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View Full Version : Purchasing a vacation home near Disney World



doombuggygal
01-23-2013, 10:08 AM
My husband and I are seriously considering purchasing a Townhome or Condo in the Disney World area for our own use as well as to rent out to other vacationers. Looking for advice from anyone who has done the same or at least looked into it or lives in the area. Any advice on location, communities or realtors would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Tinksalot
01-23-2013, 10:18 AM
We own a condo in the Disneyworld area and we used to rent it out as a vacation rental. My advise to you if you decide to rent it out, is to find a good management company. We had a couple of different ones and we were dissappointed. We had renters steal coffee pots, towels etc. plus had to remove "silly string" from the ceiling one time. I'm not saying all renters are like that! We rent homes for vacation use, and we always leave it like we found it. However, for us it got to be a hassle to rent it out. Hope this helps in your decision. :mickey:

VWL Mom
01-23-2013, 10:30 AM
I've toyed with the idea of buying something near Disney to rent out for now. INTERCOT sponsor All Star Vacation Homes (http://www.allstarvacationhomes.com/index.asp) not only does rentals buy has listings for sale. I like the thought of buying through them because it's a great location to the parks and their management company is on site.

Disneylover12123
01-23-2013, 12:33 PM
I would highyl suggest you look into the Champions Gate area. Zipcode is 33896. It is about 2 exits from Disney World. We just moved to Ohio from there and loved it. It is very new, clean, quiet, safe, etc. It is close enough though to everything but without being right there with crowds.

doombuggygal
01-23-2013, 04:35 PM
I would highyl suggest you look into the Champions Gate area. Zipcode is 33896. It is about 2 exits from Disney World. We just moved to Ohio from there and loved it. It is very new, clean, quiet, safe, etc. It is close enough though to everything but without being right there with crowds.

Do you know if this area is popular with vacationers or if there are properties in this area that permit short term rentals?

DizneyRox
01-23-2013, 04:39 PM
Florida (maybe just Orlando) has some restrictions on what you can rent out short term vs long term. Make sure you understand any limitations before you buy. We looked at it, and it's still a consideration, however it's on the shelf right now.

dnickels
01-24-2013, 08:28 AM
Just a few things to keep in mind

-only certain neighborhoods/complexes allow short term rentals so you'll have to focus on those areas, a realtor can better point you in that direction, but the bulk of them are down in the Kissimmee to Four Corners area.
-don't believe any realtor, property management company or person/company with a place to sell when they tell you what kind of return on equity you can expect. Find someone who owns a unit similar to what you're considering and ask them what type of return they earn, whether they're doing it with a mortgage, etc.
-Any profit is probably going to be less than you think, short-term rental (sales) tax, property management fees, higher taxes due to it being a non-primary residence, higher insurance rates, fixing/replacing things renters damage, etc. Orlando probably has more short term vacation rentals than anywhere so that keeps your profit margin down as well. I don't know anyone making a lot of $$ from vacation rentals, the only people I know who have had one have been more relieved to get it sold and not have to deal with it anymore. If you break even on the P&I portion but are spending $4,000 in taxes & insurance you might as well just save the $4,000 and get a nice room on property.
-Find a good property management company.
-Disney and the other theme parks have steadily made it more attractive to stay on property (or less attractive to stay off property) by adding perks for on-site guests. That trend seems unlikely to abate anytime soon so there's also that pressure working against off-site rentals.
-The sweet spot for vacation rentals seems to be the large (5+ bedroom) homes with a pool and jacuzzi, etc. Again I'm not the expert but I don't get the sense that a condo or townhome would have much appeal over a Disney hotel.

And finally, if you're looking at buying a property for vacation rental with the idea of making it your retirement home one day I'd really caution against that (I know you didn't mention that but lots of people do buy vacation rentals with that in mind). There's a reason that most 'nice' areas don't allow short term vacation rentals. If you're going to be living somewhere you want to have neighbors that are invested in their home and in their neighborhood, not neighbors who change every week.

brownie
01-24-2013, 09:59 AM
dnickels, thanks for the post. Great points to bring up for this kind of decision.