Residents of the Orlando area! Need some input!

I wanted to ask you all a couple things in regards to residing in that area. I live out here in nor-cal and kinda wanna see what its like out there in Florida. I've lived in Kentucky/Tennessee when i was stationed out at Fort Campbell so if there's any similarities as far as costs of everything then please reference that. But I wanted to ask what the average living cost like with rent/utilities/etc is like. Is it expensive? Cheap? Maybe for like a two bedroom house or 1 or 2 bedroom apartment out there. What are the job opportunities in Orlando like? I am currently a Drafter at and Architecture firm doing commercial projects along with academic classes focusing in architecture so I do have SOME credentials. Idk if jobs are hard to find out there or what but thats where you guys come into play.

So any advice/suggestions/info about the area would be appreciated! Thanks guys!

If you can do commercial buildings, id say come on. There are a ton of builders whos headquarters are out of Orlando. I would do some google-ing and check it out. Also check out the surrounding areas or Orlando. Clermont, Maitland, Winter Park, etc.

Housing and cost of living should be cheaper than NorCal for sure. But it depends on the location. You could move to a small town and it be cheaper than anywhere else, or move to downtown Orlando and it be more expensive than where youre currently at. Im 45 mins SW of Orlando in the city of Lakeland and Im paying 1200 per month + utilities for a 3br 2bth home. So i would do some reasearch and make some phone calls. It varries so much that it wouldnt be fair to say high or low.

Lee - Thank you for actually taking the time to give me some info. As you can see there have been quite a few viewings of this thread and you are the first to actually give me some input. I've never been to florida but what towns outside of orlando are clesest to all the cable parks or lakes? Sorry for all the questions but i just wanna get as much info as i can without having to crunch everything into a short trip out there. 1200 a month for a 3 bed 2 bath + utilities is a steel! I am currently in a 2 bed 2 bath and paying 1200, not including utilities. I just wanna find an area where there's a cable park, a lake to ride at, and its clean and affordable if there is a place over there like that that exists lol. Since your from that area and assuming you know it well, I imagine you would have a good idea of a town that fits that profile or close to. But either way, thank you for the help lee!

The problem is we were hit hard in the job department here. Were not building much here right now. Anywhere from Tampa to East Orlando is close to water & cables. Your no more than a hour from a cable park or a Big city anywhere in that area. Lakes are everywhere . Use Google maps & U'll find allot of towns.

then Polk county is where you want to be. Im 45 mins from tampa and orlando cables. Plus a lot of pros live in the area as well so theres always a chance to run into those guys.

David is right. The job market here does suck, cables are really close (tampa, orlando, Rixen, etc.), and theres a lake around every f-in corner. I love it here. Also if you ride dirt bikes there are about 5 tracks within 1.5 hours away. We have the best of both worlds here. Minus the snow that Cali gets, I wouldnt want to be anywhere else.

Codi, when he says +Utilities, that means "utilities not included".

Originally Posted by fly135

Codi, when he says +Utilities, that means "utilities not included".

exactly....sorry i should have clarified.

thanks for the info guys! Thanks john for the clearification john and no worries lee. Ya that snow is the biggest thing to step away from out here in cali, especially being only 45 minutes from tahoe. 1200 for a 3bed 2 bath house is still a really good deal. Ill def take a look at google maps

If you land a job first than the hard part is over,

I lived in Winter Haven for a while, had a brand new place, 2 bed, 2 bath furnished for 900 a month.

then lived with Will C. the next year, and in her development there were a lot more houses still for sale.... you could get a 3000 ft^2, 4 bed, 3 bath place right on the water for $200k.... taxes were reasonable too.... for that you might as well just buy and put your money towards owning something.... get a roomie or two and cover your mortgage

I would LOVE to live with Will C. lol (if its the will c. that im thinkin your talking about). Ya i have abuddy who's interested in the move with me. Do you guys think that I should take a weekend trip out there to check it all out or would it not be worth the money and i can just do pretty much everything online. Any of you originally from Cali and now move there? if so, are you happy with the move? I'd prob rent first then maybe buy. One last question, what cable park in florida do you think is the best in your guys' opinions? again, thank you all for the helpful advice!

Check the pay scale as well as the cost of living. Sometimes these things equal out. Look at a google earth, finding a lake will never be a problem in Central Florida.

I should add that many places with small lakes don't allow boats, however in Central Florida it's the opposite. If it's big enough to ride on there's a boat on it.