So you've thought about it and decided Orlando is the place where you want to purchase your second home. You want a cozy home that's close to Disney that you can use two weeks out the year and you're plan is to rent it out to short term renters while your away so it doesn't sit empty. Since you live so far away you're going to hire a management company to take care of it and maintain it for you. Does this plan sound familiar? If your one of the many hundreds of Foreign Investors who are buying up Orlando area properties this probably does, but before you buy you should get all the facts!
If you have never done this before you could run into some serious snags. The first thing you should know about buying a holiday villa (vacation home) in Orlando, Florida is that it's a niche market and not all Realtors understand the short term rental business. It's absolutely essential that you work with a Realtor who understands and specializes in second home investments for foreign nationals. If you don't you could find yourself buying a piece of property that's not even zoned for short term rentals and not being able to rent it out. Don't go at it alone, make sure you connect with a trustworthy agent who has a track record and once you find an agent you trust stick with him/her. That agent will be your greatest resource here while you're away. I reccomend interviewing several over the phone before you even get to Florida.
The second thing you must consider is your objective. Will you be obtaining a mortgage to purchase this property? If so, on what basis? Has someone told you that if you rent it out it will cover all your expenses? If this is what you are basing your decision on than I hate to tell you this, but that's simply not true. 99.9% of the time renting out your property will ONLY minimally offset your expenses, not give you an income every month. Even if you are paying all cash for the property, depending on how high your taxes and other non-mortgage related expenses are, you still may end up putting money out of your pocket every month. In my experience in the business, both real estate and management, most foreign investors are under the impression that they will be earning an income on their holiday villa if they rent it out. I hope I have cleared up this myth for you. If anyone tells you different I would be extremely cautious of working with that person. They may only be out for the sale and not have your best interest in mind.
If you're okay with not generating an income and you just really want the home for your holiday and possibly for retirement than you must consider what I like to call "The Rentability Factor" of the home. With all the ads that you will be bombarded with and all the hype you will experience when you get here, how will you know if the home you are purchasing will even be a good rental property? This is where a good estate agent (Realtor) comes into play. If your Realtor has experience with this ninche market, they will be able to give you a list of the communities that are
A. Zoned for short term rentals and
B. The communities in highest demand for rentals.
Once you have this list you can then start basing your search on this criteria. Often times, there are many homes for sale that are currently already being used as a rental and have bookings already scheduled that will transfer over to you when you buy it.
On the other hand, if your the type that wants to live a little off the beaten path and you don't have any intentions for renting your property than I highly recommend the lovely community of Windermere. It's only about 20 minutes to the back entrance of Disney, was voted the #1 community in Florida to raise a family and is nestled among thousands of mature oak trees. You won't get all the tourism hype and traffic that you'll get in the busy areas of Kissimmee and Davenport. It's definitely a community worth putting on your list of areas to consider IF you don't want to own a short term rental property.
If you still have more questions about short term rental properties or just purchasing in general feel free to visit my website at www.MySunnyHolidayVilla.com or shoot me over an e-mail. I'd be happy to help answer whatever questions you may have.
Cheers!
Erica Muller
International Estate Agent
Erica@MySunyHolidayVilla.com
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