Moving to Orlando- I'm almost there! Update 1/4 Arrival

Rachel good luck to you, it reminds me of myself 30 years ago. I moved from Hawaii to Orlando liked it for about 1 year, moved home after 7 years. Missed the mountains the most. The screened in Lanais are for the bugs and alligators. Noseums are the worst still have scars they are called Noo See Ums because you don't see them. I think a pool would be a must Summers are brutal. Following along with your journey. :) Your dog is adorable.
 
Rachel good luck to you, it reminds me of myself 30 years ago. I moved from Hawaii to Orlando liked it for about 1 year, moved home after 7 years.

I'm so jealous. We left Kona and I miss it like crazy. We had hoped to return after 5 years here, but the real estate market here crushed us, so here I am 13 years later. Not a happy camper.
 
I'm so jealous. We left Kona and I miss it like crazy. We had hoped to return after 5 years here, but the real estate market here crushed us, so here I am 13 years later. Not a happy camper.
I hear you ORD2KOA we love to go to DW (not this year of course). We always have a great time and cant wait to return. Having said that love to come home just as much when the plane lands so happy to be home. We are so lucky to live Hawaii. Planning our first trip to Hawaii Island in a couple weeks, lived here most of my life have never been. The Kama'aina deals were to hard to pass up. Will miss Disney World though.
 
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Hi local here, and I grew up in this area.... I live in Winter Garden, ..which is out the back gate of WDW, and a couple of exit up the 429...

Davenport, and Haines City, are very rural, and while google maps will say 35 minutes, with the traffic on I-4 and the construction which is never ending, getting into Orlando will take longer... If you go the toll roads you can get to the house of the mouse quicker...

Winter Garden, Windermere, Ocoee, Clermont, are all nice areas, residential and family oriented, close to shopping and the theme parks, without being in the tourist areas...and are on the backside of the parks, and you can get around easier and not have to face the traffic on I-4

Winter Park and Seminole county and nice areas and are much father than you think, again with the traffic and construction on I-4...

Living in a tourist destination is very different... then visiting as a tourist in one of the largest tourist destination in the world for a week... When you are living here you don't want to live in the tourist areas... It can be tourist overload... You want to live your life...

I suggest you come for a look see before you pick an area... You will want a pool or a community with a pool...

Please feel free to PM, and we can talk about what area you are looking at, or you can ask me any questions that you might have... Always happy to help out...
 


Congratulations! We live in the Tampa area and absolutely love it. We lived around Orlando and rented for a year, but it was really hot! We decided to buy close to the coast, it cools it down a bit and our kids love it too. Hope all goes well with your move
 
Congratulations on your decision to move close to Disney! We are Disney snowbirds and spend our winters in the northeast corner of Davenport near Champions Gate.

It looks like you are getting a lot of good inputs and I'll try and add a few more to consider, in no particular order.

I will second the comments about the traffic in the area. The Champions Gate area has become particularly busy with all of the building that has gone on recently. I-4 north in the mornings and I-4 south in the afternoons can get very backed up. I suggest looking at Google traffic for whatever area you are considering a few times throughout the day to get the sense of what the traffic looks like. Our trip to Disney can be very variable, from 25-60 minutes, depending on time of day and time of year.

Davenport is an interesting area, with quite different areas. One look at the satellite image of the area and you can see how it can quickly switch from heavily developed to rural. Polk County allows short term rentals so most of the developments near Disney will have a lot of short term rental properties. We had our home in the short term rental market for a few years until we became snowbirds. Some might question living in a short term rental development but we have found it to be fine.

When it comes to picking a neighborhood you really need to visit in person. We did a lot of zillow searching and used Google Street View to "drive through" neighborhoods to get a sense of what they were like. But when we made our real estate buying trip we quickly eliminated a few areas after driving through them. That said we did end up buying the house that was at the top of our zillow list. Since you are looking for a permanent home I would certainly recommend an exploration trip to explore the many areas surrounding Disney.

You mentioned needing a two car garage for two cars. We have what is called a two car garage but I would be hard pressed to put two full size cars in there. Pay attention to the size of the garage if you are planning on garaging two vehicles. Especially if you will need the typical amount of "stuff" stored in the garage.

