubs.

Now, down the road, there is a high dollar neighborhood with HOA fees of $800 a month. Of course, you couldn't touch a house in that neighborhood for less than a couple million.

 

[Haley R]

Haha yeah we won’t be buying a million dollar house

 

[Haley R]

@Feralpeg I’ve got some houses saved by overstreet and one by lake sawyer

 

[Feralpeg]

@Feralpeg I’ve got some houses saved by overstreet and one by lake sawyer

Goid area. We'd practically be neighbors!

 

[apdismom]

I love reading this thread...we plan on making the move in a few years and, while not set on living near the parks, it has opened my eyes to that possibility. I love Disney and the gulf so I have been set on being close to the gulf. But the availability and lower price tags is intriguing! Can’t wait to hear if DH gets the job! Finger crossed!

 

[Haley R]

Goid area. We'd practically be neighbors!

Good to know! It helps a lot that you’re able to tell me which areas are nice and which to avoid. We also have some winter garden houses that we like and are west of 429

 

[LovesTimone]

Good to know! It helps a lot that you’re able to tell me which areas are nice and which to avoid. We also have some winter garden houses that we like and are west of 429

West of 429 that's my area....

Our HOA fee is 120.00 a month... We have resort style pool, gym with nice equipment, and club house, tot lot( play ground). Depending on if you live in a gated community will depend on the HOA fees, gated communities are alot higher as they have to maintain the road behind the gates.

I'm being nosy, did your DH hear anything yet?

 

[Haley R]

West of 429 that's my area....

Our HOA fee is 120.00 a month... We have resort style pool, gym with nice equipment, and club house, tot lot( play ground). Depending on if you live in a gated community will depend on the HOA fees, gated communities are alot higher as they have to maintain the road behind the gates.

I'm being nosy, did your DH hear anything yet?

We found some that were around $166/month but then there are some that are quarterly payments and are a lot cheaper. They’re like $111/quarterly and still have a guard and gated community. It really will depend on the neighborhood and house we like best. We’re willing to pay the HOA to be in the area we want the most.

You’re not being nosy lol. He hasn’t heard back yet. Today will be just a week since his interview and they did say it could take a week. We’re really hoping he hears something today!!

 

[jerseygal]

We found some that were around $166/month but then there are some that are quarterly payments and are a lot cheaper. They’re like $111/quarterly and still have a guard and gated community. It really will depend on the neighborhood and house we like best. We’re willing to pay the HOA to be in the area we want the most.

You’re not being nosy lol. He hasn’t heard back yet. Today will be just a week since his interview and they did say it could take a week. We’re really hoping he hears something today!!

Best if Luck! Hope that you get good news!

 

[North of Mouse]

Yikes! Up to $200 HOA monthly?? Can't even begin to imagine that! We've lived in HOA subdivisions while being transferred with dh's job, but after retirement, we said never again - what a pain, not to mention the $$'s - and for what? (other than pool)

We live in a nice subdivision (acre +) outside city limits with no HOA and are happy as larks.Yes, we do have covenants, but everyone is so neat - needs no enforcements.
Can't imagine our home paid for, but yet have a monthly bill for HOA. There would be no benefits for us - don't want/need a community pool. People are always griping, complaining, nitpicking, in any of the HOAs we were in.

 

[jerseygal]

We live in an HOA now and there are positives and negatives. Negatives are when we moved in 10 years ago, there was a good Board with good oversight to ensure everyone was keeping up their lawns, sticking to the rules, community looked immaculate. Fast forward 10 years later, the original group all stepped down, new Board, these folks are more lax. Some in the neighborhood are not keeping up their grass and fertilizations as meticulously as they used to do. I don't have an issue with strict HOA rules as long as they are applied to ALL equally. Not too happy when the Board 'looks the other way" for their buddies, "good old boy network".

 

[Haley R]

We live in an HOA now and there are positives and negatives. Negatives are when we moved in 10 years ago, there was a good Board with good oversight to ensure everyone was keeping up their lawns, sticking to the rules, community looked immaculate. Fast forward 10 years later, the original group all stepped down, new Board, these folks are more lax. Some in the neighborhood are not keeping up their grass and fertilizations as meticulously as they used to do. I don't have an issue with strict HOA rules as long as they are applied to ALL equally. Not too happy when the Board 'looks the other way" for their buddies, "good old boy network".

