Park Your Cares in Winter Park

This time of year, everyone who knows anybody in Florida is calling up, asking about a visit. Winter still is holding the north of the country in its thrall, while residents of Winter Park, Florida, are enjoying sun and temperatures that don’t call for boots, mufflers, or mittens.

Wouldn’t you like to be one of them? All your concerns about snow cancellations, all your cares about digging out from yet another snowfall, they can all be parked at the door when you move to Winter Park.

And you can say good-bye to the real winter forever!

Here’s an image: think about strolling down Park Avenue. You’ll pass boutiques, restaurants, wine shops and bars, specialty shops, cafés, salons, clubs … there isn’t much that you could want that you won’t find here, and there’s something priced for everyone’s pocketbook. That has to beat slipping on the ice to do your shopping in the north!

Or if you don’t want to shop or eat but just like to be outdoors, then head over to the nearby Kraft Azalea Gardens, a beautiful place to visit, with giant cypress trees, palms and an excellent view of Lake Maitland, the largest of Winter Park’s lakes. Take a walk, relax in the sun, or bring a picnic lunch, and be sure to visit the rookery.

You’re probably wondering, by now, what the catch is. High crime rate? Um, no: one of the lowest in the county. Terrible substandard schools? No again: parents give the schools consistently high ratings. Price of homes? Again, sorry: there are homes available in Winter Park for nearly every budget, from single-family starters priced at under $100,000 to luxurious mansions in the million-plus-dollar range (for which we are happy to help you find a jumbo mortgage!).

Winter Park started out as a resort destination, a place for wealthy New Englanders to escape the snow and cold of winter. But it doesn’t have to be a seasonal haven: on the contrary, the city offers a thriving economy, value, quality of life, and—yes—great weather year-round.

If you’re considering making a move to Winter Park, then come and see what it has to offer—and then come and see us at Avrus Financial and Mortgage before you go look at any Winter Park real estate. We can help you with preapproval for a Florida mortgage that will be comfortable for you and your family and help you settle in to one of the best places to live in America.

The first centrally planned community in Florida, Winter Park’s stated vision is to “be the best place to live, work and play in Florida for today’s residents and future generations.”

That’s hard to beat!

Winter Park Is Not Just for Winters Anymore: Part 1

Winter Park may attract its share of snowbirds wanting to escape the cold of the north, but this thriving community is much more than just a refuge from snow.

The first thing you may notice about Winter Park are the buildings themselves: there’s a great deal of history in these impressive homes, and owning one of them may be closer than you think with a Winter Park mortgage.

Winter Park has long been considered one of the most beautiful cities in Central Florida. It’s just northeast of Orlando, so Winter Park is an easy commute for people who work in the downtown area … but want to live someplace out of the city, someplace a little special.

It’s a community that truly offers something for everyone. Winter Park Village is an answer to malls: a place to have something to eat, to go shopping, a place to find great entertainment. There’s a dog park, a farmer’s market, a sidewalk art festival, and even free classical movies at Winter Park’s Popcorn Flicks in the Park.

Sound like fun? It’s definitely a place worth exploring if you’re considering relocating to Florida. Orlando has a thriving entertainment industry with plenty of employment opportunities, and living outside of the city will give you the opportunity to have the feel of a smaller, tight-knit community while having access to all of Orlando’s amenities as well.

And since current Winter Park mortgage rates continue to be low, now is a perfect time to check out Winter Park real estate and consider making it your home. Getting a Winter Park mortgage broker to preapprove a Florida mortgage is your first step toward Winter Park home ownership. Many if not most real estate agents now require Florida mortgage preapproval before showing homes, and for good reason: it’s easy to overestimate what you can afford, and people are often heartbroken to find the “perfect” house and then find that it’s not within their means. Avoid heartbreak: there are plenty of Winter Park properties that are within your financial range, and one of them may just have your name on it—it’s a matter of finding the right fit. We’re Winter Park mortgage specialists and we can help you find that right fit—so why not contact us today? Summertime is a terrific time to go house-hunting in Florida—and you never know what you might find!

