Hi, I live in NY and I am planning to purchase my first rental investment property in Orlando around the Disney area. I am thinking the property can be used for STR on aribnb, vrbo, etc. My real estate agent has been showing me listings in the Orlando through a portal, but she said that to actual visit the property is very difficult since there'll always be tenants and most of the listings don't even have a floor plan, so I can only get an idea of the place through the pictures and need to make a decision based on that. I would like to hear others' experience if it's similar to what I described. Thanks a lot in advance!
I live in VA and just purchased an STR in Kissimmee, FL. Here are some tips:
Consider using a lender and a local agent that mostly engage in STR deals.
Identify the STR communities you want to buy in. This includes Championsgate, Reunion, Windsor Hills, Solterra, Festival, Storey Lake, etc. They all have pluses and minuses. I chose Storey Lake because of its location.
Once you know which community you want to buy in, you can google for the floor plan or virtual tours by searching on the community name.
Pull up the community you are interested in on the Zillow.com map and click "Save Search". You will then get an email whenever there are new listings in that area.
Whenever you get an email alert, if the home's photos and the numbers look good, consider putting an offer on the property. :-) Maybe this quick reaction isn't as necessary now. In the Spring, homes in the area I was targeting were going under contract fast. Note that you can always back out of the offer during the inspection.
If the home has bookings, your agent can ask the selling agent to ask the STR guest if your agent can visit the home during their stay. The guest will probably say no. :-) You can then try to have your agent visit the home between bookings, i.e., between when one guest checks out and the next guest checks in.
Ask your agent to record a video walk-through. If you can have a live video session, that's good too. Still have the agent record a walk-through that you can review later.
Property Manager · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2019 · 445 posts · 266 votes
5y
Hey @Ronnie Ho, we are vacation rental managers based in the heart of the Disney/Orlando market. While it is a busy time of the year, there are often gaps between stays which should allow you to get in and see the properties. We have also worked with realtors who will do personal video tours to give you a better sense if you are unable to personally visit. What Disney area communities are you looking at?
I live in VA and just purchased an STR in Kissimmee, FL. Here are some tips:
Consider using a lender and a local agent that mostly engage in STR deals.
Identify the STR communities you want to buy in. This includes Championsgate, Reunion, Windsor Hills, Solterra, Festival, Storey Lake, etc. They all have pluses and minuses. I chose Storey Lake because of its location.
Once you know which community you want to buy in, you can google for the floor plan or virtual tours by searching on the community name.
Pull up the community you are interested in on the Zillow.com map and click "Save Search". You will then get an email whenever there are new listings in that area.
Whenever you get an email alert, if the home's photos and the numbers look good, consider putting an offer on the property. :-) Maybe this quick reaction isn't as necessary now. In the Spring, homes in the area I was targeting were going under contract fast. Note that you can always back out of the offer during the inspection.
If the home has bookings, your agent can ask the selling agent to ask the STR guest if your agent can visit the home during their stay. The guest will probably say no. :-) You can then try to have your agent visit the home between bookings, i.e., between when one guest checks out and the next guest checks in.
Ask your agent to record a video walk-through. If you can have a live video session, that's good too. Still have the agent record a walk-through that you can review later.
Realtor · Central Florida-Orlando · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 892 votes
5y
Hi @Ronnie Ho, although it can be difficult to get in and see the property, like Alice said, there are gaps between guests checking out and new ones coming in, so that is just something your agent has to deal with and be available for, this is typically early/mid week since most guest stays start late week and include weekends. I do this all the time for my clients and it works out fine. Sometimes I have to shoot video while the cleaners are there, sometimes our inspections are literally in between guests coming and going on the same day AND the cleaners are there. Its just the nature of this.
If the community is one of the top tier, that is more important than the floor plan, you won't be living there, so you don't have to love it. If it sleeps 10,12 or 20..that is what matters to the guest..along with themed rooms, game rooms and the amenities of the community...its never the floor plan.
@Ronnie Ho - If you are buying a short term rental, you can try to find that same property on Airbnb/VRBO website. I usually find the property on Airbnb, sometimes there are more pictures on the Airbnb listing and you can read what guests are saying about the property.
It's tough to buy a fully furnished home remotely, just assume a few things will go wrong and you will have small repairs.
Right now properties look way overpriced, even when you pull comps that are just 3 months old, the prices are 20% apart. I've been looking in the same area, I already have a few but decided to wait until September when things slow down and more rentals will be put on the market.
@Carlos H DeOliveira Like you mentioned, I was able to find the Airbnb listing for the home I put an offer on. I was able to see that the reviews were mostly positive and that the negative reviews were mostly about things being not clean (i.e. fixable things).
