Orlando Disney Vacation Homes Buyer's Guide

Orlando is the theme park capital of the world, receiving over 75 million visitors and tourists annually. With record numbers of snowbirds heading south for the winter, and people moving into the Central Florida area, there is often a severe shortage of vacation rental homes to accommodate them.

Orlando Florida STILL proves to be exceptional value for money when it comes to real estate investment. From $250,000 and up, you can own a beautiful vacation condo, town home or single family 'villa' style property with its own pool in one of the many stunning resort communities in the area.

Particular favorites of mine right now are: Reunion, Solterra Resort, Margaritaville Orlando, Solara, Windsor at Westside, ChampionsGate and, of course, the brand new Windsor Island Resort.

The reason why I like these new home communities, is because besides just owning the house or condo, the communities really do have something to offer. 15, 20 years ago people called up their travel agent and just ordered a hotel or vacation home for rent and turned up to whatever home they were allocated on arrival.  Obviously with the advances of the Internet, this has wildly changed.  People are now AWARE of what is on offer out there.  They know how much it costs to bring their families to the Disney area for, what is often, their holiday vacation of a lifetime.  When they get here, they don't want to spend thousands of dollars every single day visiting the parks.  They also don't want to have to deal with bored kids either, so the very next question they ask, is "what is there to do?".

This is where the gated resort comes into play.  Once they hear that the resort offers clubhouse, various pools, hot tubs, movie theaters, sundry shops, bars, restaurants and more, they're 'sold'.  Wouldn't you be?  It's a given.  Now throw in maybe a golf course or two within the resort or the immediate local area and Dad is usually 'sold' as well. 

So it is really important to keep up with the local trends when purchasing real estate here in the Orlando Disney area.  As your local Realtor, and first point of call, I can help you to decide which vacation home resort is the best fit for you and your family, or group of investors.  Some are more popular than others.  There's a reason for this, well several actually.  Some offer some great amenities but are deemed too far from the parks.  Some have a lack of amenities compared to other recent communities.  This reflects in not just the price of the real estate, but also the nightly rate figures that it will achieve once it hits your property management company and on the World Wide Web for rentals.

Right now, inventory is low.  The housing supply in desirable locations is extremely limited. Location creates desirability, desirability creates demand, and demand raises real estate prices.  This is an important factor to remember when it comes time for you to resell.

Whilst there is a small possibility of getting a 'great deal', please remember one thing.  Inventory is extremely low right now.  EVERYONE wants a deal. So if you see one on the market, you'll have to move FAST.  Likely it will be gone within a couple of days or even hours.  If you require help with financing, I can help you with that by putting you in touch with local mortgage brokers and lenders.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.

The most common question I am asked by vacation home buyers is "how much does property management cost"... that's a difficult question to answer.  How long is a piece of string?

Not all property managers are the same.  Not all property managers offer the same thing.  When pushed, I'll say that a very ROUGH guideline is around $200+ a month and 20% of rentals generated by the management company.  Of course, it could be higher, and, it could be lower.

What I will say to you is this.  Whilst I can provide you with a list of local rental property managers in the area, there is one PRIMARY thing you have to remember.  Your property manager is, in effect, your business partner.  Both of you will be working hand in hand to achieve the same thing.  The highest possible rental occupancy and income for your investment.  You'll also want to take into account how well they take care of their vacation homes in general.  So look to things like Google Reviews and places like Booking.com, Expedia.com for things like this.  As you are looking for this information, pay attention also to things like how relevant they are.  For example, if you go to something like Expedia.com, or Google and put in a search for a home similar to yours, how quickly do they show up offering homes for rent? That's how quickly they'll show up for your future renters too.

This type of advertising is not cheap by any means.  Therefore, they need to generate money from their homeowners in order to be able to do this.  There are some big management companies in the area which tend to dominate the market here who spend in excess of several million dollars a year in this kind of local, national and international marketing.  And they are the front runners.  And they do very well.  So please remember that cheap is not always best.  Also, by the same token, there are some smaller management companies in the area, that boast boutique services for their owners and tend to keep their pool of homes smaller so that they can concentrate on getting them filled.  The choice is yours, so I would urge that you do your due diligence and find the right fit for you.