By Summer Burkhart | Burkhart & Foster Collective, Brokered by LPT Realty LLC
When people tell me they want to buy a home in Central Florida, one of my first questions is usually:
“What do you want your life here to actually look like?”
Not how many bedrooms.
Not the architectural style.
Not even the ZIP code.
Those things matter, of course. But after years of working in Central Florida real estate — and a lifetime of knowing this part of Florida — I’ve learned that finding the right home here starts with finding the right version of Central Florida.
Because there isn’t just one.
You can wake up in a downtown Orlando neighborhood surrounded by brick streets, historic homes, restaurants and people walking their dogs. You can choose a quiet community north of Orlando with mature trees and a little more breathing room. You can buy new construction in one of the area’s growing communities. You can look for acreage and space for the toys. Or you can head east and create a life where the Atlantic Ocean is part of an ordinary Tuesday.
That’s one of the things I love most about living here.
Central Florida gives you options.
Central Florida Is Much More Than Theme Parks
I understand why people outside Florida immediately think of Disney and Universal when they hear “Orlando.”
But those of us who actually live here experience an entirely different Orlando.
There are Sunday mornings around Lake Eola. Historic bungalows. Brick streets. Neighborhood restaurants where the staff starts recognizing you. Farmers markets. Old oak trees. Downtown high-rises. Golf communities. Lakefront homes. New developments. Horses and acreage. Little downtown districts that have managed to keep their personality even as the region has grown.
Even within Orlando itself, neighborhoods can feel dramatically different from one another.
Thornton Park and the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Eola, for example, offer a type of urban residential lifestyle that surprises many people who have only experienced Orlando as a visitor. The City of Orlando describes Thornton Park as having a commercial core leading toward Lake Eola surrounded by single-family bungalows, while nearby Lake Eola Heights is known for historic homes, brick streets and mature tree canopy.
City of Orlando
That’s the Orlando I wish more people knew existed.
And once you get outside the city core, the choices become even broader.
One of the Biggest Mistakes Buyers Make: Choosing the House Before the Lifestyle
I’ve seen buyers become emotionally attached to a house that checks almost every box on paper.
Then we start looking at what living there would actually mean.
How long is the commute?
What’s around the property?
Is the buyer comfortable with the HOA?
Does the neighborhood feel completely different at 8:00 a.m. than it did during a Sunday afternoon showing?
Is the property in the flood zone the buyer expected?
What will the homeowners insurance look like?
Does that beautiful rural property come with agricultural activity nearby that the buyer wasn’t expecting?
Those questions can matter just as much as granite countertops and square footage.
One recent search of ours is a perfect example.
The buyer didn’t simply want “a nice house near New Smyrna Beach.” His wish list was extremely specific: a single-story home, several acres, enough room for a substantial showroom-style garage, plenty of living space and a location that was high and dry. And there was another requirement that probably won’t appear on many online home-search filters:
He didn’t want to smell a farm every time he walked outside.
That sounds funny until you’re the person buying the property.
And that’s exactly why local real estate is about much more than plugging criteria into a search portal.
A property can meet every electronic search parameter and still be completely wrong for the person who is going to live there.
Orlando, Winter Park, Lake Mary, Sanford — How Do You Choose?
Rather than beginning with a list of “best neighborhoods,” I prefer thinking about Central Florida in terms of lifestyle.
Someone who wants walkability, restaurants and an urban atmosphere may be drawn toward downtown Orlando and surrounding neighborhoods.
Someone who wants historic architecture, parks, restaurants and established residential streets may look toward areas such as Winter Park.
Buyers looking north of Orlando frequently explore Maitland, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, Lake Mary or Sanford, depending on their commute, housing preferences and budget.
Those communities are not interchangeable.
That’s important.
I don’t believe in telling buyers that there is one universally “best place to live in Central Florida.” There isn’t.
There is a place that makes more sense for you.
SunRail
Transportation is part of that calculation, too. SunRail now stretches more than 61 miles through Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties with 17 stations, including DeLand, Sanford, Lake Mary, Winter Park, downtown Orlando and Kissimmee.
That doesn’t mean every buyer should choose a home around SunRail. It means transportation, commute patterns and where you actually spend your time should be part of the conversation before you fall in love with a property.
