When you hear the words “affordable housing”, what do you think of? Urban slums or ghettos”? Street gangs and graffiti on the walls? Government subsidized housing full of impoverished, unemployed and unemployable people?
Believe it or not, some of the most affordable housing in America is in Florida. By “housing” we mean houses. By “affordable” we mean that you can afford to buy it.
We are not talking about tenement apartment blocks. We are talking about real houses - single family, detached houses.
It is true that there are plenty of over-the-top rich neighborhoods along the Atlantic coast between Miami and West Palm Beach. It is also true that there are some hoity toity neighborhoods on the Gulf Coast near Naples and Tampa, as well as near Orlando, Jacksonville and Destin. But much of central Florida is quite affordable, and Ocala is one of those cities where there is no major sections of fancy rich people.
In Ocala, life is calm, people are people, and you can actually afford to own your house.
Avrus does its part to keep Ocala affordable. We arrange the lowest interest rate for our customers, so they have more money left over to enjoy all that Ocala has to offer.
Some of the things Ocala has to offer its residents are surprising for a town of 60,000 people. Perhaps the most amazing is that there is a symphony orchestra in town. Ocala is apparently big enough to have an art gallery, as well: the Appleton Museum of Art, which is found at the College of Central Florida. It also has an annual outdoor sculpture competition in Tuscawilla Park, which began as part of the effort to revitalize the area a few years ago.
Ocala is also host to a storytelling festival, a ballet company, a civic theatre, a chamber music society, a historical preservation society and at least a dozen other arts organizations.
If these cultural highlights don’t make Ocala the artsiest city in America on a per capita basis, there is a monthly Art Walk through downtown Ocala, and an annual Ocala Arts Festival.
If you love arts and culture, you’ll enjoy living in Ocala. Not bad for affordable housing.
If you are more into nature and the outdoors, you will never lack Paradise while living in Ocala. Just a few miles to the east of town is the expansive Ocala National Forest, which will provide you with ample opportunity for:
- hiking
- fishing
- boating
- camping
- canoeing
- swimming
- snorkeling
- scuba diving
- horseback riding
But the best part is that you can get so much for so little. Most Ocala homes are selling for below $100,000 That’s what makes them affordable. It means that almost anybody can afford to be a home owner. And with so many big-city amenities and high brow cultural activities in what is no more than a slightly overgrown small town, that is a huge bargain at any price.
8,500 years ago, the first people we know of inhabited this area. That means that over eight millennia, housing prices have not risen to unreasonable rates. If you want to make Ocala your home, call Avrus to arrange the financing you’ll need. We’ll be happy to help.
