Author Topic: Orlando Vacation Rental  (Read 7773 times)

mxer54

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Orlando Vacation Rental
« on: January 13, 2015, 11:13:31 AM »
We are currently looking at purchasing a house around Orlando, Fl to use as a vacation rental for people visiting the area for vacation.  We're looking at something between 130-150k, which seems very doable around there.  Does anyone have any experience there with something like this?

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2015, 08:43:18 PM »
What do you expect to get in rent? How much will vacancy/mangement/taxes/etc cost?

Do some homework and post some hard numbers or at least educated guesses. Otherwise nobody can really help you.

-W

iamlindoro

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2015, 10:35:40 PM »
Anecdotally, I have a family member who has a property in Orlando that she's trying to do the same thing with.  It doesn't seem to have gone well for her as she's constantly on Facebook trying to get someone to stay there, and has dropped her per-day price multiple times.  I hesitate to draw a conclusion about why that is, but my guesses would be massive competition in house rentals (a glut of people with the same plan and poor hard numbers), and people preferring to stay in hotels at the amusement parks.

mxer54

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2015, 08:13:48 AM »
Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

waltworks

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2015, 08:30:20 AM »
Hahaha... enjoy your "free" managing... there is a reason mgt fees are 30-50%+ for weekly rental stuff. And you've left out maintenance entirely?

Good luck.

-W

Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

mxer54

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2015, 08:33:04 AM »
Guess you didn't see that I will be doing the managing myself?...And I put in 5k a year for unforseen maintenance.  Other than that I am doing the routine stuff.


Hahaha... enjoy your "free" managing... there is a reason mgt fees are 30-50%+ for weekly rental stuff. And you've left out maintenance entirely?

Good luck.

-W

Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

waltworks

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2015, 08:52:14 AM »
I meant that doing booking/billing/cleaning/cancellations/etc is going to eat a TON of your time. Nightly or weekly rentals SUCK ASS to manage. You are talking about a job, not an investment.

-W

Guess you didn't see that I will be doing the managing myself?...And I put in 5k a year for unforseen maintenance.  Other than that I am doing the routine stuff.


Hahaha... enjoy your "free" managing... there is a reason mgt fees are 30-50%+ for weekly rental stuff. And you've left out maintenance entirely?

Good luck.

-W

Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

mxer54

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2015, 08:54:46 AM »
Thats correct....I will be retired from the military and this is one of the things that I plan on doing...Along with starting up a Property Management company. 

I meant that doing booking/billing/cleaning/cancellations/etc is going to eat a TON of your time. Nightly or weekly rentals SUCK ASS to manage. You are talking about a job, not an investment.

-W

Guess you didn't see that I will be doing the managing myself?...And I put in 5k a year for unforseen maintenance.  Other than that I am doing the routine stuff.


Hahaha... enjoy your "free" managing... there is a reason mgt fees are 30-50%+ for weekly rental stuff. And you've left out maintenance entirely?

Good luck.

-W

Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

waltworks

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2015, 09:08:19 AM »
Ok, what do you want to make per hour? How long does it take you to clean a house that a vacationing family has been in for a week? What do prop managers in the area charge?

-W

iamlindoro

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2015, 09:17:34 AM »
Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

I don't think you're going to see an 80% occupancy rate.  I think that it insanely optimistic.  Looks like on *average* it's about 21 weeks a year:

http://www.mickeytown.com/what-are-the-average-number-of-weeks-rented-for-florida-vacation-rental-homes/

You have got to use worst case scenarios to do your numbers, not best case.  Confidence is a good thing, but caution is better when running numbers.  What happens is you only hit the average for the area?

There are also a LOT of costs missing here, too.  Is there no water bill?  What about cleaning services after turning every renter?  Even if you're going to do management or cleaning yourself, there's still an opportunity cost/cost to your time.  Will you be providing your renters with Internet, since most expect it?  What about the percentage of nightly rates owed to a service such as AirBNB?  What about insurance (as vacation rental insurance will be more expensive than standard landlord insurance)?  What about trash service?  What about regular replacement of sheets and towels?  Advertising costs?  Where are your property taxes?