And Then There Is the Coast
This is where Central Florida becomes especially interesting.
Drive east from Greater Orlando and life changes again.
New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange, Daytona Beach and the surrounding communities give buyers another set of possibilities entirely.
Some people want the beach nearby but don’t necessarily want to live directly on the ocean. Others specifically want a condo lifestyle. Some want land farther inland while remaining close enough to enjoy the coast regularly.
We’ve worked both sides of that Central Florida equation, which is one of the reasons “From City to Coast” isn’t just a marketing phrase for us.
It describes the geography of how people actually live here.
A client can want downtown Orlando today and acreage toward the coast tomorrow. Life changes. Priorities change. Families change. Work changes.
Real estate should accommodate the life you’re building rather than force your life to accommodate a house.
Central Florida Buyers Should Look Beyond the Purchase Price
This is the part of the conversation that doesn’t make beautiful Instagram content, but it’s important.
Buying a home in Florida means understanding expenses beyond principal and interest.
Depending upon the property, that may include:
homeowners insurance and potentially flood insurance;
property taxes;
HOA or condominium assessments;
CDD fees in certain communities;
maintenance associated with pools, roofs, HVAC systems and Florida weather;
and, for condominium buyers especially, the financial condition and planned assessments of the association.
Florida homeowners who make a property their permanent residence may also qualify for the state’s homestead exemption, which can reduce taxable value by as much as $50,000. Qualifying homesteaded property also receives the Save Our Homes assessment limitation, and some homeowners moving between Florida homesteads may qualify to transfer — or “port” — part of their accumulated assessment difference.
Florida Department of Revenue
These aren’t details I want my buyers discovering after closing.
They’re part of evaluating the property.
Sometimes the House That Looks Perfect Isn’t
There is another lesson Central Florida real estate has taught me:
Condition matters more than cosmetics.
A beautifully staged home can still have an aging HVAC system.
A renovated condo can still belong to an association facing a significant assessment.
A large lot can still have drainage or flood considerations.
A newer-looking neighborhood doesn’t necessarily mean every major component of the property is new.
And the reverse is true as well.
I’ve walked into older homes with excellent maintenance histories that I would be far more comfortable recommending a buyer investigate further than a prettier house whose major systems have been neglected.
That’s why I encourage buyers to look past what photographs are designed to make you notice.
The kitchen backsplash is easy to see.
The expensive things often aren’t.
What I Love About Living in Central Florida
For me, Central Florida has never been a place I discovered through a relocation guide.
It’s home.
And perhaps because I know it that way, I see things that don’t always make the relocation brochures.
It’s being able to enjoy a real city and still get to the ocean.
It’s the contrast between a downtown skyline and a quiet street shaded by old trees.
It’s the strange pleasure of wearing sandals in January when friends elsewhere are scraping ice off their windshields.
It’s knowing that you can move 20 or 30 miles and find an entirely different kind of community without leaving the broader Central Florida region.
It’s watching Orlando continue to grow while older neighborhoods retain pieces of the Florida that were here long before the latest wave of development.
And yes, Central Florida has its challenges.
We have heat. We have storms. Insurance deserves serious consideration. Traffic can make two locations that look close on a map feel very different during rush hour. Flood zones matter. HOAs and condo associations deserve careful review.
I would rather talk openly about those things than pretend they don’t exist.
Because a good real estate decision isn’t based on convincing someone that Central Florida is perfect.
It’s helping them decide whether a particular part of Central Florida is perfect for the life they want to live.
Thinking About Buying a Home in Central Florida?
Start with the lifestyle before the listing.
Ask yourself where you want to spend your weekends. Think about your commute. Decide whether you want walkability or space, established neighborhoods or newer construction, city energy or a quieter setting.
And don’t worry if you don’t know the neighborhood name yet.
That’s where local knowledge becomes useful.
Florida is a Lifestyle~ Which One Will You Choose?
At Burkhart & Foster Collective, we help buyers explore Central Florida from Greater Orlando through surrounding communities and toward Florida’s east coast — not simply to find a house, but to understand what living there will actually be like.
Burkhart & Foster Collective
Brokered by LPT Realty LLC
BurkhartFoster.com
Experience the Difference From City to Coast.
