Housing in Central Florida

[heading180]

I need an honest opinion about places to live in and around NE Orlando. I have come to the conclusion that Longwood, Lake Mary are great areas.. but my question is about Sanford. I can only afford about 850-900 a month rent right now and need to know what kind of place I might be looking at in this price range.. ie.. decent neighborhood, crack dealer next door.. etc.. like I said.. honest and well, I think you guys are very honest. I am working with an agency that is looking for a place and Judy "The Delta Mom" said she would drive by and look at a couple of places once I am able to provide her with an address. I am not able to afford to fly down to view properties and pay for the move and start up deposits both so I am basically renting "sight unseen". What is Sanford like? My daughter is starting K this Aug. and I want to make sure she will go to a good school and my family will be safe. An apartment is almost out of the question due to the fact that I have 2 labs and a cat.. most apts I have searched only allow 2 pets under 35lbs etc.. The apts on the tour would not allow my pets and is out of the question. I would really like a house.. with a fenced yard so I don't have to put my dogs on a leash to go outside. Again, basically I know Lake Mary, Longwood are good areas.. I am mostly concerned about Sanford itself. Are there nice areas around Sanford or is it run down and in that price range would I be looking at an okay place?.. Thanks everyone!!

[rausda27]

Good luck!

[H46Bubba]

We're renting a condo in Lake Mary. Our neighborhood is really nice. I came down before we moved here to look for housing. I chose this palce without seeing it after I had flown back home. Sanford sucks. It's your typical rundown Florida town. I know there are several units for rent, but not sure as to who you would have to talk to. Their all privately owned, so it will be either the owner or through a rental management. We're paying about $830 for a three bedroom. the normal price around this complex is $900+.

[heading180]

Thanks H46 I am going to do some calling around this weekend

[H46Bubba]

Good Luck!

[AmericanPilot]

About where to live in the Orlando area. Some cheaper places that you might want to look into are Oviedo and Deland. Both areas are about 30 minutes from Sanford but that is decent for the price you might find. I live in Winter Haven and when I went to DCA I drove 71.5 miles one way each day that I had to be at school. Some days it took me 2 and a half hours to get there considering traffic. But you should really read my post under the Took The Tour Heading...I think it's on the second page, Just look for the user name, its not hard to find, its the longerst post I've seen on this web site so far.

[montanapilot]

Dont forget to pick up one of these before you go!

[planediveguy]

No Montana Pilot ... we are not in Montana! the bigger the guns the smaller the.... oh sorry! Didn't want to get there...

[heading180]

I wanted to update this post. We got a place in Lake Mary at the Sun Lake Apts. Anybody know anything about them?

[H46Bubba]

You're right down the street from us.

[heading180]

No worries montanapilot.. I have 2

[planediveguy]

Good, sell them and use the $$ to buy books. They will serve you better. And if you ever come around please stop by, I will be glad to help you with anything you need.

[planediveguy]

Sun Lake is not that bad. It is on Lake Emma Road. We used to live on Colonial Village at Lake Mary, which are the very next apartments on the same road. Lake Mary is very pleasant. I would advise you to take Lake Emma road DOWN to Ronald Reagan boulevard and then up to the airport. The traffic on Lake Mary boulevard is pretty bad and it might take you up to 30 minutes to get to DCA.

Just watch out for speed traps... specially on Lake Emma road.

Let me know if you need anything when around school. I will be glad to help you.

[heading180]

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Sun Lake is not that bad
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Please elaborate on that statement . Does that mean it's kindof bad? I was under the impression that Lake Mary would not have bad areas. I guess as long as I don't live in a crack infested apt complex it will be okay.. but I would like to have a place to bring my friends and family and it be nice.

Where can I come see you?

[JAM]

Sorry I didnt see this earlier....If you are looking to get a place while at DCA, I highly suggest looking West of I-4. The Heathrow area is really nice and you can find okay deals there. Having an interstate highway to separate you from some of Sanford's interesting characters provides a lot of peace of mind for families. I lived in Regatta Shores,and I strongly recommend against that place!

[Kristie]

[ QUOTE ]
I wanted to update this post. We got a place in Lake Mary at the Sun Lake Apts. Anybody know anything about them?

[/ QUOTE ]my gma used to live there back in the late 90's.. i always liked them until they started getting burgularies & cars stolen alot...

I dunno if that's gotten better or worse, but it sure does bring back memories! overall, a nice complex, just do a background on the crime in the past year & check BBB! Sun Lakes is so close to the interstate, you will get noise and no matter what ANYONE says, gates do NOT protect you and/or your property.

doug and I used to live at Timberlake Apts in Altamonte Springs for a few years before moving out to Az... I did like living there quite a lot, even as a single girl(they had good rates too) but it is further south and you would have to use 436 to get onto I-4 and go north...but if your going north in the morning and south in the evening, then your going AGAINST the flow of normal rush hour traffic which is a GOOD thing in most cases.

Heathrow is one of the highest $$ areas in the city, nice & most likely safe, but i betcha the apt costs are a lot more up in cost because of it too...

[heading180]

Thank You Kristie for responding to my post! I have to say that you and Doug seem like very wonderful people.

We went ahead and signed up for Sun Lake. It came down to the crunch and we only had a week to confirm a place and they had one apartment left.. so we took it. Mainly for the Lake Mary Schood District.. (I have heard good things).

[Kristie]

I've heard nothing but good things about lake mary's school district.. you did a good job researching that! it's easy enuff to find not so good school districts in florida!