Orange Blossom Area
 

Hi,
When I was visiting in December and I told people I was thinking about buying, I was told not to buy in Orange Blossom. Can anyone tell me why?

Do some research using the online newspaper.

If I knew I would tell you. Hopefully someone can answer that for you.

Don't let the one percent disgruntled affect your thinking....(OK make it 2%!)

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:censored:

I have a couple of good friends who live there and they love it. I'm over there often and it is great. More mature landscaping, and good views from the hilltop country club. Everyone I've met there is very friendly.

Most of this area are manufactured homes. Nowadays people are having them removed and replacing with a frame or concrete block homes.

Here's an actual reason why:

You might have told them what kind of area you're looking for. And you were told this area doesn't meet your criteria. It depends on what you want, and WHO told you not to buy in this area. It could be that THEY just don't like this area, and decided to impose their choices on you.

Those are the reasons why you would be told not to buy in Orange Blossom.

You need to have an idea of what you WANT from your new home. Close proximity to supermarkets? Walking distance to the medical center? Easy access to Florida's Turnpike? Mature landscaping? Disability-friendly rooms and doorways? You have to determine your affordability. How much can you spend on a home? Will you need a mortgage? Do you want a brand-new house, or are you specifically looking for one that's been pre-owned, or do you not have a preference as long as the dimensions and price are right?

You have to check the risks vs. rewards of each type of location as well.

Beautiful swamp view in the back = higher risk of gators and mosquitoes at your back porch.

A courtyard villa with high walls = less chance of actually meeting any of your neighbors - but high chance of HEARING them if you're both outside in the back yard at the same time.

Somewhere super close to the town square = higher traffic, especially during peak hours and festivals.

The simple, relatively quiet, and natural-looking beauty of the "historic section" (Orange Blossom Gardens, Silver Lake, Country Club Hills) = higher chance that the only options will be manufactured double-wides or mobile home single-wides.

The upside to the older areas is that the oldest no longer have any bond obligations, and the older (but not oldest) are pretty close to paid off.

The bond is a financial obligation over and above the cost of the home. So if you see a house listed in the new construction section for $300,000, that doesn't include a bond that could be $20,000 on top of that. You can pay it all off at once, OR you can pay it monthly, with insane interest, and not be allowed to pay it off early if you change your mind.

Totally agree. Great area, worth checking out.

The interest rate for the bond in my area is 2.43% pretty INSANE! But also, it can be paid off at any time. I just believe it has to be paid before a certain date to be reflected in the following tax bill. If someone still has a bond it usually gets paid annually with the property tax bill.

Why? Because they’re stupid!

And then there's the crime in the historic district there are a lot of owners with their adult children and/or their adult grandchildren living with them, this is a fact. Another fact is that most of the crimes reported online that are committed by residents of TV are committed by these same adult children and adult grandchildren living in the historic district. You can research this fax by visiting the online news.

Many explanations. First of all, the homes there (even the brand new builds) tend to be a bit lower priced. As far as we've observed, there are no (or very few) homes in the 700K to 1 million plus category in that area. To some, that means "safer" neighborhood, which probably does not prove valid when one begins to investigate "incidents" in the villages; drugs, domestic disturbances, drunken altercations, child pornography, on and on. In the final analysis, the price of the home seems completely unrelated, people are people, violent people, emotionally disturbed people, sociopathic personalities, and even those with actual dementia, live in every part of the villages and purchase homes in all price ranges. Another factor is an on line "news paper" that gets a great deal of attention by featuring any and every incident in that area, right down to disputes among and between neighbors. Although I don't live there, I would definitely consider it. In my opinion that area has the nicest of all the country clubs, is very well kept with immaculate homes and residential streets. Originally, the villages began as a kind of "upscale" trailer park, country club, golf courses, etc. In recent years those original "trailers" have been removed and some really beautiful homes in lovely settings (such as on a lake) have been built. I directed family members considering a move here to really get to know the OB Hills area, to play golf there, have some meals there, and drive through the area before "counting it out" in favor of brand new villages across the expressway. Told them to check out everything: "bonds", tax rates, utility rates, proximity to major shopping areas, etc. You really have to explore these things ...

I lived there for 5 years, owned for 3. I loved it. My house had problems with the copper pipes, which I deemed too expensive to fix, so disclosed and sold it. Still miss that area.

That’s too bad. Too bad it wasn’t caught before you bought it.

I would have to say that jealousy is a terrible thing, it will eat you up. They must be off their rocker to look down at that area. It has some warts but overall the great things about the entire area outweigh the drawbacks. We spent 7 great, phenomenal years in Country Club Hills and highly recommend it. Very peaceful and neighborly.

We moved inside The Villages because I wanted to score on the price of the house and live in something that was new. We expect another family member to join us soon, and the old house wouldn't work. We needed something with no steps.

When I went back the other day to see the neighbors it was really rough on me to see the home still sitting empty. I love where we are but definitely miss The Hysterical Section. (Said Lovingly) :thumbup: We still take the ride to swim with our friends and they come down this way too. :clap2: