Looking for Real Estate Agent - Specialty: Vacation Homes (Orlando: rentals, HOA)

[Steve305]

Hi Guys,
My wife and I are interested in buying a vacation home in the Orlando/Kissimmee area that we can use as an investment property for short term rentals for people vacationing in the area.

I would like to talk to a real estate agent who specializes in these types of homes - can anyone recommend a good one?

[askangiwa]

I live in NYC and I just recently bought a vacation home in Orlando and found a great real estate agent who's been guiding me through the process....email me at askangiwa@gmail.com and I'll give you here info

[qdogfball]

Steve05,

One thing to understand is..Make sure that you know you WILL not cover your expenses for everything. You MUST be able to make payments for EVERY expense that will be for your new place. Any rentals you may get will be a bonus.

I tell all my clients who will listen about this.

Example that I just looked at this past week:

2913 Pembridge Kissimmee, FL Asking $125,000
P&I = $580.00 and Escrow= $272.92 = $852.92
Add the maintenance every month(Lawn, Pool, cleaning) = $250.00
Utilities(phone, internet, water, electricity) = $360.00
for a total of $1,462.92 out the door every month.

so, you will need to rent for 15 days a month @ over $100 a night to break even! (Right now the rates are under $100 a night for a 3bd 2ba place)

[annerk]

Not to mention that getting 15 days a month is a pipe dream these days.

[Broker Dave]

I have one that sold in 2006 for 353,000 for 115,000 (with a pool) and at this price range the numbers work, its 5 minutes from Champions Gate and 15 minutes from Disney's main gate.

The buyer that currently has a contract in place on this property is only looking for 6 months rental so they and their family can use the property.

Hope this helps,

[annerk]

Actually the numbers don't work because repairs and maintenance were left out of the monthly nut estimate. I have a brand new home and live in it--so it's taken better care of than if I were renting it, and I can do a lot of things myself. Paint, plumbing, irrigation repair, those things add up and need to be taken care of, even if the property is cared for.

I had a clogged garbage disposal last weekend. I unclogged it myself, but had I been a tenant with an out of town landlord, that would have been a $100 plumbers bill to turn a hex key a few times. Cost to repaint the exterior is a minimum of $1800 or so every 5-7 years, and you'll need some touch ups in between. In the past couple of years I've had a $300 repair to my fridge and a $700 repair to my washer. Screen repair, gutter repair, broken toilets, the list goes on. These are things that just "go" and not through abuse.

Start factoring all that in and you're looking at $100-200 a month in short term and long term maintenance and repairs.

[Steve305]

Thanks for the great insight and information in this area. From what I've read and heard about the short-term vacation rental market in the past few months, it looks like we will most likely purchase an investment property near the parks initially for long-term rental use until the economy and thus the short-term rental market picks up again.

Originally Posted by qdogfball

Steve05,

One thing to understand is..Make sure that you know you WILL not cover your expenses for everything. You MUST be able to make payments for EVERY expense that will be for your new place. Any rentals you may get will be a bonus.

I tell all my clients who will listen about this.

Example that I just looked at this past week:

2913 Pembridge Kissimmee, FL Asking $125,000
P&I = $580.00 and Escrow= $272.92 = $852.92
Add the maintenance every month(Lawn, Pool, cleaning) = $250.00
Utilities(phone, internet, water, electricity) = $360.00
for a total of $1,462.92 out the door every month.

so, you will need to rent for 15 days a month @ over $100 a night to break even! (Right now the rates are under $100 a night for a 3bd 2ba place)

[AONE]

There are many ways to make the short term rental market work. few take the time to do it right.. It is a business that needs to be worked, not just a turn key setup for the most part. There are some resorts that do ok. but the mgmt fees are quite high so if you can break even that is a good thing. I' have sold quite a few and the prices are certainly in a range where they can work. It helps if you have a good avenue to deal with the clean up and managing of a property.
I have some short term clients that can exceed 40 weeks / year, one does 50. It is possible you simply need to have some good ideas of how to do it. Plus being able to buy right , in an area where the HOA has gotten the water turned off for the community, Or where they can't afford to rebuild burned out properties or the other myriad of issues. There are many communities to be leery of...pick wisely.