Anyone live in Lake Mary? (Orlando, Plantation: short sales, foreclosures, condominium)

[jenndotcom]

Originally Posted by plumeria313

I'm so excited, I'm moving to Lake Mary in spring 08! My company is opening an office either there or in Heathrow. I'm excited about the school systems, and no matter what school district I get in there, it will be 120 times better than the school district here in Memphis where I live.

I just had a question. I'm looking for apartments, and I haven't visited the area yet but does anyone know of some apartments near a park and that allow large dogs??

Ballantrae apartments near Colonial Grande Shopping Center (in Sanford, but right on border of Lake Mary) allows large dogs

[tbonesteaks]

I need help in finding an apartment in the lake mary area. I am relocating from Memphis TN going to work for AT&T in lake mary. Need a 1br for now
then in Dec or Jan my family will be coming down. My wife and 13 year old son.

[AONE]

I think Heathrow is nice but there are some much better deals - bang for your buck. I looked in the area for the best 30 deals, homes with 1800ft or more, under 450k and even with pools. Without a pool there are 180 choices and you can get more home for the money. there are 14 homes over 2500' with pools and 59 without. 24 of those exceed 3000 sq ft. Buckingham Estates is nice, Timacuan, and Tuscany. would be nice choices. There are some great options. Welcome to the area.

[beckycat]

I live in Lake Mary and have been here for 8 years. I can say the schools are great and everything is very convenient. For apartments that take large dogs, try Pebble Creek or Sun Lake. Good Luck!

[KrisCole]

My wife & I both live in Heathrow. She is a Realtor & I teach/coach basketball. As far as schools go, most of Seminole County Public Schools are terriffic. I have taught/coached basketball at Winter Springs High School and I currently teach/coach at Seminole High School. Both schools are excellent.

My children attended Heathrow Elementary, Millennium Middle School, Markham Woods Middle School, and my oldest now attends Seminole High School. Obviously, EDUCATION & SAFETY were the top reasons we selected our current home. Eleven years ago I visited over 80 homes all over Orlando, researched standardized test scores of the school systems, and visited various gated communities. Heathrow was the most impressive. We have lived here happily for eleven years and will not move until our kids finish school.

You can find plenty of homes in Heathrow in the 450 K price range. There are several other communities that have nice homes in that price range also - if you are worried about HOA fees.

Lake Mary just finished #4 in Money Magazine's Best Places to Live 2007.

I suggest you contact a local Realtor for more information regarding the purchase of your home. I know several people are thinking about selling their homes in Heathrow, but are waiting until the market gets better so they are not listed on Realtor.com. A local Realtor could contact them on your behalf. Of course, I'm partial to working with my wife - but there are several good Realtors on this site who could do the same thing for you.

Seminole County Schools are the best in Central Florida. You can verify this by comparing FCAT scores on the Florida Department of Education home page. I can personally attest to the quality of the administration, teachers, staff, and students at Seminole High School & Winter Springs High School. My kids, my wife, and I have been very impressed with Heathrow Elementary, Millennium Middle School, Markham Woods Middle School and Seminole High School. If you need more infomation send me a private e-mail. If its a school question, I'd be happy to answer it. If its a real estate question, I'll have my wife reply to it.

It's great to meet people interested in their children's education. That makes all the difference in their success in school.

[cj1022]

Hi. IHow far is LM from Kissimmee? I want to move from new york . Do you know any apartments in LM? Thanks
Leon
Buy and Sell Avon & mark. (broken link)

[mobert]

Originally Posted by hb703

There really aren't many new subdivisions in that area of Lake Mary and Longwood. The new homes that are being built there start at around $1 million and they're usually custom homes. Some larger developments are going up further north on Markham Woods road in Sanford. The price range is good there.

The Markham woods neighborhoods, from what I we've seen on our two visits, are all very nice. It depends on your price range. I can't speak highly enough about using Realtor.com and Zip Realty's websites. You can register with Zip w/o giving your phone numer ;-) More goods sites for comps are Wikibroker.com and Zillow. With most of the websites, you can get an aerial view and maps - use them to get your bearings on the land. The Seminole County public school system has a great search feature for specific addresses. Another thing to consider, too, are the property taxes. They are much higher. You can look at the county's appraiser's website for data on how much tax is paid on specific homes. It varies also from person to person and how long people have resided in the home. Again, research, research, research. We learned not to trust buyer's agents...we're ready to give ours the boot. She has steered us wrong too many times to count. We've found out so much on our own just using the internet that contradicts what she tells us. I've tapped into the resources of this board a number of times, too. For the most part, they give good, sound advice.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'd like someone to benefit from my hours and hours of research ;-)

Hello HB703,

I am getting a job transfer to Heathrow. We live in a very nice small town in California (San Luis Obispo). We can't afford the pricier areas of Seminole County so we started looking into the new developments in Mount Dora. Do you have any thoughts or wisdom to pass along concerning that area?

[beckycat]

Mt. Dora is a nice area. From what I understand, there are alot of older people there. (no offense) It would be way out there, unless you work in that area. It is about 45 minutes from Lake Mary. You can find places to live in Sanford for similar amounts. Yes, there are nice areas in Sanford. It would bring you closer to Orlando. You can rent in these areas for $850, depending on what you're looking for. It is very convenient to everything. You might want to check craigslist for places for rent or sale.

[beckycat]

Lake Mary is 45 minutes from Kissimmee. What price range are you looking to rent? There's Sun Lake and Pebble Creek in Lake Mary.

[love1812]

Hello. I appreciate the advise and search help you offered to one reader. I too am considering moving to Central Florida, the Lake Mary area. I've also considered Eustis, Mt. Dora, Clermont, Sandford and Altamonte. We are seeking diversity, good schools, low crime, culture and nice neighborhoods with libraries, parks and recreation. We have a 4 and 10 year old. My husband loves to fish and I love to sample restaurants and shoppping. What advise can you offer. We will be moving from the midwest in July and will be in Florida in May to view homes. We need to start out renting. Our range is $1,000-1,250.