I also looked at hundreds of Airbnb reviews of nearby homes. I could see that people liked the homes, the community, and the location of the community. All of this information helped me to decide to proceed with the home purchase.
Realtor · Branson, MO · Member since 2018 · 272 posts · 283 votes
5y
You're absolutely right about the challenge of buying a property when it's a successful vacation rental. If it's good and booked out the majority of the time, it does get hard to get in there and do a virtual showing. Also another challenge about buying a vacation rental that's super popular is getting time allocated for inspections/appraisal to fit in between the calendar gaps. Look at trying to have your agent get in there for a showing if there's a turnover within the next couple of days. The biggest risk there is that someone else might just go ahead and buy the property before you get a chance to see it. I don't know what the Florida real estate contract stipulates as far as contingency for property review period but I would hope there's a time to review relevant information for the property where if somethings not to your liking at the very beginning you can release from the contract and let someone else take a stab at buying it!
Deland, FL · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
Sounds very strange to me I have relatives who own many many str around Disney
All your agent has to do is ask the seller’s agent to have their cleaner make a quick video with their phone on their way out of the condo after cleaning it
Thanks everyone for sharing your experience and knowledge, I learned so much just by reading through all these comments. I am planning to purchase my first rental investment in the next couple of months, and I am honestly a bit nervous. However, after seeing all these comments definitely gives me more confident.
Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2020 · 285 posts · 318 votes
5y
@Ronnie Ho one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that you should invest in Kissimmee, not Orlando. Orlando doesn't allow non-owner occupied STRs like Kissimmee does. Good luck with your upcoming purchase!
@Quentin Moore I'm originally from VA and am now living in Orlando and looking to buy something in Storey Lake pretty soon. Would you mind sharing the lender and agent that you used to purchase your property.
Real Estate Agent · orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 159 posts · 121 votes
5y
As other have said. It shouldn't be a challenge to get in to view the properties. I am a realtor and own 6 str properties. My average booking is 4 days. That means every 4 days there is a block of time between 11am and 3 pm that my cleaners are there getting the place ready for the next guest. that's the time your agent should get in to see it and do a video. If you like it you put in an offer and fly down to check it out within your inspection period. That's a negotiated time to have the home checked out , it's usually 7 to 15 days. I have sold hundreds of short term rental properties and I was able to view every one of them. I prefer to get my homes off market and avoid the bidding wars and over priced sellers. Off market accusations is the way to go as you have way more control. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
Realtor · Cumming, GA · Member since 2018 · 158 posts · 127 votes
5y
This can definitely happen and be true to an extent. In many markets like this you have to be comfortable with pictures and a driveby before making an offer if it's a really hot property.
That said, your agent could at least check out the outside or the neighborhood. And often there is opportunity to show or get video in between rental visits so I would press on that a little bit. Those are the kinds of things I do for my clients
I think they are both great and plan to use them again.
Thanks for the shout-out! Yes Working with a lender and agent that knows how to navigate second homes and how they work is very important. I get a good bit of deals from clients that the other lender is not able to make the deal work and it's an easy file for my team to get closed.
Property Manager · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2019 · 445 posts · 266 votes
5y
We’re very happy with our Storey Lake properties! Because of the location, (close to Disney), amenities and great reputation with guests, we see rates and occupancies go a bit higher there than with similar homes in many other communities.
@John Menton You can manage the bookings yourself or you can pay someone to manage them for you for 10%-30% of your gross revenue. When I launch in October, I plan to manage my own bookings. I pay a local property manager a flat rate to maintain the home.
New to Real Estate · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
5y
I am also interested in finding my first rental property near Disney area mainly Kissimmee. I am looking for a property that can be used for STR or LTR ideally in next few months. I would love any recommendations on good real estate agents who can help me find a good deal. I looked into some places in Regal Oaks, Osprey Cove, Royal Palm Bay, and Paradise Cove. Any inputs on any of these places would be much appreciated.
Realtor · Central Florida-Orlando · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 892 votes
5y
@Meeky Hwang There are several communities that would work well for what you are trying to do, I would caution on some of them as the HOA could ultimately rule against doing STR.
Depending on your priority..STR or LTR, some communities will just perform better based on proximity to Disney, number of beds, theming and community amenities that are offered to the guests for STR. Long term, those criteria won't be as important. Many STR owners switch to long term when the Pandemic first started out of fear and are now stuck with long term tenants and missing out on all the vacation demand. Hope this helps, message me if I can answer more specific questions. Good Luck!