MAHER26

Hi All,

Not sure if I'm in the right place so please re-direct me if not.

My husband and I are thinking about buying a holiday rental in Orlando Florida, I'm a UK resident and I wanted to know anybody elses expeirences.

Thanks

Noorah101

Yes. Lots of posts on this forum on this topic. Have a look around. Welcome to BE.

Rene

MAHER26

Thank you, do I need to search the forums? just dont want really old posts as things change.

Thank you x

tom169

Most important:
Pulaski's Ways: How to Live and Work in the USA : British Expat Wiki

Lots of posts on this exact subject, all of which I gathered quickly using the search tool:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-5...a-help-874695/
http://britishexpats.com/forum/us-im...ida-uk-870249/

Noorah101

Yes. There are recent ones.

Rene

Pulaski

Many houses in the Orlando area are prohibited from being used as short-term/vacation rentals, either by county ordinance, zoning (planning permission), or home owners/condo association rules.

The area is awash with hotels anyway - I've just come back from there and paid $260/night for a 4* hotel including full breakfast buffet and a pool, in the middle of "spring break season". It would have been less than half that a couple of weeks later.

In short, there is significant competition in Orlando for vacation rentals and, for most of the year, there is massive over-supply, so combined with high overheads (management fees, maintenance, repairs (roofs last 15-20 years and cost $10,000-$15,000, AC systems last 10-15 years and cost about as much - US homes are money pits in a way that British homeowners would find hard to believe), etc.) there is a very low likelihood of you even breaking even.

mikelincs

Biggest question is, do you have a visa that would allow you to be in the US for mare than 90 days at a time, otherwise, if you are relying on ESTA you aren't going to be there a lot, and remember that, even if you aren't there you will still be paying taxes on it, and have to keep the garden tidy etc so even more expense.

AdobePinon

The short of it is: generally bad idea. It has been a generally bad idea for some time, and is likely to remain a generally bad idea for the generally foreseeable future. If you are feeling very specifically general, or you wish to get the long of it, try the links mentioned above.

scrubbedexpat099

OP only asked about buying a rental, I agree numbers are not likely to be favourable.

mikelincs

True, but the other factors HAVE to be addressed as well, it would be no use sinking your money into somewhere you might be unable to visit.

scrubbedexpat099

OP said it was a rental not a holiday home but who knows? And nothing about being barred from the US.

ottotheboar

Any reason for choosing Orlando ? there are a lot of other areas in Florida to buy holiday rentals.

Rete

Yes and much nicer areas as well. Orlando is too inland for me and I have always like the gulf side of the state, namely, Ft. Myers, Sarasota, Naples.

RICH

To give slightly more positive spin. My recent experience was researching holiday villas in Disney area to rent for a couple of weeks.

10 of the 12 shortlisted were owned by Brits who live in UK.

I was able to look up public records, and see their mortgages in most cases. One had a MTG from a UK bank that seemed quite specialised. $250k for a nice looking 4 bed with pool, a few years ago. 20% down payment. Can't recall the payments on that.
The one we rented is costing us about $1000 a week April/may..

I spent a Sunday driving around to look at the 12. They are all not in Orange county, where short let's are banned, all are to south and west of Disney all in sub divisions, that are quite possibly 100% holiday rentals, and there is literally nothing else but a few shops between each sub. And they are building more still.

Point is, nothing to stop you buying a place, but viability of it being self financing or profitable is a big question mark, but that question was not asked!

Good luck.

Canveydave

I have mentioned on here before that I have owned more than one Florida Vacation home.

Problems include
1.) Managing a property remotely from 4,000 miles away
2.) The work required to rent it out 32 weeks a year in the hope of breaking even
3.) The frequent robberies (only of TV's) we encountered
4.) The fact that no matter how hard you try it is still a home to you and a glorified hotel to your guests. You will be very frustrated during the 4 weeks you get to stay in it just how poorly your stuff has been treated
5.) It is a money pit

Positives
1.) Somewhere to stay on vacation
2.) You can boast to everyone that you have a house in Florida

I live here now and I wouldn't buy a house here (without permanent residency). It was a constant source of stress and work and I am glad to be out of it.