Pools are nice to have in Florida and a screened cage is almost required to keep the bugs away and helps keep "stuff" from blowing into the pool. But as you note they do take some money, electricity to run the pump and chemical maintenance for the water. We pay $99 a month for pool maintenance. I would guess ~$30 per month for electricity. I try and run the pump the minimum number of hours necessary to keep the pool healthy. Also recognize that pool heat is required for winter time use which will really bump up electricity use. In addition there is long term pool maintenance costs. Over the last few years we had to replace our pool heater (11 years old), have the pool resurfaced (13 years), and replace the pump motor (14 years).

Speaking of lanais, not all are created equal. Some homes will have relatively small covered areas. If you are looking forward to enjoying time outside you will want to have a large covered area. Also check the orientation so you know where the sun will be at various times through the day. Ideally you will want to have areas that are both sunny and shaded throughout the day. In the winter you will enjoy the sun but in the summer you will want the shade.

Well, that's probably enough for now.

Wishing you success in your coming move!
 
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I'll always welcome buckeyes to Orlando!

I live in the Lake Nona area and love it. It's far enough away from the crazy traffic, but close enough to be an easy drive to Disney and Universal. I never have to get on I-4 so that's a huge plus
 


Following along! We also hope to move to Florida one day, but it'll probably be a couple years in the future.

We've also had our dog, Sirius, along with all of our moves and adventures. He is the most excited about a one story house.

Aww he's so cute!
 
Joining in! :yay:

My dreams of moving to WDW have been indefinitely put on hold now that there's a baby coming so I'm gonna live vicariously through you.
 
I've seen you have a lot of good advice. I'd like to add a couple of things.

The house (awesome!) that you showed us is a 55 minute drive from Epcot. It looks close, but not so much. I'm on the east side (opposite of Disney) of the Orlando Airport and it only takes about 35 minutes. We've been thinking about moving west to be closer, but some of the subdivisions near Disney take just as long to get there. I've been checking commute times using the Epcot Toll Gate as my destination to give me an idea if it's closer or not. Roads and streets don't work here the way they do in the Midwest (I'm originally from Chicago). There's no grid, so keep that in mind. Even if it looks close, it may not be.

Also, if you're looking in and around Davenport, inquire about sinkholes in the area.

And, you may want this to use for a reference when trying to figure out where to live:
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/orlando/crime
Good luck!!

PS - Do you want to know that the heat index is 104 today? 🥵

Yeah, I know the house I had picked out isn't too close to Disney, I just fell in love with that backyard.

I'm ok with the hot summers. At least I'll be able to go outside in the winter instead of being bundled up inside the house.

I've started to check google driving directions with Animal Kingdom as my destination ,I guess it might make sense to do Epcot though because that is more in the middle of the Disney bubble.

I had not thought of sinkholes, thank you for that terrifying thought.


Rachel good luck to you, it reminds me of myself 30 years ago. I moved from Hawaii to Orlando liked it for about 1 year, moved home after 7 years. Missed the mountains the most. The screened in Lanais are for the bugs and alligators. Noseums are the worst still have scars they are called Noo See Ums because you don't see them. I think a pool would be a must Summers are brutal. Following along with your journey. :) Your dog is adorable.

Oh my gosh, I don't think I'd like it if I moved from Hawaii to Orlando either. I've never been to Hawaii, but have heard only good things about how perfect it is.

That would be a rough move. I've lived in a couple different states now and I do miss some things about them, but nothing that makes me want to move back.


Hi local here, and I grew up in this area.... I live in Winter Garden, ..which is out the back gate of WDW, and a couple of exit up the 429...

Davenport, and Haines City, are very rural, and while google maps will say 35 minutes, with the traffic on I-4 and the construction which is never ending, getting into Orlando will take longer... If you go the toll roads you can get to the house of the mouse quicker...

Winter Garden, Windermere, Ocoee, Clermont, are all nice areas, residential and family oriented, close to shopping and the theme parks, without being in the tourist areas...and are on the backside of the parks, and you can get around easier and not have to face the traffic on I-4

Winter Park and Seminole county and nice areas and are much father than you think, again with the traffic and construction on I-4...

Living in a tourist destination is very different... then visiting as a tourist in one of the largest tourist destination in the world for a week... When you are living here you don't want to live in the tourist areas... It can be tourist overload... You want to live your life...

I suggest you come for a look see before you pick an area... You will want a pool or a community with a pool...

Please feel free to PM, and we can talk about what area you are looking at, or you can ask me any questions that you might have... Always happy to help out...

We definitely do want to come and neighborhood scout. We're still thinking October, because at that point if we find a house we like we could put a bid in.

