buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

hello

I do hope someone might be able to help....this forum has been recommended to us so fingers crossed i am in the right place :)

we are looking to buy an apartment or a villa in orlando area. We would hope to use it for ourselves for holidays as well as to rent it out as a business opportunity. we are trying to research it but lots of the information is simply companies trying to sell their proporties. I would love to hear from anyone with their experiences good and bad...

with many thanks

jackie

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

I'm afraid this is really too vague. There are many places to buy... we have no idea of where you're looking (Orlando is huge), how much money you have to spend on this, whether or not you're trying to get any immigration benefit out of this, what sort of "business opportunity" you think this might give you, etc. There are lots of places that would love to take your money and promise you anything you want to hear, and you'll jump on it like a tick on a dog!

Are you looking for people who have done this themselves? Recommendations for an estate agent? What?

Ian

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

thank you for your reply, sure i see what you are saying

what we would really like is other peoples experiences of buying in florida and learn from them.

We are looking for the £100k and below price bracket. Areas of kissimmee and davenport , 2-3 bedroom. Possibly within a gated community. it would really be an investment and for our family holidays however we would like to rent it out as a holiday let .

any pointers very much apprecaited

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

I can't speak to buying things in the area - I live in New York, and have only been to Florida a handful of times, let alone ever considered buying something there - but the thought that immediately comes to mind is be wary of the tax implications. If you do look to let it out, then that'd be income generated inside the US; I'd assume that would end up giving you a tax liability you normally wouldn't have as you aren't a resident? Something to at least look into and make sure about.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

This has been discussed before several times. Property taxes, HOA fees, air con, pool cleaning, gardening, condo fees...can really add up each month. Also I believe their are many rental properties empty. There is a search facility at the top of this page...go to Advanced Search and search this forum for Florida properties.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

If you want to buy at the bottom of the market, now's the time.

If you expect to receive any income whatsoever from it, you're being unrealistic.

Don't underestimate the day-to-day cost of keeping and maintaining property in the US.

Expect to be disadvantaged as a non-resident alien.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

A friend of mine from CCLSC is doing this, about $200k. Apparently sold for $500k at the peak of the market.

They have the spare cash.

Be very aware of the on costs and do not assume any rental income. Market is saturated.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

I'm struggling to think of a worse business idea.

If you want a cheap house in a shitty vacation rental zoned area, there are literally thousands to choose from (which should tell you something).

It's going to be a long time before making money out of vacation lets becomes worthwhile again. Wrong place, wrong time.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

How about the guy who sunk $100k into a vending machine franchise selling "energy mints" ... :unsure:

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

You must be mad .. the market is in dire straights there are certainly many properties for sales for unbelievable prices and they are still going down ... the rental market is in tatters ... people name their own price when renting ..somebody will accept whatever they offer...

Dont buy a condo .. thats another nightmare ..I wont bother to go into

management fees are very high and cost such as utilities are very high
I have managed many rental properties over the years and very few ever
made money ...they all got sold off over the last few years .. the last one sold a few months back .. they paid $315k for it ... it sold for $150k

An investment it is not ...

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

To be fair though, the market is at or close to bottom; for £100k they could easily buy something nice in Orlando.

If you have the money to buy it and maintain it, then great, but no one should expect to make money from a property now.

So, holiday home - great - rental property - hell no!

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

HI Jackie

Had to reply to your request for information on buying a villa in Florida, this is my first post on here but as you were getting sarci comments i had to post,
we bought our villa in Florida 3 years ago, it was the best and easiest decision i have ever made, $200,00 1/2 cash 1/2 mortgage as soon as we viewed the property it was a yes, it was only 2 years old, 3 beds, pool in gated community, in Haines city, Fl, we bought it to rent it out to help pay for the bills and use it our selves for our vacations, we did rent it out a few times at first but we love the villa so much its now our second home and now find it hard to rent out as you hear some horror stories about some people who rent homes then wreck them as they dont give a toss, like an earlier post yes there is a lot of villas for sale , but not all are on a vacation home zoned area, the prices for homes for the rental market are a little stronger than your average family home in a none zoned area, one thing to note the bigger the home, the bigger the bills, some people get carried away and buy the biggest they can find this can be expensive on your monthly bills, choose your realtor carefully they are paid good commission's so they just want to sell you a home (any home) we used two realtors to view the same homes. each gave different information and advise, but one stood out for us. OK yes the market is bad if i sold it now, i would loose out, but hey im not selling so im not worried about it, i bought my villa at an exchange rate of $2 to £1, so my villa cost me £100k so i did well, at the minute the exchange rate is $1.58 to £1 so if i bought the same home today it would still cost me £100k .The process of buying in florida is so much different than buying a home in the UK. loads of paper work but in a way it was easier . rental market is hard and there is plenty of competition , if you buy try and rent it out your self, a management company will screw you on price, there are a few websites you could use, i found it better to rent it out to a snow bird, for the winter 3 months than your average summer vactioner, PM me if you want any more advise
hope you join the club and own home in the sunshine state,

John

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

Please point out which of the posts above yours is sarcastic in nature (just checking in case you and I have a different understanding of what that word means). While it is nice that you came along to offer your own perspective, slagging off posts made by others isn't useful and is bad manners especially coming from someone who is only on their 2nd post on the site. Nothing that you wrote seems to negate the assertion of the earlier responders that this is, in fact, a poor business decision for the OP right now.

Another data point:

Mr and Mrs tonrob senior live for 6 months of the year in a lovely gated community a stone's throw from Kissimmee. They love having the place and have not regretted for a second making their investment. Their situation however does not include the need (or desire) to rent the property out for income, or the need to sell it any time within the next several years. One of the reasons selling would lead to losses is that there are many, many homes in the community that currently stand empty and in poor repair, mostly owned by people who thought they could make a viable business by renting them out.

In your own case you bought when the dollar was strong but also when the market was high. You sunk $50K in savings which you won't be liquidating any time soon and have a mortgage on the other half. You are either depending on rental income that cannot be guaranteed or else have money to burn. If it's the latter then fair play to you but none of this makes it look like you made a good business decision. It just makes you look like you made a lucky one (for now).

OP - if you have funds to invest wouldn't it be less risky and more flexible to think about having a property (or other) business/investment in the UK? It would be closer to home which would make it a lot easier to manage, and you could use your income to rent nice places in Florida (or wherever your hear desires) when you fancy.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

The word sarci i had to use because people have dreams, when these people talk about them to others they just get put down and it can be a little disappointing.
Well point taken, i live in the UK and go to my florida home 4 times a year to relax, and recharge my battery's, yes its expensive to run, but its worth it, you only live once. im fast approaching 40 my dad died aged 59 he had nothing and did nothing, yet he had a few quit in the bank, no point putting money in the bank as it will not do anything, the florida home was and still is for me. it could help pay for its self if i rented it out but this is not for me. i work hard to pay the bill. i know 2 people who have villas in florida that rent out to short term vacation market one of them has just bought another as business is well.

Re: buying a villa/apartment in florida
 

You are confusing "sarcasm" with "realism". There's a difference, and I'm sure you used "sarci" because you weren't aware of the alternative.

Ian