Central Florida · Since 2001
Cliff Clover, REALTOR®, serving St. Cloud and Central Florida. I tell you what the listing doesn't.
HOA and CDD fees. Short-term rental zoning. What a lender never mentions. As a Saint Cloud Realtor full time since 2001, I've learned where those land, whether you're buying or asking how to sell your house in St. Cloud.
Cliff Clover, Realtor · 2625 Cherokee Rd, St Cloud, FL 34772 · (321) 320-7129
Renting now? See where you stand in 90 seconds
Buying in St. Cloud
First home, relocation, new construction, or lakefront. We start with what the payment actually is.
Where to start
Selling in St. Cloud
You see the comps and the full plan up front. We agree on price and prep. Then I run it, and you get back to your life.
The 89-step plan
Investing
Disney-area vacation homes, commercial, and land. Zoning first. Everything else second.
What to check
Who you'd be working with
Home in St. Cloud. Selling since 2001.
I've worked Central Florida full time since 2001, from lakefront estates on the Butler Chain to vacation homes near Disney. I've lived in St. Cloud since 2000.
I'm also a licensed commercial pilot and a former director at Kissimmee Gateway Airport. When a property involves land, lake access, or how a community really sits, I've usually seen it from the air. It isn't a service I sell. It's how I look at property.
- U.S. Army veteran
- Licensed since 2001 — FL #707230, eXp Realty
- Lives in St. Cloud on acreage, with cattle, donkeys and dogs
- Commercial pilot — fixed wing, rotorcraft, seaplane rated
St. Cloud area neighborhoods I work
Nine parts of St. Cloud. Each one asks different questions.
I live here and sell here. One side of town has CDDs. Another has well and septic. One has sidewalks, and another has room for horses. Here's the short, honest version of each. For who each one fits and the honest downsides, see my list of the best neighborhoods in St. Cloud.
Kissimmee Park and Cross Prairie
Where I live. Two very different buys a few minutes apart: new communities with townhomes, bungalows and larger homes, most with CDDs, or land, from 1-acre lots closer to Lake Toho to 5, 10 and 20-acre tracts. Builders here include Lennar, Meritage, David Weekley, M/I Homes and Jones Homes, and each one offers different incentives. The Turnpike is right at Kissimmee Park Road.
New construction in St. CloudDowntown St. Cloud
St. Cloud was founded in 1909 as a home for Union Civil War veterans, and many downtown streets carry state names. Homes range from early-1900s wood homes to newer builds, mostly on good-size lots with no HOA. You can walk to the marina, parks and lakefront on East Lake Toho. Most homes need some updating, and most side streets have no sidewalks.
Why online values miss hereSt. Cloud Manor
Country living a few minutes from downtown, near US 192. Fields, farms and parcels of around 5 acres, with room for horses and other large animals. Most homes are on well and septic, so check both before you fall in love.
Buying land in St. CloudHarmony
A golf community built around nature, east of town and closer to the Space Coast, for drives toward Cocoa and Melbourne.
The Harmony guidePine Lake Estates
An established subdivision with homes close together, sidewalks and yards. One of the more affordable ways in town to get a home with a yard.
First-time buyer programsNarcoossee and North St. Cloud
The fastest-changing side of town, with new shopping and businesses going in. Older, established homes sit west of Narcoossee Road and newer communities east of it. Some are gated. Expect an HOA. Older communities usually have no CDD. The north end borders Orange County near Lake Nona, with quick access to the airport and SR 528.
The Lake Nona guideNeoCity area
Osceola County's planned technology district, between Kissimmee and St. Cloud. Around it you'll find new builder communities like Tohoqua, lakefront homes, and older homes from the 1980s and earlier. Osceola Heritage Park hosts the rodeo, the county fair and Mecum auctions. A Cross Prairie Parkway extension toward Tohoqua is under construction, expected to open in 2028.
The Kissimmee guideCanoe Creek
Subdivisions on decent-size lots with yards and sidewalks. HOA dues tend to be low, and older subdivisions usually have no CDD. Some communities are gated and some aren't, so the rules depend on which one.
HOA vs. CDD feesEast St. Cloud
More land and more room: many 5-acre lot communities, lakes and wetlands, and lots of well and septic. New shopping is going in along US 192, next door to Harmony. If you commute to Orlando, the north side works better.
Drive times from St. CloudTwo things I tell every client
Selling: Price for the buyer who's shopping today. When monthly payments go up, buyers can afford less, and homes priced for last year's market sit.
Buying: When there are more homes for sale than buyers, many sellers will help with closing costs. Ask before you assume.
For sellers
Priced and prepared together. Sold in 39 days, or I keep working for free.
I put my commission behind my marketing. If we agree on pricing and prepare the home properly and it hasn't sold in 39 days, I keep working at no cost until it does.
See the seller planInherited a home? How I help families sell probate and inherited homes.
What it requires
- We agree on pricing from the comparable sales, not a hoped-for number
- The home is prepared and shows the way we agree it should
- Terms in writing before you list
If we can't agree on a price the market supports, I'll tell you that instead of taking the listing.
What clients say
“We were overwhelmed by the scam sharks and the hard hitters. Cliff was patient, explained every detail, and answered within minutes.”
Anthony B. — Google review
Vacation homes & investment
Zoning first. Everything else second.
Standard neighborhoods sit right next to short-term-rental communities and look identical from the street. Buy the cheaper one and the county ends your rental plan quickly.
- Where short-term zoning actually is, and how to verify it
- The furniture trap, and why a $90,000 price gap is a warning
- Management costs, seasonality, and the four-bedroom sweet spot
- Whether guests have to use I-4 at peak hours
Read the investor guide Browse Disney-area homes
Not every home in this search allows short-term rentals. I check the zoning on every address before you make an offer.
Where I work
Thirteen markets, each one different.
Fees, zoning, taxes and traffic change from one town to the next. These are the ones I know street by street.
Written locally
Twenty-four guides to what the listing doesn't say.
Each one comes from doing this here since 2001, not from somewhere else on the internet.
On YouTube
Three hundred videos about this market.
Neighborhood walkthroughs, aerial tours, and the things buyers find out too late.
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Central Florida new construction: the hidden costs builders hide from you
Base price $399,990. Final cost $612,540.
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How investors lose $100k on short-term rentals near Disney
Zoning, fines, and the mistakes that cost most
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The $40,000 mistake every family makes moving to Central Florida
What relocating buyers find out too late
Common questions
Answered straight.
How much do I need for a down payment in Central Florida?
How long does it take to sell a home here?
Which areas near Disney allow short-term rentals?
What is a CDD fee, and do I have to pay it?
Do you work with veterans and VA loans?
What makes you different from other agents here?
Start the conversation
Bring the address, the question, or the goal.
Text me an address and I'll tell you the fees, the zoning, and what the payment really looks like. Buying, selling, relocating or investing — it starts the same way.