I might very well take you up on that PM offer. I hear a lot of people say they can see Disney fireworks from their house, which I think would be awesome. But I think finding those areas that are nearby but not full of tourists or rental houses will probably be hard.

Congratulations! We live in the Tampa area and absolutely love it. We lived around Orlando and rented for a year, but it was really hot! We decided to buy close to the coast, it cools it down a bit and our kids love it too. Hope all goes well with your move

I actually considered Tampa for a little. My boyfriend was a little reluctant at first to do Orlando, so we did talk about Tampa. It seemed to have some nice neighborhoods and it would be nice to be by the water.

Congratulations on your decision to move close to Disney! We are Disney snowbirds and spend our winters in the northeast corner of Davenport near Champions Gate.

It looks like you are getting a lot of good inputs and I'll try and add a few more to consider, in no particular order.

I will second the comments about the traffic in the area. The Champions Gate area has become particularly busy with all of the building that has gone on recently. I-4 north in the mornings and I-4 south in the afternoons can get very backed up. I suggest looking at Google traffic for whatever area you are considering a few times throughout the day to get the sense of what the traffic looks like. Our trip to Disney can be very variable, from 25-60 minutes, depending on time of day and time of year.

Davenport is an interesting area, with quite different areas. One look at the satellite image of the area and you can see how it can quickly switch from heavily developed to rural. Polk County allows short term rentals so most of the developments near Disney will have a lot of short term rental properties. We had our home in the short term rental market for a few years until we became snowbirds. Some might question living in a short term rental development but we have found it to be fine.

When it comes to picking a neighborhood you really need to visit in person. We did a lot of zillow searching and used Google Street View to "drive through" neighborhoods to get a sense of what they were like. But when we made our real estate buying trip we quickly eliminated a few areas after driving through them. That said we did end up buying the house that was at the top of our zillow list. Since you are looking for a permanent home I would certainly recommend an exploration trip to explore the many areas surrounding Disney.

You mentioned needing a two car garage for two cars. We have what is called a two car garage but I would be hard pressed to put two full size cars in there. Pay attention to the size of the garage if you are planning on garaging two vehicles. Especially if you will need the typical amount of "stuff" stored in the garage.

Pools are nice to have in Florida and a screened cage is almost required to keep the bugs away and helps keep "stuff" from blowing into the pool. But as you note they do take some money, electricity to run the pump and chemical maintenance for the water. We pay $99 a month for pool maintenance. I would guess ~$30 per month for electricity. I try and run the pump the minimum number of hours necessary to keep the pool healthy. Also recognize that pool heat is required for winter time use which will really bump up electricity use. In addition there is long term pool maintenance costs. Over the last few years we had to replace our pool heater (11 years old), have the pool resurfaced (13 years), and replace the pump motor (14 years).

Speaking of lanais, not all are created equal. Some homes will have relatively small covered areas. If you are looking forward to enjoying time outside you will want to have a large covered area. Also check the orientation so you know where the sun will be at various times through the day. Ideally you will want to have areas that are both sunny and shaded throughout the day. In the winter you will enjoy the sun but in the summer you will want the shade.

Well, that's probably enough for now.

Wishing you success in your coming move!


That is a ton of great advice! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out.

Good to know about the garages, we have 2 Challengers which are rather large cars. So def no squeezing happening there.

So we should think about the age of the pool (if we get one) and keep in mind we might need to replace equipment if it is old. I think if we do get a pool I'd def want one with a cage.

Yeah, we've seen some amazing lanais and yard areas, and that is really what we are looking for. We found one new listing that we love that I'll post below.

I'll always welcome buckeyes to Orlando!

I live in the Lake Nona area and love it. It's far enough away from the crazy traffic, but close enough to be an easy drive to Disney and Universal. I never have to get on I-4 so that's a huge plus

How far is your drive to Disney and Universal? The DIS moving podcast has had good things to say about Lake Nona.

Following along! We also hope to move to Florida one day, but it'll probably be a couple years in the future.



Aww he's so cute!


Thanks! Well come along on my journey, maybe you can pick up some tips for your eventual move.

Joining in! :yay:

My dreams of moving to WDW have been indefinitely put on hold now that there's a baby coming so I'm gonna live vicariously through you.

Hey friend! Yes please live vicariously through me.

But the baby news is super exciting too!! Just an adventure of a different kind for you :)
 
Here is my new number 1 house:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/425-Westwind-Dr-Davenport,-FL,-33896_rb/47310156_zpid/
Once again, it's the backyard that pulls me in.

