Suggestions or Help with buying a Villa in Orlando?

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london
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Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 6:43 pm
Location: Essex UK.

Suggestions or Help with buying a Villa in Orlando?

Post by london »

Hi

I have experience of running a holiday home in the Uk.

But would like to buy a Villa in the Orlando area.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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petemcveigh
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Post by petemcveigh »

Give me a shout, happy to share my experiences and thoughts.
" Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
london
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Location: Essex UK.

Post by london »

Thankyou for responding so quickly.

Could you kindly recommend any good communitys in and around the Orlando area to look for houses.

Do you think from your experience you still make any profit from a holiday let as there is such stiff competition in Florida.

Many thanks
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petemcveigh
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Post by petemcveigh »

There are, literally, hundreds of communities in the Orlando area, most of which have short and long term rental properties on them, and they continue to be built day-and-daily.
You need to think about what you want - new build/ existing; pool home/ Condo/ Town House; gated/ non-gated and what community facilities (if any) you want - these range from very basic through community swimming pools/ tennis courts up to communities with club houses, restaurants and gyms. Of course your Housing Association fees (which you will most likely have no matter where you buy) will vary depending on the facilities offered.
Next choice is where - near Disney/ near Universal, again the 'Orlando area' is vast.

To be totally honest (and it would be interesting to see what others think), if it is a pure investment you want with a guaranteed profit/ decent return on investment, I would suggest that Central Florida is not the best place to invest your money. As you rightly suggest, the competition is fierce - 10s of thousands of villas and hotel rooms (although there are millions of visitors annually) do, I believe, drive the prices to lower than you would expect for properties of this standard elsewhere in the world. Running costs can be high (air con/ pool heaters get heavy use and can run to a couple of thousand to replace) and you will need a local management company presence.
We have our property for our family and for our longer-term plans and absolutely love it, but it is an emotional tie rather than a sound financial investment.

As I say, happy to talk more and share my view of the world and would be good to hear what others think.

Pete
" Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Just speaking from my one experience in having a holiday in Florida, the 3 bed villa we stayed in was by far the cheapest I have paid for a property of it's quality during many years of family holidays. I can't imagine it is the best place in the world to invest for returns and with fierce competition, you'll have to work hard to stay ahead of the rest. As pete says I suspect there has to be an emotional reason for wanting a holiday home there.
SandyBeaches
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Post by SandyBeaches »

Agree with Nemo, Prices are low and competition is tough ie there are lots of villas. We investigated buying in Florida and I flew over there for a week a few years ago (we visit regularly as well) to do comprehensive and thorough research in the area we wanted to buy.

Our reasons were 99% financially motivated and 1% holiday motivated. At the end of the week I phoned my husband with the heartbreaking news that we would struggle to break even based on my research and so we bought in the UK.

For what it would have cost us to buy/maintain a rental we can still holiday there every year. So it depends what your motivation is.
Beachcondo
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Post by Beachcondo »

I suggest that you join Top-Forums that is a Florida based forum that has mainly UK based Orlando owners as members.

After spending some time there, you will have more information to base your decision on.
Pessimists only get positive surprises.
arkvilla
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Post by arkvilla »

I'd agree with what Pete says, it's a hard slog and you don't get a big return, we bought off plan 10 years ago and only recently started to cover all our costs and property lost a lot of money

I spend as much time working on the villa as I do at work and look on it as a part time job

There is so much competition
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964kevin
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Post by 964kevin »

Late to the party.

Our rates haven't yet covered our costs, 6 years in. Its not the same market as the UK rentals. Competition is very very high, and tough.
Our first couple of years from memory I ploughed in around $15k.
then you have = hardware breaks, guests want it fixed, in the last 18 months, One pool pump, one pool heater, one a/c unit, one AHU, dining table and chairs, and corner sofa. bye bye $13k...

Its quite tough, and we have been booked solid this year, and 2/3 of next. next year, might see us breaking even....might... I haven't looked at the taxes and fees closely enough yet.


Kevin
http://www.encantada-vacation.com

Our little piece of Florida, never get tired of being there. Love it and the people to bits.
Musetta
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Post by Musetta »

If I were to buy in Florida, personally, I would buy where there are a lot of jobs, i.e. Jacksonville or wherever (you'd have to research) so that you are not stuck with a vacation-only market if/when you go to sell. When I sold my NYC area house, for instance, I never mentioned at all it had been hr - I just sold it as a home. There seems to be rental business in much of the state and not just Orlando, if you are willing/able to market to Americans. I know people in St.Augustine that do very well, for instance. I don't know Florida well at all, btw - I just mentioned Jacksonville area because I know people there. An acquaintance seems to book their house in Henderson (?) or somewhere near Orlando that she says rents almost exclusively to UK guests...it was not inexpensive for Florida though.
nuneatonmark
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Post by nuneatonmark »

There are much better places to buy a holiday rental than Orlando. Either parts of the gulf coast or, where we bought, St Augustine are better bets. We've only just completed our first year and made a good profit. In addition, St Augustine is lovely. Sarasota, Fort Myers or Clearwater are also good bets. However, property is more expensive, for the price of a 4 bedroom pool home in Orlands we got a 2 bedroom condo in St Augustine.
Nuneaton Mark
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