135 a day * 7 days a week * 21 weeks a year = $19845 / 12 = 1653.75/mo gross
- $608 mortgage based on 150K/4.5% interest/20% down/$4k Closing
- $150 Cable and Electric (This seems low to me)
- $100 Water
- $50 Internet
- $416 maintenance (5000 / 12)
- $85 insurance (could be more)
- $200 Property Taxes
- $20 Trash pickup

Now you're at $24.75 a month.  What if insurance is more than expected?  What if you are slightly below average occupancy?  What if you spend a few bucks on advertising, or a renter leaves the faucet on, or the AC on 24/7, etc.?  Now you're negative cash flow.

You may consider these numbers extreme or too conservative, but they're also possible.  IMO you should only buy a rental if even under the worst conditions, it's going to be profitable.

ioseftavi

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2015, 09:25:28 AM »
+infinity to Walt's advice.  I mentioned in another thread:  I have a family member who owns a significant number of vacation rentals, which they self manage. 

It is literally the most stressful, awful form of real estate ownership I can imagine.  It is a job and a half, not "retirement". 

I would also recommend that you work as a property manager for someone else's vacation rental before you put down $25 - $40k of your own money.  See what it's like.  Now that I've seen how much work is involved with vacation rentals, I don't think I would ever buy one, no matter how the numbers work.

Thats correct....I will be retired from the military and this is one of the things that I plan on doing...Along with starting up a Property Management company. 

I meant that doing booking/billing/cleaning/cancellations/etc is going to eat a TON of your time. Nightly or weekly rentals SUCK ASS to manage. You are talking about a job, not an investment.

-W

mxer54

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2015, 09:35:32 AM »
Great post....To the above post I'm looking at 3 hours per cleaning, 2x a week avg.  Works out to about $80 an hour.

To the quoted post, I do believe these are average numbers including rentals that aren't very nice.  This will be a high end rental, these have at least 80% full rate....Spring Hill florida, an hour and a half away, in the middle of nowhere has an even higher rate than 21 weeks a year. So I'm pretty comfortable with estimating at 70....But lets go 65%.

135 daily for 237 days = 32,028
minus 1629 (your figures)...Mine were based off of a simular rental in Spring Hill, Florida.  Orlando may be more and I get that point.
Leaves 12480 net per year.

Leaves me making $61 an hour for the 6 hours a week that I clean...minus anything else I do.

Really I am ok with just my pension and investments...I'm looking for a few things to add on top of my current situation and to keep me occupied after retirement from the military...So it doesnt have to be insane....I appreciate the thought put into it.


Thats unfortunate...When I look on homeaway.com or other sites that advertise rentals in that area, they are showing about a 80% occupancy rate.  My mother in law has several rentals about an hour and a half from there with a 65-70% occupancy rate.  The houses I'm looking to get into are furnished with a vacation style theme (Disney for the kids, fancy for the adults), have a pool, etc.  It will be a nice house, hardwood, Disney themed, etc. 

All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

To be safe, if I assume that I have a lower than average (80%) occ rate at 70% with an average of $135 a night across the year (85-180 a night depending on the season), that comes out to $2874 a month, minus my $1000 costs leaves $22,492 per year income. Minus 5k for incidentals or whatever comes along and I'm thinking that I could net about $17492 per year with it.

I don't think you're going to see an 80% occupancy rate.  I think that it insanely optimistic.  Looks like on *average* it's about 21 weeks a year:

http://www.mickeytown.com/what-are-the-average-number-of-weeks-rented-for-florida-vacation-rental-homes/

You have got to use worst case scenarios to do your numbers, not best case.  Confidence is a good thing, but caution is better when running numbers.  What happens is you only hit the average for the area?