510958

510959

510960

We have fallen a bit behind on our decluttering. Getting rid of stuff is hard :( You either have an emotional attachment to it, or feel bad for getting rid of it because you paid for it once upon a time.

Also, I am not good at selling stuff on Ebay.

Someday this decluttering will be done.
 
Yeah, I know the house I had picked out isn't too close to Disney, I just fell in love with that backyard.

I'm ok with the hot summers. At least I'll be able to go outside in the winter instead of being bundled up inside the house.

I've started to check google driving directions with Animal Kingdom as my destination ,I guess it might make sense to do Epcot though because that is more in the middle of the Disney bubble.

I had not thought of sinkholes, thank you for that terrifying thought.




Oh my gosh, I don't think I'd like it if I moved from Hawaii to Orlando either. I've never been to Hawaii, but have heard only good things about how perfect it is.

That would be a rough move. I've lived in a couple different states now and I do miss some things about them, but nothing that makes me want to move back.




We definitely do want to come and neighborhood scout. We're still thinking October, because at that point if we find a house we like we could put a bid in.

I might very well take you up on that PM offer. I hear a lot of people say they can see Disney fireworks from their house, which I think would be awesome. But I think finding those areas that are nearby but not full of tourists or rental houses will probably be hard.



I actually considered Tampa for a little. My boyfriend was a little reluctant at first to do Orlando, so we did talk about Tampa. It seemed to have some nice neighborhoods and it would be nice to be by the water.




That is a ton of great advice! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out.

Good to know about the garages, we have 2 Challengers which are rather large cars. So def no squeezing happening there.

So we should think about the age of the pool (if we get one) and keep in mind we might need to replace equipment if it is old. I think if we do get a pool I'd def want one with a cage.

Yeah, we've seen some amazing lanais and yard areas, and that is really what we are looking for. We found one new listing that we love that I'll post below.



How far is your drive to Disney and Universal? The DIS moving podcast has had good things to say about Lake Nona.




Thanks! Well come along on my journey, maybe you can pick up some tips for your eventual move.



Hey friend! Yes please live vicariously through me.

But the baby news is super exciting too!! Just an adventure of a different kind for you :)

It's roughly 20 to 25 minutes (pending how fast I drive LOL).

Let's just say, I've driven to Disney Springs parked, went to a store, and got back to work all on my lunch hour
 
Here is my new number 1 house:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/425-Westwind-Dr-Davenport,-FL,-33896_rb/47310156_zpid/
Once again, it's the backyard that pulls me in.

View attachment 510958

View attachment 510959

View attachment 510960

We have fallen a bit behind on our decluttering. Getting rid of stuff is hard :( You either have an emotional attachment to it, or feel bad for getting rid of it because you paid for it once upon a time.

Also, I am not good at selling stuff on Ebay.

Someday this decluttering will be done.




Lovestimone here,

When we lived in Windermere, from our house you could hear and see the fireworks nightly... From our house in Winter Garden we can hear the fireworks nightly and sometimes see them from the community pool... from our upstairs windows...

Here's a few things to keep in mind when looking and budgeting for your house.

