Hi!! I'm so glad to find this forum!! Very general question here hope to get some guidance for a start... I'm interested in buying my first rental property in Orlando for cash flow purpose (managing out of town - I'm located in Miami).
What would be a good area to start? I've looked at the following areas
1. Winter Garden, homes are in high demand and on the expensive side, but the listings seems to be leased real fast (from what I see within 7 days) I even considered buying a new constrution home but have to be on wait list.
2. Lake nona, Tax seems higher here or am I getting the right information.
3. Kissimme Lots of homes for sale, rent seems to be going down
4. Oviedo and Alafaya, old homes might need renovation, is there a big rental market here?
My Budget ideally is <300k but can go up to 350k for good appreciation.
Prefer single family homes with no HOA or townhomes with low HOA under $200. Looking for high demand rental market of course.
I just started my research, Any suggestions please? areas or zip codes to look at? tips for newbies? opinions on the above areas? Thank you so much.
The reality of the market in East Orlando and Oviedo/Winter Park is pretty insane in the under $300k category; I love it because my problem solving and strategy skills are in full play. But this is a market I regularly work for investors and clients alike. What is the reality? I placed an offer on an East Orlando home (32825) on Friday evening (2/19/21) for an investor who is using conventional financing ("approved" not pre-approved), 30% down, $8k over ask and decent terms. Unfortunately, he made some choices that were not in line with my recommendations - he had cash but wanted to go the financing route and made some other choices that suited his situation. In a normal market, his offer would have done the trick, but we are far from "normal". He did not get the house. There were 71 offers after 3 days (the Seller had to place a cut-off), 4 cash over ask - the winner had NO contingencies and a 14-day close. And no, this is not an uncommon scenario and no, the house was not a "golden gem" - it was a decent rental in an okay neighborhood.
Now the other side...I have Buyer clients I've been showing homes in East Orlando and they need somewhere to live. We placed their home under contract last week and while we have some time to shop, they can't spend much over $200k. We have been looking everywhere and keep getting beat out by investors walking in with cash. It's great when I'm working with you guys but when I have a traditional client, I must to figure out how to make this work!
What I am trying to say is if you don't want to enter the dog-eat-dog competition, and you don't have a hard-charging Realtor to help you devise really strong strategies for winning the sale and still protect you from getting into a lemon, then yes, going toward Kissimmee and the theme parks would be a good idea. It stands to reason there are more opportunities there given we have had less visitors over the last year+ and layoff have impacted theme park workers and their families. While you may not have crazy strong rents at the moment, the parks will return and rentals are predicted to go up in 2022 and beyond due to market forces. Waiting until the market it hot is not always the best strategy. I would definitely take a closer look in these areas!
Roxy, are you looking to buy and hold long term and to do long term, as opposed to short term rental? I am in the Winter Garden area and you are right that homes are going fast and prices are going up quick. Not a ton of options that don't have the HOA, but there are some. Do you have a property manager you use yet, or will you be looking to find that as well? Any ideas on what kind of ROI or cashflow you are hoping for?
HI Roxy. You made some valid points. I would add that I do not see rental value going down in Kissimmee area. Oviedo and Alafaya/ Avalon are great areas because of good schools and UCF.
Roxy,
All of these are great areas, I highly suggest you invest in home near UCF as they appreciate well and cash flow. Downtown Winter Garden is a great area and produces a lot of income for rental properties. Both of these areas are great places to start for your price range.
Hi!! I'm so glad to find this forum!! Very general question here hope to get some guidance for a start... I'm interested in buying my first rental property in Orlando for cash flow purpose (managing out of town - I'm located in Miami).
What would be a good area to start? I've looked at the following areas
1. Winter Garden, homes are in high demand and on the expensive side, but the listings seems to be leased real fast (from what I see within 7 days) I even considered buying a new constrution home but have to be on wait list.
2. Lake nona, Tax seems higher here or am I getting the right information.
3. Kissimme Lots of homes for sale, rent seems to be going down
4. Oviedo and Alafaya, old homes might need renovation, is there a big rental market here?
My Budget ideally is <300k but can go up to 350k for good appreciation.
Prefer single family homes with no HOA or townhomes with low HOA under $200. Looking for high demand rental market of course.
I just started my research, Any suggestions please? areas or zip codes to look at? tips for newbies? opinions on the above areas? Thank you so much.
Roxy,
I'm in Championsgate and Kissimmee and they both do great. I'm not sure where you are getting your data from but Kissimmee is pretty hot right now. I just purchased a home there on Thursday that I'm projecting $800-$1,000 in cash flow a month + appreciation.
Look through old forum posts in the Orlando Forum here and reach out to some people who you see are successful. They are better than whatever research you can do from your computer.
-Happy Housing,
Matt
Hi @Roxy An. It's honestly hard to find anywhere near Orlando that the rental market isn't continuing to get better. Covid and layoffs from large employers have forced many homeowners back in the rental market and will continue to do so as forbearances and loan mods come to fruition. Also, as you mentioned, with so many people moving here and wanting new construction that doesn't have any inventory, they decide to rent. If you want a high-demand rental area, it will decidedly be in an HOA also, so would love to know why that is important. Ideally, HOA's help protect your investment and many are quite affordable contrary to what so many believe, you have to look into what amenities they offer and how they are managed.
Our market is driven heavily on tourism and hospitality jobs which tend to be lower paying. That alone will keep our rental market strong. That being said, cash flowing properties are much harder to find even with market rents at an all time high. You can achieve equity and appreciation pretty easily anywhere, but cash flow is not a benefit that Orlando is providing so much.
I could dive much deeper into some ideas if you would like to chat sometime. Message me and we can schedule a call if you like.
The reality of the market in East Orlando and Oviedo/Winter Park is pretty insane in the under $300k category; I love it because my problem solving and strategy skills are in full play. But this is a market I regularly work for investors and clients alike. What is the reality? I placed an offer on an East Orlando home (32825) on Friday evening (2/19/21) for an investor who is using conventional financing ("approved" not pre-approved), 30% down, $8k over ask and decent terms. Unfortunately, he made some choices that were not in line with my recommendations - he had cash but wanted to go the financing route and made some other choices that suited his situation. In a normal market, his offer would have done the trick, but we are far from "normal". He did not get the house. There were 71 offers after 3 days (the Seller had to place a cut-off), 4 cash over ask - the winner had NO contingencies and a 14-day close. And no, this is not an uncommon scenario and no, the house was not a "golden gem" - it was a decent rental in an okay neighborhood.
Now the other side...I have Buyer clients I've been showing homes in East Orlando and they need somewhere to live. We placed their home under contract last week and while we have some time to shop, they can't spend much over $200k. We have been looking everywhere and keep getting beat out by investors walking in with cash. It's great when I'm working with you guys but when I have a traditional client, I must to figure out how to make this work!
What I am trying to say is if you don't want to enter the dog-eat-dog competition, and you don't have a hard-charging Realtor to help you devise really strong strategies for winning the sale and still protect you from getting into a lemon, then yes, going toward Kissimmee and the theme parks would be a good idea. It stands to reason there are more opportunities there given we have had less visitors over the last year+ and layoff have impacted theme park workers and their families. While you may not have crazy strong rents at the moment, the parks will return and rentals are predicted to go up in 2022 and beyond due to market forces. Waiting until the market it hot is not always the best strategy. I would definitely take a closer look in these areas!
@Roxy An I’d recommend reaching out to @Tyler Gibson. He works primarily with investors and specializes in the Orlando area. I’m sure he’d be able to answer all the questions you have.