There are also a LOT of costs missing here, too.  Is there no water bill?  What about cleaning services after turning every renter?  Even if you're going to do management or cleaning yourself, there's still an opportunity cost/cost to your time.  Will you be providing your renters with Internet, since most expect it?  What about the percentage of nightly rates owed to a service such as AirBNB?  What about insurance (as vacation rental insurance will be more expensive than standard landlord insurance)?  What about trash service?  What about regular replacement of sheets and towels?  Advertising costs?  Where are your property taxes?

135 a day * 7 days a week * 21 weeks a year = $19845 / 12 = 1653.75/mo gross
- $608 mortgage based on 150K/4.5% interest/20% down/$4k Closing
- $150 Cable and Electric (This seems low to me)
- $100 Water
- $50 Internet
- $416 maintenance (5000 / 12)
- $85 insurance (could be more)
- $200 Property Taxes
- $20 Trash pickup

Now you're at $24.75 a month.  What if insurance is more than expected?  What if you are slightly below average occupancy?  What if you spend a few bucks on advertising, or a renter leaves the faucet on, or the AC on 24/7, etc.?  Now you're negative cash flow.

You may consider these numbers extreme or too conservative, but they're also possible.  IMO you should only buy a rental if even under the worst conditions, it's going to be profitable.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2015, 09:38:20 AM by mxer54 »

iamlindoro

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #12 on: January 14, 2015, 09:45:53 AM »
To quote a Disney movie, I'm going to Let It Go.  ;)  I really, really think that basing your numbers off of the crazily-optimistic 80% occupancy is going to end up causing you some trouble.  Another couple more things that occurred to me after my last post:

* I don't see anything in Orlando for under $150K that could even remotely be considered "high end," where are you planning on finding a luxury property at this price?  If a Condo or HOA community, what is the HOA per month?

* What are your reno costs going to be to get a $150K property to a "high end, Disney themed" state?

No offense intended with any of this-- these are the kinds of hard questions we have to ask ourselves before making an investment like this.  I would personally be averse to a deal like this, but I wish you well.

mxer54

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #13 on: January 14, 2015, 09:53:53 AM »
No offense taken at all...Like I said, I appreciate the input. 

There are many potential houses (2-3 br) around the parks that are 130-150k...Some require work and are a bit less, some do not and are around that cost.  I plan on spending 150k. You can have a nice house for that and decorate it in a disney theme. Check www.homeaway.com for examples. I never based anything off of 80, 70 at the most optimistic. 55 as my worst case.

To quote a Disney movie, I'm going to Let It Go.  ;)  I really, really think that basing your numbers off of the crazily-optimistic 80% occupancy is going to end up causing you some trouble.  Another couple more things that occurred to me after my last post:

* I don't see anything in Orlando for under $150K that could even remotely be considered "high end," where are you planning on finding a luxury property at this price?  If a Condo or HOA community, what is the HOA per month?

* What are your reno costs going to be to get a $150K property to a "high end, Disney themed" state?

No offense intended with any of this-- these are the kinds of hard questions we have to ask ourselves before making an investment like this.  I would personally be averse to a deal like this, but I wish you well.

waltworks

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #14 on: January 14, 2015, 10:03:08 AM »
I would count on 5 or 6 hours of work, on average, per rental (that is, per each party that rents the place). That includes plenty of dealing with interested parties who don't rent in the end, cancellations, billing, cleaning, updating info online/advertising, fixing stuff that breaks, paying bills, etc. I think you'll be lucky to make minimum wage when all is said and done and I wouldn't touch something like this with a 10 foot pole (because I briefly managed a nightly rental, good lord, never again). No way in hell would I pay a chunk of capital for a stressful part-time job that pays $10k per year (which I also think is very optimistic).

But like Iamlindoro, I wish you the best of luck.