1) Is the house in a flood zone - which will require flood insurance here in Florida it's normally a separate policy - lots of areas in Florida are low lying and flood... so you don't have to be necessarily near the water to have this problem
2) Hurricane insurance - this is something that I can not stress enough if you are living here... and you want replacement insurance... Just because you live in the center of the state is not really protection enough.
3) Pest control - this is something that you will need here, roaches, ants, mosquito's, and the plethora of other bugs we have here... find out if the house has maintained pest control...
4) HOA fees.... this is a real budget buster here... We pay 126.00 a month... which is pretty good, if the community is gated it will be even more 2 to 3 times more. Why you ask, because in a gated community, the community is responsible for the road maintenance... Our friends pay 350.00 a month and live over in the Doctor Phillips area, in a gated community...
5) Home Inspection... Absolutely - have one done, and you pick the company to do it... so that they are working for you, and not the realtor... and if possible be there when they do it... Just take my word on it... and take pictures... just a word of precautions...
6) Termite protection - this is separate from pest control - ask if the home has a transferable contract, if it is a repair contract, will it transfer as as a repair, most of the time when the house changes owners, if goes the a treatment only... and if there has every been any damage to house due to it. So this is normally a yearly fee, and they do a yearly inspections....
7) The roof... how old is it, as well if it has the hurricane tie down, there are guidelines/codes, so if you have to put a new roof on the house, you could get a surprise in the cost, to bring it up to code...
8) Sinkholes - they have insurance for this...
9) Pools - do yourself a favor and pay for someone else to clean it, and keep up with all the chemicals... it is totally worth it... you will need a gate for insurance and sometimes a screen enclosure, with locking doors - All of our house's that had pools we had a privacy fence and screen enclosure with locking doors.. You don't want some neighborhood kids getting in the pool...When we first moved in to one house, the weekend we were moving in... we had the side gate opened, so that DH could back the truck in to put the lawn equipment in the shed that had just been delivered and set up... and I was pressuring washing the deck around the pool and patio, and had the door prop'ed open... and I turned around, and there is this little girl about 3 standing there next to the pool, and she was jumping in the pool... I grabbed her, before she hit the water... I could here a lady screaming next door... for her... I yelled I have her... my DH was out in the street with the Husband.... trying to help them look for her... the little girl managed to walk right my DH, and her dad, and make it all the way around to the back of our house... If I would not have been standing there, she would have went in the pool... and the poor mother was just to the point of being hysterical... which I totally understand... I still get a that sick feeling if what if I had not been standing there, when I think about it...


Again please feel free to PM... I am always happy to help out another Dis'ers
 
That house is lovely and I love the backyard!

I'm terrible at decluttering lol. I feel the same way you do and I struggle with throwing away anything I feel has value to it but I also never do the work to sell it to anyone else.
 

Very nice. Loma del Sol is just up the road from our neighborhood. A nice but fast growing area.

One thing I did note is that it was built in 1995 before the new hurricane adjusted building requirements were enacted, in 2003 I believe. For the older homes ask if they have been modified to bring them up to the new requirements. I suspect this would impact insurance costs.
 
Watching as well. Good luck with your adventure.

Friends moving soon, like hoping 3 to 6 months.

Really concerned with prices still fairly high, that they may slide down with everything going on.

They even might go for a rental home purchase, and spend quite a but of time up here-and rent it out some.

Wondering if the rental homes are very full currently, and if not if any owners are starting to look into selling.

That type of thing.

They seem to like just west on 192 but quickly south, like behind Margaritaville area.

But as others have said, HOA ranges from $41, to $450 in that area.

So need to consider if they want to be able to rent with a lot to do, or if the houses pool is enough-which it is for them.
 
Hi congrats on making the decision. I have been working on decluttering. I love the houses you are looking at, we are looking at ones with pools and screens. We want to enjoy our yard now that our kids are older.

I hope I am not hijaking your thread:goodvibes

We knew from when our DD was younger that we wanted to move to Florida. She is in a Florida college now and we area taking the leap. My DH has a final interview on Tuesday and it looks good. He would be working in Orlando and our DD goes to UCF so we will be looking in central Florida. I am nervous about selling our home and buying one at the same time. Renting won't work for us. I was reading the advice from locals and it is great. We are trying to narrow down an area. We could be there by the end of October.

Lovestimone that is nice to offer help!

Have a great day!
 
Congratulations and good luck on your move. I’ve enjoyed reading your trip reports in the past. I know nothing about Florida homes, but just want to add my two cents. I watch all those house shows on TV. Since you will be working from home ensure that there is good Wifi. I’ve read about people complaining about that. I’d love to live somewhere warm, with an enclosed pool. Sounds like you’re doing your homework.👍
 
Watching as well. Good luck with your adventure.

Friends moving soon, like hoping 3 to 6 months.

Really concerned with prices still fairly high, that they may slide down with everything going on.

They even might go for a rental home purchase, and spend quite a but of time up here-and rent it out some.

Wondering if the rental homes are very full currently, and if not if any owners are starting to look into selling.

That type of thing.

They seem to like just west on 192 but quickly south, like behind Margaritaville area.

But as others have said, HOA ranges from $41, to $450 in that area.

So need to consider if they want to be able to rent with a lot to do, or if the houses pool is enough-which it is for them.


Local here, depending on were they are looking on 192, living near Margaritaville, which is Kissimmee - is right in the middle of the tourist traffic, everything in some of these areas caterers to the tourist, they will be in direct competition with them, and the road way and traffic is a nightmare... as well you need to check the crime in this area, neighborhoodscout.com is a good tool.. Security and Safety should be top on the list...
 

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