I am looking to purchase a vacation rental in the area of Orlando and Walt Disney World. I am noticing some properties in the Kissimmee area, particularly in resort rental communities. Can anyone share an experience of a short term rental in this area? The biggest hole in my research has been a vacancy rate and therefore ROI has been difficult to calculate. Thank you.
Hi @Kelsey C.
I have a short term rental in Clermont, just outside Kissimmee and 10 miles from the Disney Main Gate. Now in the third year with this property. Vacancy rate is hard to determine, and for us has varied greatly. The Orlando/Disney area is flooded with short term rentals, and this market is in direct competition with the Disney resorts, since many feel the advantages of staying on Disney property outweighs the disadvantages of staying in a hotel. Plus many do not even know that you can rent a whole house with a pool for the same price as a nice hotel. So unfortunately the supply and demand is offset.
I think that you can minimize vacancy by being really active in marketing the property, increasing the amount of advertising funds you are willing to spend, and responding to inquiries quickly. Also by decorating nicely and providing new electronics and other perks, you can appeal to more people and you can ask for a higher rate and probably get better guests. But all of this takes lots of time and money. And the operating expenses are always more than you expect them to be.
You can usually depend on booking nights during the "Peak" seasons the most. Those are Spring Break, Summer (middle of June through middle of August), and holiday weeks like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Although there is no guarantee and not every day during those times will be booked.
This year has not been very good for us. We hope it turns around. We think this is due in part by big changes made by our vacation rental listing company.
Our local long-term rental investment properties out-perform our FL short term rental right now, but the income we do get from it does help to offset the costs when we want to use it personally.
Hope this helps a little!
Hi @Kelsey C.
I have a short term rental in Clermont, just outside Kissimmee and 10 miles from the Disney Main Gate. Now in the third year with this property. Vacancy rate is hard to determine, and for us has varied greatly. The Orlando/Disney area is flooded with short term rentals, and this market is in direct competition with the Disney resorts, since many feel the advantages of staying on Disney property outweighs the disadvantages of staying in a hotel. Plus many do not even know that you can rent a whole house with a pool for the same price as a nice hotel. So unfortunately the supply and demand is offset.
I think that you can minimize vacancy by being really active in marketing the property, increasing the amount of advertising funds you are willing to spend, and responding to inquiries quickly. Also by decorating nicely and providing new electronics and other perks, you can appeal to more people and you can ask for a higher rate and probably get better guests. But all of this takes lots of time and money. And the operating expenses are always more than you expect them to be.
You can usually depend on booking nights during the "Peak" seasons the most. Those are Spring Break, Summer (middle of June through middle of August), and holiday weeks like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Although there is no guarantee and not every day during those times will be booked.
This year has not been very good for us. We hope it turns around. We think this is due in part by big changes made by our vacation rental listing company.
Our local long-term rental investment properties out-perform our FL short term rental right now, but the income we do get from it does help to offset the costs when we want to use it personally.
Hope this helps a little!
Hi @Kelsey C.
The Orlando/Disney area is flooded with short term rentals, and this market is in direct competition with the Disney resorts, since many feel the advantages of staying on Disney property outweighs the disadvantages of staying in a hotel.
From the perspective of a Disney vacationer, I can attest to Beth's statement above. My wife and I know we can get a room for less off of Disney property, but it is much more convenient and relaxing to stay at one of their resorts.
I found this thread because I am looking to buy a vacation rental as well, but Orlando is not in the running for the reason above.
We have several short term rentals in various parts of country but not in your area of inquiry. I find that 50% occupancy is normal. Where we achieve 65% occupancy we experience returns similar to long term rentals. We do have the perk of staying two weeks per year but usually has to be in the low season.
Hope this helps.
Bill
I have a short-term rental condo in Bahama Bay resort in Davenport, FL (border of Kissimee) about 10-15 min from Disney gate. I'm in the on-site rental pool (Wyndham manages the resort) and so far this year it's been rented 26 days in Jan, 19 in Feb, 29 in March, 27 in April, 24 May, 18 June, 26 July, and 28 in August. Rates vary but after all of the HOA, managment fees, tax, insurance, etc. it's basically a break-even. This is with no mortgage. I have used it for about 2 weeks which has value and I could do better if I was more active in finding renters on my own. Like the others have said, so much competition in the Disney area. My long-term rentals in the same area do much better.
Looking on airbnb, people really want to stay in places with 5 bedrooms.
The average vacancy rate for Kissimmee is 69%, and the average price per night is $146. This vacancy rate takes into account what is booked on a Monday night. If I checked again on Thursday, or Friday, the vacancy rate would be lower.
If you look at the table, five bedroom listings in Kissimmee command a 30% premium over four bedrooms, and there are less competition among 5 bedrooms.
Hopefully, the table makes it though, and you can see the breakdown for airbnb in Kissimmee.
? Bedrooms ? Average of Vacancy Rate ? Average of Price ? Listings count ?
? Average ? 69% ? $146.88 ? 840 ?
? 0 bedrooms ? 74% ? $110.00 ? 11 ?
? 1 bedrooms ? 74% ? $95.76 ? 41 ?
? 2 bedrooms ? 69% ? $110.75 ? 80 ?
? 3 bedrooms ? 70% ? $116.10 ? 300 ?
? 4 bedrooms ? 67% ? $147.35 ? 233 ?
? 5 bedrooms ? 63% ? $209.66 ? 86 ?
? 6 bedrooms ? 67% ? $249.16 ? 56 ?
? 7 bedrooms ? 78% ? $238.73 ? 26 ?
? 8 bedrooms ? 73% ? $289.57 ? 7 ?
I have a friend with a 5 bedroom vacation rental with pool in Kissimmee. It's tough for her to make ends meet and she bought it at a good price - there's lots of competition.
She suggests at least 5 bedrooms, ensuite baths and tv's in each room.
New to BiggerPockets but not short term rentals in the Disney area. Yes there is a lot of competition. That beings said, since so few understand the mechanics of vacation rentals in this area specifically, those that do are throwing off great numbers and buying property after property.
There is a science to it but it's not rocket :) My success comes from helping others succeed so if you have questions feel free to msg.