Yeah if they’re gonna have a board they need to make sure everyone is held to the same standards. I’ll gladly pay the fee if everything looks nice and people keep up their yards. Growing up in Georgia our neighborhood did a sign for yard of the month each month (my dad won almost every month). It gave a good incentive for having a nice lawn

 

[jerseygal]

Yeah if they’re gonna have a board they need to make sure everyone is held to the same standards. I’ll gladly pay the fee if everything looks nice and people keep up their yards. Growing up in Georgia our neighborhood did a sign for yard of the month each month (my dad won almost every month). It gave a good incentive for having a nice lawn

My Dad would have won also, he had the nicest greenest well kept property, bushes and shrubs always pruned beautifully, people on their neighborhood used to stop and admire, he loved puttering around and was always out on the yard!Do nice when people take pride in their homes!

 

[Haley R]

My Dad would have won also, he had the nicest greenest well kept property, bushes and shrubs always pruned beautifully, people on their neighborhood used to stop and admire, he loved puttering around and was always out on the yard!Do nice when people take pride in their homes!

The homes we’ve found in dr Phillips that are in our price range look like no one has taken care of the yard in a long time. Lots of dirt and no grass. We DEFINITELY want a pool in the neighborhood so we would pay the fee to get that

 

[LovesTimone]

We found some that were around $166/month but then there are some that are quarterly payments and are a lot cheaper. They’re like $111/quarterly and still have a guard and gated community. It really will depend on the neighborhood and house we like best. We’re willing to pay the HOA to be in the area we want the most.

You’re not being nosy lol. He hasn’t heard back yet. Today will be just a week since his interview and they did say it could take a week. We’re really hoping he hears something today!!

If there is a guard and a gate, at 111.00 that seem kinda low for the areas you are looking in.... I would make sure that includes everything and you get in writing. I say this as when we were house shopping I was shocked that so many communities are not so forth coming with the real numbers of the HOA, We did find a house that was close to what we wanted before we decided to build our dream home... So when we asked about the HOA fees, we found out that there were several fees not included in the General HOA fees that we were quoted 114.00 monthly and then I found the others - there was a year road maintenance fee of near 2,000 + bucks and any other fees that the board deemed necessary... No thanks

... The community that we live in has a gated section... they pay 240.00 monthly HOA fee for that privilege which from what I heard from another neighbor is that the road portion went up in January for the families behind the gate. While we pay 120.00, DH and I pay the total amount at the beginning of each year, so that we don't have to worry about it the rest of the year...

 

[dish rag]

The homes we’ve found in dr Phillips that are in our price range look like no one has taken care of the yard in a long time. Lots of dirt and no grass. We DEFINITELY want a pool in the neighborhood so we would pay the fee to get that

i never cared for that area. It would be a bit of a drive for your husband but it would be worth checking out Winter Park, Maitland , College Park and the parts of Orlando east side. Near and around Boone H S, Eola, Thornton Park, Delaney Park. It’s a completely different vibe, just way different than where you’ve been looking. Not sure why on these moving to Orlando threads there is so much push for west Orange County. Most established Orlando residents would not move out there.

 

[Haley R]

i never cared for that area. It would be a bit of a drive for your husband but it would be worth checking out Winter Park, Maitland , College Park and the parts of Orlando east side. Near and around Boone H S, Eola, Thornton Park, Delaney Park. It’s a completely different vibe, just way different than where you’ve been looking. Not sure why on these moving to Orlando threads there is so much push for west Orange County. Most established Orlando residents would not move out there.

We originally looked at the eastern area because we thought Dh would have to work over there. I will say we like the western area a lot more than the eastern. We’re only looking from pictures but the schools and housing looks a lot better to me. I also like how close they are to universal and Disney and Dh wouldn’t want to drive a long ways to work

 

[Haley R]

If there is a guard and a gate, at 111.00 that seem kinda low for the areas you are looking in.... I would make sure that includes everything and you get in writing. I say this as when we were house shopping I was shocked that so many communities are not so forth coming with the real numbers of the HOA, We did find a house that was close to what we wanted before we decided to build our dream home... So when we asked about the HOA fees, we found out that there were several fees not included in the General HOA fees that we were quoted 114.00 monthly and then I found the others - there was a year road maintenance fee of near 2,000 + bucks and any other fees that the board deemed necessary... No thanks

... The community that we live in has a gated section... they pay 240.00 monthly HOA fee for that privilege which from what I heard from another neighbor is that the road portion went up in January for the families behind the gate. While we pay 120.00, DH and I pay the total amount at the beginning of each year, so that we don't have to worry about it the rest of the year...

Okay we’ll have to pay close attention and make sure we ask questions before signing anything. Thanks!