As Arebelspy is fond of saying, if you want bond-like returns, just buy bonds and spend your free time goofing off. If you want a JOB, analyze the "investment" as such - doing a job. In this case I think you'd be better off flipping burgers and putting your downpayment/closing costs/reno costs in VTSAX (or anything other than this house idea, really).

-W

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2015, 07:27:09 PM »
I have relatives who live near Spring Hill and own retal properties. The vacationers that tend to go there are usually the snowbird types...mostly to escape the harsh winters up north, not to go to Disney. This type of renter will give you 3-6 months of occupancy per unit, during winter months. Have you thought of buying condos and focusing on this type of renter?  Deals around Spring Hill type areas are pretty good right now - $25k for one bedrooms, or $40k for two bedrooms in non deed restricted communities (i just got back from vacation there myself). It might be easier to deal with longer term renters, who come back every year, rather than week by week.

-4 condos at $25k each ($100,000)
-rent each one for $1500 month/4 months to snowbirds ($20k per year if you get the, all rented)

just a thought. 

ltt

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2015, 08:19:10 PM »
My feeling, after recently returning from Disney World, is that there is no way that after a long day (and I mean long day at the parks) that I would want to drive 1-1/2 hours back to a vacation property.  And then turn around, get up early in the morning and do it all over again.  That's 3 hours a day of driving.  If you want to have a Disney theme, and I do believe those types of rental are pretty popular for couples with children, is there any possible way to buy a vacation rental that is closer to the parks?  Say within 30 minutes.  We stayed on property.  The longest we waited for a bus was about 20-25 minutes, but then it was a very short ride to our hotel.  I think if you get a really good location that is closer to Disney World (and it's my understanding that Universal/Harry Potter) is very popular also.  Maybe you could find a location close to Universal, too, at some point in time??  I say go for a closer location and you would probably have a better chance for success.   

UnleashHell

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2015, 10:02:45 AM »
Spring hill is not a place I’d pick for a vacation rental if I wanted to go to any of the theme parks. It’s a 2 hour drive to Orlando. Imagine that with a couple of kids. And then back after a 12 hour day at the parks…  4 hour drive – on a good day. Forget it.

Beach holidays!!  Wait – there aren’t any around there – not to speak of. And its an hour down to clear water.

So – what is the realistic target audience?  Snowbirds – rent them November to april and forget it for the rest of the year. You may get some odd rentals in the summer but that would just be a bonus.

totoro

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2015, 10:14:08 AM »
We own eight rental units.  Of these, three are now vacation rentals/Airbnb.

For those who are telling you it is a full-time job - they are wrong.  Plain wrong.

I hire clearers and repair people as needed.  The biggest pain in the butt is finding reliable cleaners, which I now have.  I don't use a property manager at all.

My places are all fixed, repaired and furnished to a high standard before I ever start renting.  This took significant time and money. Be hard to get good reviews if you did not do this.  It is part of running a vacation rental.  As is stocking for turnover (make sure you have a separate locked area for cleaners with everything they need).

I spend approximately a hour a month on responding to rental requests/organizing/issues needing repair.   

Profitability is a different story.  In order to understand your market you should check in with others who are doing what you plan to do. 

mxer54

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #19 on: January 15, 2015, 10:54:32 AM »
This is exactly the feedback I was hoping to get, experienced.  Thank you very much.


We own eight rental units.  Of these, three are now vacation rentals/Airbnb.

For those who are telling you it is a full-time job - they are wrong.  Plain wrong.

I hire clearers and repair people as needed.  The biggest pain in the butt is finding reliable cleaners, which I now have.  I don't use a property manager at all.

My places are all fixed, repaired and furnished to a high standard before I ever start renting.  This took significant time and money. Be hard to get good reviews if you did not do this.  It is part of running a vacation rental.  As is stocking for turnover (make sure you have a separate locked area for cleaners with everything they need).

