Best Areas of Orlando and Vicinity

Lake Conway in Orlando is a beautiful chain of lakes. Super clean water with at least 2 slalom courses on them.There's a beautiful shallow "sandbar" area that's absolutely amazing in the summer.

The surrounding neighborhoods are very nice. Close to everything. 10 minutes to Orlando International airport. 10 minutes from downtown Orlando and about 20-30 mins from all of the local attractions (Disney, I-Drive, Universal, etc).

I've been utilizing this lake for the past 15 years and it never disappoints. I hear the fishing is decent as well.

I believe the average price for canal front is in the $350-400K range with lakefront running around $700K on up.







There are plenty of other lakes, but this one is one of my favorites.

2tall wrote: Now that's what I'm talking about! Thanks JPASS! That is some great detail just what I am looking for. Do you know of some other areas that are nice? Maybe even under 300k (since it's my second home :) )

Maybe try Here

or Here

When you find stuff you like, post it. We should be able to tell you more about it

I live on a Lake called Lake Jessamine which is about a mile from Lake Conway. Have boated both lakes extensively. Conway is neat because it is a chain and has 24 hour public ramps which makes it more interesting if you like activity. Jessamine is nice because the ramps close at sunset so the traffic is less and it is overall much more peaceful. If you need someone to help you look at houses remotely, give me a buzz. I love this area. Great proximity to both coastlines, downtown is nearby, and lots to do in between. The area I would suggest you look in would be the cities of Bell Isle and Edgewood on either Lake Conway or Lake Jessamine.

If you are looking to spend more in the $1 million range, Lake Butler in the town of Windermere would be my next suggestion. It is everything that Lake Conway is but bigger and more affluent.
Let me know if I can be of help.

Rent something for a winter season. Make an effort to explore and see what entices you.

-Posted from the bar at Manny's Original Chophouse, Winter Haven FL.

Renting is a good idea....I thought about that. Sometimes I get so excited about a lake house I just want to go buy buy buy!! I am always the one who thinks the best deals will get away from me if I wait or rent. I find it difficult to wait for anything, especially a long time dream, but I digress....renting would actually be a great idea and help me explore and have my boat on lots of lakes and spend a lot of time finding exactly the right one.

74Wind - Your take on the neighborhoods actually makes great sense. I never would have thought about that. Even just the demographic of the area in terms of age and tolerance of boats (noise, fun, screaming, music, fun etc.) is something I am very keen on paying attention to. I think that's one of the reasons secretly I am leaning towards lakes where skiing is already widely accepted and encouraged as opposed to some of the lakes I am finding where there are just a few owners who share it and none of them ski (can you say red flag for butting heads?)

Hollywood wrote: Rent something for a winter season. Make an effort to explore and see what entices you. -Posted from the bar at Manny's Original Chophouse, Winter Haven FL.

Jd, EXCELLENT idea!
I am in the Apopka area, boat on Lake Brantley where 300k wouldn't get you land near the lake! Lakefront is expensive. We have looked for years. I like the Mt Dora/ Tavares / lake Harris chain. Mt Dora has lots of culture, restaurants, activities etc.. Lake Dora is nice, and pretty cool how they are connected and you can actually take your boat to many restaurants. $$ again high.
You should plan on coming to the SJRR in March, having fun on the St Johns river (Another option for ownership) and looking around. Anything in the range you are looking at will likely have to be in an unpopulated area. You have to be carefull with the lake you choose as well, as some are shallow, dirty (Algae, mud) or polluted, like Lake Apopka!

Under 300k? Don't bother looking anywhere outside of Winter Haven area and that is pushing it. I'm in the market myself to buy waterfront income rental for those damn Yankee snowbirds, preferably coastal or St John's. Prices are unbelievable. Groveland doesn't have stable water, maybe you are thinking Clermont area and clermont chain? Sunset lakes and Swiss are nice if you're a hardcore slalomer. In fact just scratch Groveland/mascot the off your list due to it being dirty as can be. I live 1/2 mile from Lake Carlton on the Dora chain and across the street from lake Ola (spring lake not apart of chain). Fabulous area. Two cheapest houses in our zip code are on the water, a fixer upper for 499k and a 3k spft nice simple house for 750k. The traditional Florida snowbird trailer park can sell for about $45k if that'll suit you.. A great chain kinda undiscovered is Alligator chain in St Cloud. You can probably get sub 400k there. Hell I have a lake view lot there that I'll sell.

