All Forum Posts by: Levi Bennett

Banks have no problem with it here. We have more VRBO's than anywhere in the country, so it's very common. I even have contacts that will finance specific types of foreign nationals for a vacation home, all without a US tax id number lol.. (they have to get one of course before they close)... But yes, it's more common in touristy areas. I happen to specialize in properties near Disney, and our area saw more visitors than anywhere else in the US last year, and VRBO's are surging in popularity because of their economy compared to hotels.

One question I get ALL THE TIME is.. "What is the rental history?" and, "How much revenue does this property generate?" 

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), it doesn't work like that. Rental history is proprietary information, it's not public, so it's up to the discretion of the owners if they want to reveal it. It's not common in the listings, allthough it is asked for frequently. Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don't, but it's hardly ever easy. Regarding revenue, it's not consistent. It depends on the owner. The potential is certainly there, but not everyone will operate their vacation home like a business, so many (most?) owners will not approach anywhere near the earning potential of a given property. If you're savvy though, and you're smart.. you can kill it in this business, and many do.

It's a grey area for a lot of reasons.. I see it as an opportunity to cash in when others aren't. If it was so easy to make 8%-15% everyone and their mother would do it. But it's not that straight forward, it requires homework, but the writing is on the wall, and the opportunity is there for those that see it. I can point you and any of my clients in the right direction to see the numbers and realize the potential, but it's up to the owner to make it happen. It's a joint effort of a great market, and owner input.. it's a not a free ride. Make sense?

Also, I wanted to point out that I did exactly what you (and many others) are talking about. I moved here last year to pursue real estate with my wife, and it's been a crazy ride, but one that I don't regret. 

Hey man, as I tell people.. Multi-families are NOT COMMON in Florida like they are up north in places like the Northeast and midwest.. it's just not the same. Multifamilies are highly competitive, and every investor and their mother wants one, so they're not cheap either. There are lots of ways to make money in real estate in Florida however, and despite some other posts on this thread, I would doubt than any place in ALL OF THE SOUTH is booming like Orlando.. Not to mention reasonable prices. More people visited Orlando than any other city on earth last year, and I would doubt there is as much New Construction going on anywhere except Miami and cities in Texas. This is place to be man.. but don't expect to have a lot of luck with multifamilies in Florida, it's a whole different animal. Tourism is the name of the game here in Real Estate. Outside investment (from other states and other countries) is surging, and you can't go wrong selling to out-of-towners when you're new. Also, vacation homes. Florida is awesome for Real Estate, but be warned, it's not like other places in the country. 

We help our clients buy short term rental homes all the time. Basically, it depends on where you want to do it.
Here in Orlando, I think there are more short term rental homes here than anywhere else in the world (per capita).. and it's well known around here that they are extremely lucrative, but require more work. I've never heard of a PM company charging more than 25% here.. and that's for the very best of the best. There are 10-20 reputable PM companies here that charge anywhere from 15-25%. 

Anyway, short term rentals are more lucrative (or at the very least have much more potential), but require more work, and more investment. 

Hey @Brandt Tingen 

Too bad nobody has answered you here until now, however, this topic is my bread and butter and I would love to talk more about it.

Have you considered buying a short term vacation rental in the largest short term vacation rental economy in the world? Right here in the Disney area of Orlando, there are more here than anywhere else (per capita) that I know of. Normally you can buy turn-key, post it online, and have pretty stellar occupancy rates simply on demand. There aren't enough of them down here (despite the fact there are between 4,000-6,000 vacation homes within 12 miles of Disney World). 
More than 57 Million people visited Orlando in 2013, more than Chicago, NYC, or Las Vegas. Less than 1 tenth of 1% stayed in vacation homes. The number of people using popular websites (like airbnb, homeaway, vrbo, etc..) to book their vacations is skyrocketing, and builders are struggling to keep up with demand. With all the commercial investment into the area, the new builders for residential, and massive theme park expansions going on, I don't see anything slowing down anytime soon. Vacation rental homes are easy to maintain, and they sell easily also due to high demand. Our firm makes a living selling to out-of-town investors because demand for vacation homes is so high here. 

I plan on owning several before I leave before investing also in the Caribbean. This is risk-averse compared to foreign markets. Short term vacation rentals here are dependable and easy.
Let me know what you think. 

in addition to the websites above, flipkey.com

Those 4 websites combined drive (I'm guessing) 95% of all vacation rental traffic. I have clients that list their homes exclusively on those sites without marketing anywhere else and get incredible occupancy rates. They're exploding with popularity. 

I think it depends on the investment. Our Firm has the vacation rental market on lock down near Disney World. You can find us Carlosandteam.com or google "vacation real estate near Disney" and you should see us at the top. When it comes to short term rental investment, be sure to consider us. 

I specialize in helping investors purchase vacation homes!

I don't think you will find a bigger market, or economy, for short term rental homes than Central Florida around Disney World. There are literally thousands of homes for sale, and the market is very strong. New vacation rental communities are being built, and ROI is very strong. 8% is average around here, but it's easy to get north of 10% if your savvy. Let me know if I can help you.

Homeaway.com is THE website to use for central florida vacation rentals. it's much cheaper than you might think as well. You can usually find homes last minute, and also negotiate month by month leases (usually they're listed nightly). We work with a lot of out of town investors, and I direct all our investors to Homeaway.com to get a pulse on the market for what home rentals are fetching in the short term market. vrbo.com is popular in more temperate states, usually NC mountains, Tennessee, etc.. but the big one here is Homeaway.com

Hi Jim,

I'm not an investor, but I'm an agent in Celebration, Florida, and basically ALL we do is help clients from out of town in purchasing vacation rentals. Some are strictly investors, some want to live part of the year and then rent it out short term, and others want it strictly as their own as a second home. Zoning laws in Florida are very strict regarding vacation homes, so it varies by community, but as a general rule of thumb, short term rentals are not allowed in Orange County (Orlando). So most everything is in Polk and Osceola county (and some in Lake county) south of Disney World. I know this is a really old post, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have if you're still active on BP