I spend approximately a hour a month on responding to rental requests/organizing/issues needing repair.   

Profitability is a different story.  In order to understand your market you should check in with others who are doing what you plan to do.

Miss Prim

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #20 on: January 23, 2015, 06:09:24 AM »
Someone PLEASE buy a condo in Bradenton, Fl and rent it to me!  LOL  My husband and I are going to be snowbirds next year for 3 months, Jan - March and I can't for the life of me find a 2 BR condo that either is not already rented for next year (2016) or is an exorbitant price per month!  We're talking well over $2500.00 per month and more.

Maybe I should be looking at Spring Hill, wherever that is, but we have friends that stay with a relative in Bradenton and we have other friends that have a condo they inherited. 

As a person who owns a rental property and has rented many houses and condos for vacations, I would say find a condo that would appeal to a snowbird.  It will be much less work and if people like it, they will book every year.

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MillenialMustache

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #21 on: January 23, 2015, 12:27:00 PM »
I live a little outside the Orlando area, and just want to share a word of caution - a lot of the people who vacation at Disney (and Universal now) stay on site. The type of families you are trying to attract are in the Disney Vacation Club or want to get into Harry Potter early (can only do this if you stay at a hotel). Also, since Disney has so many of its own hotels, the other hotels in the area have been forced to offer really low room rates - my husband and I typically find one for $30 a night, cheapest of anywhere we have ever traveled. There is also a lot of competition. You might want to look into a snowbird or beach rental - if you are looking to attract families going to Disney, you are competing directly with Disney, so keep that in mind. Several months out of the year they even offer free meals to people who are staying at their hotels.

LiveLean

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #22 on: January 23, 2015, 04:21:44 PM »
All approx costs:
$600 mortgage (no PMI)
$150 utilities (Cable and Elec)
$0 management, I'll be managing it being that I am retired.
? rental taxes as I was hoping to get some advice in that area for Florida.

Equaling about $1000 a month for my cost from what I can average out.

Have you factored in Florida's very high property tax and insurance costs? They each could run you $2,500/annually - or $5K together. And since this will be a rental, you won't have Florida's homestead exemption, which can lower taxes and keep them from rising more than incrementally each year.

I'm a native Virginian who lives in Florida full-time (since 1997) but I have a rental property in VA. I wouldn't want to do it your way -- living in VA with a property in FL - in large part because of the tax and insurance issue.

clarkfan1979

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #23 on: January 25, 2015, 07:35:36 AM »
I wouldn't consider this an investment, but I would still consider doing it for fun as a hobby. To maximize your return, I would plan on using it yourself during the winter and renting mostly during the summer. Disney FL is way busy during the summer than the winter. This seems odd to me because the weather sucks in the summer. However, that is when the kids are out of school and they are super busy.

At a theoretical level, this strategy is popular among many. The large amount of competition makes it difficult to turn a profit.

After the purchase you could consider making FL your primary residence and reduce your tax bill as FL does not have state income tax. I'm not a tax accountant, just trying to provide some possible positive considerations.

dandarc

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Re: Orlando Vacation Rental
« Reply #24 on: January 25, 2015, 09:13:33 AM »
I live a little outside the Orlando area, and just want to share a word of caution - a lot of the people who vacation at Disney (and Universal now) stay on site. The type of families you are trying to attract are in the Disney Vacation Club or want to get into Harry Potter early (can only do this if you stay at a hotel). Also, since Disney has so many of its own hotels, the other hotels in the area have been forced to offer really low room rates - my husband and I typically find one for $30 a night, cheapest of anywhere we have ever traveled. There is also a lot of competition. You might want to look into a snowbird or beach rental - if you are looking to attract families going to Disney, you are competing directly with Disney, so keep that in mind. Several months out of the year they even offer free meals to people who are staying at their hotels.
This - hotels are ridiculously cheap in Orlando.  Don't underestimate the competition.