Winter Park: It’s Not Just For Winters Anymore: Part 2

Okay, so it used to be. For a very long time, Winter Park was considered a winter resort. And for good reason: temperatures in December fluctuate between 50 and 75 degrees, which sounds pretty much like paradise for anyone shoveling snow in the northern part of the country. Two weeks in Winter Park and they could go back home rested, having absorbed the sun’s vitamin D and walked around in shorts for a while. And being close to Orlando meant that a winter vacation in Winter Park was sure to excite the whole family.

But the reality is that more and more people who came to visit realized that Winter Park was developing into a community where they might want to put down roots, buy a Winter Park house, and give up shoveling snow forever.

There are a lot of good reasons to move to Winter Park. The first is in its name: there are in fact more than 70 parks here, so any outdoor enthusiast will have plenty to keep them occupied! For culture lovers, there is the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, offering the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, comprising an internationally recognized art collection (over 200 works) created by Czech-born American sculptor Albin Polasek. Country clubs, theaters, an historic district, shopping and fine dining are all available without ever leaving Winter Park itself, and its location in central Florida means that you can access everything that the state has to offer.

Your first stop is information. It’s important that you work with your Winter Park real estate agent to narrow down your home search to the neighborhoods that suit you best. But—wait! There’s a missing step in that process, and that’s applying for and getting preapproved for your Winter Park mortgage.

You may think that getting mortgage preapproval before visiting a Winter Park Realtor is a little like putting the cart in front of the horse, but that’s not the way that it works anymore. Nearly every real estate agent will require a preapproval before he or she will even discuss listings with you. It’s logical, when you think about it: what happens when you fall in love with a property? Every other property immediately pales in comparison. And if you find out that the property you’ve fallen in love with is not one you can qualify for … well, heartache lies ahead. Getting a Winter Park mortgage preapproval means that your real estate agent can focus on properties that will work for you.

So why not come and check us out? We’d love to help you find all the mortgage options that are available to you and help you choose just the right one. And then you’ll find that Winter Park isn’t just for winters anymore!

The Not-So-Wintry Charm of Winter Park

Orlando may get a lot of attention from the tourist bureaus, and certainly it’s a fun place to visit; but if you’re thinking of making a move to central Florida, then leave Mickey Mouse behind and consider, instead, what Winter Park has to offer in terms of real estate, quality of life and—frankly—charm.

We could start with the obvious: the price of Winter Park homes has increased by 12% over last year, and is set to continue to increase—so Winter Park real estate is a good investment. Property crime and violent crime are both low—and significantly below the rest of Florida. Parents consistently rate all of Winter Park schools—both public and private—as excellent.

And if you are reading this from anywhere in the northern part of the United States, where this year’s arctic vortex has hammered regions with snowfall after snowfall, the Winter Park temperature spread—between the high 50s and the low 90s—may be just what the doctor ordered.

But there are some less-obvious reasons to move to Winter Park as well. Difficult as it is to believe of a place so close to Orlando, but Winter Park is a cultural center as well. The largest collection of Tiffany glassware and art is housed in Winter Park, at the Hosmer Morse Museum. The Winter Park History Museum sponsors lectures and concerts. The Hannibal Square Heritage Center hosts the award-winning Heritage Collection, comprising photographs and oral histories of West Winter Park’s African-American community as well as offering a visiting exhibition art series, community-created public art installations, and educational programs.

All of this adds up to a community that’s well worth a second look if you’re considering a move. And while there’s concern that Florida mortgage interest rates may be climbing, they’re still low enough to enable you to find just the right Winter Park mortgage to ensure the right rate for the right home. But don’t take our word for it! Come and experience the not-so-wintry charm of Winter Park for yourself, and ask us how to finance your Florida home.

And you can say good-bye to the real winter forever!