Why is Orlando so crowded/expensive? (Miami, Cape Coral: apartments, renters, condo)

[lovorlando]

Originally Posted by brinkofsunshine

Not at all. It’s pretty well recorded at this point that the cost of living in Orlando is way higher than the average wage. Sure, housing in San Francisco is more expensive- it’s outrageous compared to the entire country. I’ve lived in NYC and understand that an apartment the same size here would cost 3 times more there... but Orlando isn’t NY or SF. And even I can see that we have an affordable housing crisis here.

You got that right. When you see small 3 bedroom townhomes going for $275K on the Southwestside and your talking hundreds of them. Homes that used to be $225K now sell for $370K!

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by lovorlando

Where pray tell, are there condos less than $100K? I've never seen any.

The price of a condo doesn’t matter if the condo association is $400/month. That makes an otherwise affordable unit unaffordable. A $150,000 condo with a $400 HOA makes it pretty much the equivalent of a $210,000 single family home. And these are not downtown high rises either.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Case in point above... nothing counts unless it's a 3,000 sq ft house, I'm gonna move to Los Angeles or Boston now lol. Okay, good luck. Orlandoeans are spoiled when it comes to housing.

There is this... people here are obsessed with giant houses, and seem to forget that most people living in other major cities are not staying in 3,000+ sqft homes.

[boy3365]

The coasts don’t have a lock on “major cities.” A Dallas or Houston transplant will be in for some sticker shock if they move here. They won’t be getting a “raise” with the lack of income taxes here because they don’t have them in Texas.

There are plenty of houses in the 1,200-2,500 range that are $250,000+.

Also, I think it is best to compare Orlando to metros of its size. That was always the argument when people would complain about traffic. Comparing Charlotte and Orlando is more reasonable than comparing Atlanta and Orlando.

[blueherons]

Looking at Orlando from South Florida, it certainly seems a lot more affordable but it's a relevant.

[boy3365]

Yes. The people coming from coastal cities see it as inexpensive. But I believe the key issue is affordability for people who are trying to build their careers here. You will make a lot less here than elsewhere for the same job, but may have trouble finding affordable housing. That’s why so many are advised not to move here on this forum if they are just getting started. I’m saying that when I’ve been called an “Orlando fanboy” on this forum.

Of course, someone can make $170,000/yr in a coastal city (not Miami), have their status changed to work from home and live anywhere, sell their $350,000 hole in the wall and get a “mansion” here for $270,000.

[Army_Guy]

Take a look at this article:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opin...405-story.html

While cost of living here isn't Chicago, NYC, L.A or SF high, cost of living here is still high. It's a market thing, lots of people moving here from PR, NY, NJ, and South America. Lots of Chinese investors buying homes at asking price to use as investments.

I question if we will stay here long-term.

I see Disney as more of a curse than blessing with their low skill, low wage jobs which attracts hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people a year to this place which keeps the demand for those low skill, low wage jobs. Does anyone know how much in tax Disney itself pays?

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

There is this... people here are obsessed with giant houses, and seem to forget that most people living in other major cities are not staying in 3,000+ sqft homes.

Exactly, many people who live in desirable cities can only dream about owning a 500-800 sqft condo in the current market. Where as in Orlando, they have lots of them around $100k, the thing is many Orlandoeans can't imagine ever living in a property this size especially in the 400-600 sqft range.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Exactly, many people who live in desirable cities can only dream about owning a 500-800 sqft condo in the current market. Where as in Orlando, they have lots of them around $100k, the thing is many Orlandoeans can't imagine ever living in a property this size especially in the 400-600 sqft range.

Cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Columbus, Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro-Winston Salem, Columbia SC and Greenville-Spartanburg (and many more not mentioned) don't have to dream with achievable real estate pricing for most.

[Nj0rd]

I'd like to give the perspective of a person who is comparing a similarly sized city.I am looking to relocate to Orlando from St Louis, and, in my research, I found the overall cost of living to be fairly similar, with some higher, and some lower.



The metro area size is similar, but St. Louis is a generally a less desirable area to live (worse airports, MUCH worse weather, less to do, no beach access, etc.) the reason why Saint Louis costs about as much, despite being a fairly crummy place to live is probably, because Orlando has a lot less good jobs, or I asume so, anyhow.





The following are solidly higher in STL

-Taxes. In addition to a fairly standard income tax of just under 6% (it's functionally a flat tax, and it is applied to all income), property taxes are around 1.4%, and our sales tax is 8.75%
-homeowners insurance ( told you our weather was bad...)


On the other side, a couple of things do cost more in Orlando

-Housing is *slightly* higher in Orlando, probably 10% higher

entertainment is higher
-driving costs more ( auto insurance is a big hither, you have toll roads, and probably slightly higher gas prices ( since those are generally on the low side here)







Anyhow, that's my take, that Orlando is a tiny bit more expensive than average but that it has a LOT to recommend it, so it is actually a darned good value. YMMV, of course