All Forum Posts by: Levi Bennett

@Matt Hickok , all we do is specialize in helping investors purchase vacation homes around Disney, our office is also based in Celebration. We may be able to help each other sometime? Good luck, it's a great business and booming in the area. I couldn't be more bullish about vacation homes in Osceola and Polk county. 

I would be shocked if you found a better place to invest than the Disney area South of Orlando.. everything is booming, prices are low, crime is low, schools are awesome, Disney is doing expansion on every level, commercial investment is unprecedented here.. if you got the proper tour, I'm sure this area would fit your critera. Not to mention the vacation rental market here is the best in Florida.

There is a lot of talk about Poinciana, and there is definitely an surge in the market there, but it's not localized to Poinciana, it's going on everywhere around Disney. Stock prices for Disney are way up and beat all expectations.. the CEO has big plans and every park is going through big expansions. Additionally, there is a lot of investment going into the I-Drive area between Universal and Disney.. Orlando is booming, and most people who live here don't even know about Horizon's West, or the 60,000+ homes that are being built South of Windermere, North and West of Disney.. what used to be fields and orange groves have given way to tens of thousands of new homes and shopping centers. Not to mention Disney has a small commercial space reserved near a big area of development that is breaking ground next year, they've been quiet about it, but it's exciting. 

Additionally, short term rental is surging. With the rise in popularity and credibility of Homeaway.com and Airbnb.com.. more people are renting short term rental homes of all shapes and sizes near Disney, and thus, more investors.. 

I was in a new development yesterday where they are clearing land for over a 1000 new homes, some waterfront, less than a 2 miles from Magic Kingdom.. I went to a big event afterwards with a lot of the areas most prominent realtors, and not one of them even knew it was being developed. A lot of the new developments are not anything would see from the road or drive through making them private, yet accessible to Disney.. this is a gold mine in my opinion.. it's just knowing about it, and hopefully jumping in at some of the pre-construction prices for these homes. 

Just to clarify, this huge short term rental market I speak of, this is technically NOT in Orange county, and technically NOT Orlando.. this is Kissimmee, Davenport, Claremont, Buena Vista, etc.. but basically just south of 192 which is the southern boundary of Disney World Resort. I consider this to still be in the "Greater Orlando Area" though.. 

In my opinion, the biggest opportunity with the most upside is the short-term rental vacation community. Of anywhere in the world, Orlando has the strongest short term rental market on the planet. I don't know if Orlando holds records as tall as that one in any other real estate category.. so for me, I look at the potential there. It's super easy to rent out a home short term because the market is so strong. The other big upside is the rise in popularity of Homeaway.com, Flipkey.com, and Airbnb.com. Those websites are continuing to get better reputations as people see the value, hear the success stories, and realize they can get so much more for the same price or less than a hotel. 
Also, with massive commercial investment for in the I-drive area (eye of Orlando, the new aquarium, etc..) near Sand Lake Drive, there is a lot of bullish investors who are making the area a nicer place to visit. This is increasing demand in the luxury short term housing market (which is slim right now, prices are very high because options are so low).. so for the intermediate investor, maybe someone looking to get away from owning 5 rentals, this is an opportunity to invest $1.5M - $2M on a short term rental home that only needs 5 nights of bookings per month to break even.. (all the available units in this range are booked 18+ nights per month through next year).. so.. for the same price as buying a large multi-family in a high demand area, you could buy a luxury short term rental home in a high demand market, and be able to enjoy the entire house for you and your family while making a tremendous cash flow. 

That's what I would do if I was in the market. Not many real estate deals cash flow (that I've heard of) or have cap rates as good as these opportunities near Disney. 

Multi-family homes are NOT commonplace in Florida like they are up north. That's just the reality of it. As you've seen, what is available is not what is typical for most of the country, so the rules here are a little different. There are many other ways to invest in the Orlando real estate market, that's a hard one to do here though. 

Why buy a timeshare when you can invest in a short term rental home and put it on auto pilot, have it make money, and you can use it whenever it's not booked (30-40% of the time)? 

Timeshares are a HORRIBLE idea.. you can't sell them, and you should never pay more than $1 for one. You can take them off people's hands for $1 any day of the week because they are so burdensome.. even then, it's bad because you're liable. I cannot be more against this idea. 

There is lots of swamp land for sale, just be careful and know exactly what you're buying. I'm curious what your goal is. Why do you plan on buying and holding a lot? If it were me, and land were the only option, I would buy just outside an area that is growing quickly.. IE, Lake County, Osceola County, Polk County all these counties near Disney.. 

Hey man, I think there is an entire forum area for this topic. You will probably have weeks of reading material there. Welcome to BP! If you ever need some help with an agent in the Universal/Disney area, feel free to reach out. Our firm specializes in investment properties around the theme parks. Good luck!

Edwin, it all depends on your price range and where you want to be.. there are definitely deals to be had in the area, but picking the right part of Orlando can make all the difference. Are you wanting a long term rental? Why Orlando?