2tall wrote: Here are some areas where I am looking at some affordable stuff, but again...I am open to where to go. Winter Haven/Auburndale/Haines Lake Eva Lake Rochelle Lake van Lake Alfred Lake Smart Groveland/Mascotte lake Catherine Sunset lakes That area in general Mount Dora area lake Dora/Beauclaire/carlton

Hey JD
I am on Lake Elbert in Winter Haven. I really like it. Winter Haven surrounded many of its lakes in the early 1900's with roads so that the front of the houses would face the lakes once they were developed. You end up owning your lake front with a road between your house and the lake.That sort of worked, but since it was called "Winter Haven", many seniors since the 1940's came and built "vacation homes" 'near" the lake, because even then, they only came in the winter for the weather and fishing. Those "vacation homes" surround many of the lakes, so that the lakes are surrounded with small, deteriorating homes. Those areas sadly have bars on the windows. They are absolutely beautiful lakes, but the neighborhoods are iffy.
Lake Eva in Haines City has really good neighborhoods. The problem is that the lake itself suffers during a drought, and was actually unusable for quite a while in recent years. I think the World Barefoot Center is on the same chain as Rochelle and Smart, and the neighborhood surrounding the WBC is pretty good.
I do not know much about Lake Van or Alfred, but if you are not from Florida, let me tell you about snakes and alligators. They will get into the craziest places. Alfred and Van have large areas of "lowlands" surrounding them, allowing the critters a bit of roaming space, and so although the critters are in all the lakes, you might see a few extras in the lakes with a lot of undeveloped shore line. Honestly, even in the undeveloped lakes, the critters do NOT have a history of bothering people. I have skied in lakes knowing there are gators in the area, but you will have a problem convincing your future guests that it is ok to ski in a lake where they just saw a big gator on the shore.
Polk County is another minor detractor. It is a bit like watching "Deliverance". I never actually heard "You got a pretty mouth boy", but for some reason, the hobos like Polk County. Having said that, I think you see the price difference. A $250k lake home in Winter Haven would be $750k on the Conway chain. So in a nut shell, get a realtor in Winter Haven (PM me if you need a reference) and use Google Earth to explore the "neighbors". If you buy in the right area in Winter Haven, you could be in ski utopia.
Tom

Yes...Rattlers....the West is full of them, but at least you get a warning, we call them the snakes with manners....and it's only about 3 months a year you ever even think about them because the other 9 months this place is covered in snow..urghh

Wow! Thanks everyone! seacamper-great post and advice. That was a major concern of mine about the Deliverance vibe. I noticed on google maps several places that looked great on paper, then I "walked the streets" on google maps and holy cra% the neighborhood was super sketchy and Deliverance was the first term that popped into my head. I also appreciate the ideas around mud, algae, pollution and gators.

Anyone know about lake Carlton/Beauclaire/Dora chains?

BTW: These replies have been fantastic. I have read and re-read each one checking out each location and plotting and scheming. Thanks again everyone!

To answer another question, no, I have not spent much time in that area. I am headed that way at the end of the month.

Are they clean (not polluted)?
Not too crowded?
Not too much algae/mud/gunk?
It looks like some nice homes in the area (one for almost 8 million on lake carlton)
What do I need to know about them when thinking about owning around there?

What is so concerning about the neighborhood? What are you looking to do? Are you staying for weeks at a time? Seems like price isn't so much a factor. Are you arriving solo and needing to find a boat driver?

Skiable water?
Send kids to school?
Increasing property value?
Property tax? (is this even a thing in FL?)
Close to airport?
Close to downtown?
Single family home vs. condominium?
Walk to restaurants/entertainment?
Retirement residence?

I think you can own some sort of residence and maintain boat storage in many different locations and ways.

if there are any there dry rack storage facilities there, that is a great option, have been doing it that way myself for years:

Call ahead and it's sitting at the dock when you get there, just jump in and go.
(Fancier places have online systems where you just enter your time)

When done, just tie it up, give a little wave, and split.

As simple as it gets....

Drove past Lake Ned on Monday and there was most of a slalom course out there and also a barefoot jump.