I went to Gainesville last week and loved it down there..I am actually thinking about relocating. I like the houses I've seen in Ocala..is there something wrong with that town because there seems to be some awfully nice houses at some decent prices?
I have a sister-in-law who lives there. From what I know they have never had any problems but I don't know much about the area. Good luck - it's warm and sunny there! :)
ETA: Scratch my earlier response. Had a light bulb go off this AM and I remembered my brother lived in Alachua, not Ocala. Sorry about that!
A., I just spent two weeks there with my in-laws. They have lived there for 20+ years and they love it. It is a town that was once mostly retirees and it still has a lot of older people but it is getting younger. The first time we went there in 1996 it was still building up rt 200 and the main business roads. Today it looks like those businesses have been there forever. I have a good friend who has lived there for about 12 years and he says that it has taken a while for them to realize there are young families moving to the community...but they are doing things like building play grounds in the parks and things like that. I read the paper while I was there and they seem to have the same political problems as most of the country. My friend likes the school his son attends. They mentioned when they recently bought a house that they bought in a community that was not an HOA or anything that resembled a 55+ community. We enjoyed it while we were there and most everyone was friendly. Hope this is useful info for you, R.'
probably boring, lol
My sister moved to Ocala about 3 years ago. I can't speak for the whole community, but ... I know that in her subdivision, the developer went bankrupt before the whole subdivision was "built out." Thus, there are a blue ton of empty finished houses, empty not-finished houses and empty lots all around her. However, these houses can be had for a lark.
Good luck in your search!
In general the Florida housing market is better then here in OH. You CAN get more house for your money. Different areas have different housing markets... there are many things that affect the prices. There are areas of Florida that are very expensive... Naples, The Keys.... but as I said, in general, the housing market in Florida is very reasonable.
I think the Florida real estate market is still hurting from the housing market crash. Prices are better than they have been previously. It's definitely a buyer's market.
There's a lot of "old money" in Ocala; it's a big area for raising race horses. Everyone I've known who lived there, loved it. I didn't live there but drove there a lot. Personally, I thought the traffic was awful, but otherwise it was a neat town.
