6 Myths About Moving to Orlando

Dozens of would be Orlandonians call my team and I on a weekly basis, with goals to move to Orlando for work or relaxation. There’s a common theme to the calls, and many of the same myths come up. Here are the top 6 myths I hear about living in Orlando:

Myth #1 – Pool Homes in Orlando 

This actually comes up a lot. So I jumped into our property search portal to see how frequent pool homes come up for sale. I searched for homes in Orange County (Orlando), Lake County (think Clermont), Osceola (think Celebration/Kissimmee), Seminole (Lake Mary), and Polk Counties.

As of the time of this article, there’s just over 3700 single family homes for sale. Of which, just over 1100 homes had a private pool. So roughly 30%. If you look at homes with an amenity inside the neighborhood that also included a pool, that number jumps to just over 1900. So roughly 1/2.

So while 1/2 the homes in the area have access to a pool, only 1/3 actually have one in their back yard.


Myth #2 – There’s only theme park jobs in Orlando 

Disney has over 70,000 cast members who work in Orlando. Universal has something like 30,000. The amount of companies that support the theme park industry is mind boggling. That said, there are a TON of additional industries growing in Orlando. From construction, our emerging space industry, and a massive health care industry that seems like it’s growing faster than your desire for a mickey ice cream. Check out our recent hospital wars article here. 

There’s a lot more to Orlando that theme park jobs. A lot more!


Myth #3 – Orlando has really cheap real estate 

The average list price for a single family home in Orange County is pushing the 500k+ range. There’s plenty of homes outside the core growth areas, but home prices aren’t cheap! 

The average home sale in Winter Park is just over $1M. The average sales price in Lake Nona is 650k. If you’re looking for a deal, I’d check out homes in Lake or Polk county!


Myth #4 – Orlando allows Airbnb’s everywhere

Second only to pool homes, this is the myth I hear the most of. Not all areas of Orlando allow short term rentals. In fact most don’t! Finding something downtown Orlando that you can Airbnb unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your stance) just doesn’t exist. 


If you’re looking to purchase a home to rent out in Orlando by the night or week, you need to look in a few areas. Reunion, Davenport, and West Kissimee all are zoned for the short term rental game.


Myth #5 – Weather In Orlando 

The Sunshine State, right?! Funny enough Orlando only had 233 sunny days in 2020. We had over 100 days that actually saw rain! Weather in Orlando (in my humble opinion) is incredible. It’s warm the majority of the year. When it’s chilly (40s-50s in Jan), the humidity does hang onto you. Being from the midwest though, 50s in January is pretty remarkable!


Myth #6 – Homes in Florida have cheap construction

Orlando and Florida in general have got a bad rap for poor construction. See the seaside debacle and homes built between 1980-2000. That said, construction standards have increased all across Orlando. In fact, we’ve seen the local municipalities delay construction starts in order to improve the build quality for many builders. It’s a welcomed addition to the area. Especially with such a new construction boom happening in our area. 

So that’s it! The top 6 myths about relocating to Orlando. What did you learn? What other questions do you have? Feel free to comment below.

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