Holday Homes in Orlando, Is It Worth It??

[Tigger&theBeast]

I'm a first time poster from the UK who is considering buying a property in the Orlando area to rent as a holiday home. Question is is it worth it or not?? Your views and opinions would be appreciated.

P.S. I'm thinking long term of upping sticks and making a permanent move Stateside, so would dipping my toe in the water be a positive step in the right direction??

 

[Yen_Sid1]

I'm a first time poster from the UK who is considering buying a property in the Orlando area to rent as a holiday home. Question is is it worth it or not?? Your views and opinions would be appreciated.

P.S. I'm thinking long term of upping sticks and making a permanent move Stateside, so would dipping my toe in the water be a positive step in the right direction??

Here's an article in the Orlando Sentinel:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-asecresales19071905jul19,0,280337.story?track=mostemailedlink

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Your own financial situation is the guide as to whether it is worth it or not. If you can afford to buy the property (no mortgage) go for it.
If you will be taking out a loan or second mortgage then you need to think carefully. New property is being built all over the Orlando area (a lot will be used for rental homes). You need to find a management company which will guarantee you an income from the rental of your property which will cover your repayments. There will come a time when the number of houses available for rental is greater than the number of visitors wanting to rent - this is when house prices will drop and people will have their property repossessed as they can't afford to keep up the repayments.
A second house in Florida is a nice thought - but it has to be right for you.

 

[DISMUM]

As an owner I can tell you it unlikely you will make a profit renting it out especially if you rely on a company to get you bookings -their rates are abysmal to start with and leave you to pay the taxes on them and the bills.The only way to even start to try and get reasonable rates is to book it out yourself which is almost a full time job .Most of the good listing sites are closed -so you will need to rely on the lesser known ones that come and go like the rain -and on your own marketing programmes.I always say to peole thginking of it if you cna run two homes for 6 -9 months on one salary then go for it if not think very carefully and what ever you do do not believe the breakdown of figures you wil be shown as you are looking they will not hold water . Been there- done it and got the t shirt .

 

[Tim G]

Your own financial situation is the guide as to whether it is worth it or not. If you can afford to buy the property (no mortgage) go for it.
If you will be taking out a loan or second mortgage then you need to think carefully. New property is being built all over the Orlando area (a lot will be used for rental homes). You need to find a management company which will guarantee you an income from the rental of your property which will cover your repayments. There will come a time when the number of houses available for rental is greater than the number of visitors wanting to rent - this is when house prices will drop and people will have their property repossessed as they can't afford to keep up the repayments.
A second house in Florida is a nice thought - but it has to be right for you.

If you have approx. $450K laying around for a 4/5bed-3Bath... it's doable... + furniture...($20.000 to $30.000)
Remember the running costs for short term rentals are high... skyhigh... about $2500 a month + mortage...

Long term investment is the most sensible thing to do, nowadys in Orlando...

 

[Tigger&theBeast]

I'm in a fortunate position that if I were to commit myself to buying, although it would be using a second mortgage, I would be able to afford both sets of payments so i'm not really looking to make a profit, though it would be nice to make some money out of it, i'm thinking more about getting a foot on the property ladder on "the other side of the pond" so to speak as a potential springboard to a permanant move. has anyone had any experience of doing this, what advice would they give, do they have any regrets or has it been the "dream" they imagined it to be??

 

[DISMUM]

Having had a second home in Florida does not afford you any real benefits should you decide to go down the visa route .I have a friend who was an owner for 7 years before taking the plunge of moving over and even after having an american bank account and paying state and local taxes for all that time she couldn't get credit to start with and found life hard going financially .As for it being a dream I think it may depend on the route in which you take to get in .In Florida a lot of the Brits I know who are now residents say they work much harder than they ever did here and once you are there permanently the cost of living doesn't look so good and life is not quite what they thought -but they are still glad they did it even if it takes a long time to be able to operate normally especially in the financial side of things .

 

[Britmick]

Changed our minds

It all seemed perfect, we were so close to signing a contract and at the last minute changed our mind. I think there are so many vacation homes available that the competition is too great. We looked at Indian Oaks near WDW and were assurred we could fill it 30 weeks out of 52. Even with that break even was only just possible.

I think you need a good, make that very good deposit or buy with a friend and share for a few years before selling and sharing a profit. We looked into buying long and hard and if we had $50,000 more we may have done it.

 

[Corryn]

Holy cow!
Me and my husband were getting serious and looking at MLS listings of condos down there to purchase and rent out using a management company. We do not know anyone who has done exactly that, but reading these posts has made me feel like its not such a Sure Thing, like the different management companies' websites describe. Some say that they will guarantee you at least 7 months of rentals..... We definitely would like to purchase a condo down there because we would like to visit Disney a couple of times a year and also a lot of family and some friends have already moved down there (but not to Orlando, to the west/east coasts). I don't know what to do now. Any suggestions from Been There Done That? Thanks :brick:

 

[DISMUM]

As I said in other post if you need to rely on management company rentals then think very seriously about doing it .Yes they promise you 7 months worth of rentals but at what price? I would wager not really enough to cover costs .Bear in mind you will lose between 11-13% in state and local taxes on any rental you get from them plus their costs and your utilites .The only way is to do all the work yourself and it is hard believe me .

 

[Hawk]

I was interested in doing this a while back, but thinking about it, i'm glad i haven't, it all looks rosy when you're on holiday, but to make a new life just like that, isn't that rosy after all, we looked into buying and renting out the home we stayed in on Clear Creek, as it was up for sale, first thing that put us off, in years to come, would we really want a home that numerous people had used/abused, secondly, the abused bit, quite a few people who go away on holiday, stay somewhere but couldn't careless about the property or the surroundings or other residents, imagine moving all that way only to be plagued by the families from hell nearly every week? not saying it would be every week, but there's a high chance of getting more than your fair share of undesirables renting the house next door etc, could you put up with that?

Dave