Originally Posted by Michael 61 (Post 2123171)

Looking to buy very soon south of 44. I know shopping is limited (for now), but outside of a weekly grocery run, that is usually the extent of my shopping (buy everything else almost exclusively online). I only shop with a purpose, do not enjoying just casual, browsing and window shopping. To me, being near the Big Box stores just creates more traffic and congestion. Are you OK being a bit away from major shopping plazas, as long as you are close to a grocery store?

Originally Posted by Michael 61 (Post 2123171)

Looking to buy very soon south of 44. I know shopping is limited (for now), but outside of a weekly grocery run, that is usually the extent of my shopping (buy everything else almost exclusively online). I only shop with a purpose, do not enjoying just casual, browsing and window shopping. To me, being near the Big Box stores just creates more traffic and congestion. Are you OK being a bit away from major shopping plazas, as long as you are close to a grocery store?

Originally Posted by Lisanp@aol.com (Post 2123483)

I live in the “south” and I don’t hear the turnpike or the prison or the quarry. I don’t see the allure of putting perishables in a golf cart and driving around for 15/20 minutes, so I don’t have any issue with the proximity to the grocery stores by car. I am 4 minutes from Magnolia Plaza (if I get the red light) and 7 minutes from Lake Deaton Plaza by car. Magnolia Plaza will have a CVS and gas station very soon. Lake Deaton already has a gas station (with car wash) and Walgreens. I go to the grocery store nearly every afternoon for dinner items and never see an inconvenience. I am happy to patronize the independently owned ACE hardware on 301 when I need a hardware item over the Lowes, but Lowes is still only 15 minutes away. I have had no trouble finding a doctor (Lake Deaton), dentist (Magnolia), or nail salon. The only provider that I “travel” to is the vet twice a year 15 minutes away but my vet has always been 15 minutes away. The south is closer to the “better” hospital in Leesburg (15 minutes which will go way down when Meggison connects to the turnpike) and there is an emergency room 7 minutes away by Brownwood. The south is much much closer to the airport and Orlando and will be an even shorter distance when the Meggison connection opens which again should be very soon. I have zero desire to wait on the checkout lines at Walmart, but I do wish a Target was closer (and I’m fairly certain one will come with the Middleton construction). We have 1 car and 1 cart. We go to dinner by cart all the time and there are many restaurants within a 20 minute cart ride and more to come soon too. The TOTV posters always south bash because they are worried how great it’s going to be down here very very soon!

Originally Posted by Michael 61 (Post 2123171)

Looking to buy very soon south of 44. I know shopping is limited (for now), but outside of a weekly grocery run, that is usually the extent of my shopping (buy everything else almost exclusively online). I only shop with a purpose, do not enjoying just casual, browsing and window shopping. To me, being near the Big Box stores just creates more traffic and congestion. Are you OK being a bit away from major shopping plazas, as long as you are close to a grocery store?

Originally Posted by wolfie (Post 2123821)

north of 446 is less taxes closer to all doctors and stores, but harder to find a house that you want, they go fast, also some homes need update, I would rent for awhile and look around
:posting:

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC (Post 2123825)

Do not understand why some people buy without spending the time to understand the area and figure out what is really important to them.

Originally Posted by Fun in the sun 2 (Post 2123870)

For us, we bought when a lot became available that we didn’t loose to someone else. We built. The driving factors were that we were daily watching, for 10 months, as the prices were increasing a lot. Also, we didn’t want to chance having to pay a higher interest rate which would mean we could buy less house and fewer upgrades and extensions. I found out my body could not bend in the direction to put dishes in the dishwasher, without pain. The design was so inconvenient. I needed a straight not angled counter, sink, and dishwasher so we bought a new house with a straight island. We are fortunate to have more space behind our house. I guess what I’m saying is you can make an informed decision if you drive to and from the locations from the various areas, do your due diligence about the surrounding area, looking at where the water treatment plants are, the highways including the turnpike, read this website and next door for comments about the prison, find the limestone quarries, and read about the areas impacted by this and keep an eye out for the distance to high tension wires. We moved 17 times in 27 years as we were in the USAF so we were used to having to evaluate living areas quickly. One time I chose our area based on reading the properties for rent on the drive from Denver to Sacramento. It was confirmed when we got there. I picked the perfect house in a few hours. But I don’t take the credit for this. A lot had to happen, including a war, for us to get this house.