All Forum Posts by: Shawn McCormick

@Maite Narciso First off, to protect yourself and your friend, get your broker involved, please don't rely on Facebook or other forums to give you legal advice when you are a licensed person. However, you can use the FAR/BAR and select line 133 for financing type and use Rider C. Another option would be to have a lawyer or a title company that has a lawyer on staff draw up a more simple P&S agreement with applicable terms that both buyer and seller are comfortable with. Depending on the condo board, approval may be needed, so make sure the buyer is aware of all the norms that go along when purchasing a condo (fees, assessments, is it warrantable etc).

Best of luck

Hi @Sherri Perry, welcome and thank you for all the great work you've done in healthcare!! Now its your turn.

I am great friends with a former president of the Marion county REIA. Although I typically don't do much that far up, I actually have a listing in a 55+ community that I'm currently rehabbing and will be on market in a few weeks in Ocala. If you ever make it down to Orlando, come to CFRI and mingle with folks from all over Central Florida, lots of great networking opportunities there for you.

Ocala seems to be on a lot of peoples radar as it is growing and more affordable than Orlando or The Villages. I see lots of vacant parcels that could use a house on them!!

Best of luck!

@Steve Uekert plenty of good points to consider here. I'm in Orlando too and do quite a bit with STR clients.

A lot of the advice is not relevant to Orlando. Real estate, to me is hyper local. You can't compare how well a cabin in Asheville or a penthouse in NYC to a themed out house next to Disney. So then it comes down to a resort community with tons of amenities and a well themed house close to the parks or take a chance on a tier 2 or 3 community with a lower cost of entry and see if you can keep your head above water while you build out your reviews and work out the kinks. 

IMO, to do well in Orlando the 3 things that will give you a better chance will be 1. buy in a community that is as close to the theme park as possible. 2. buy as much home as you can afford (remember, a 8 bedroom home can always be rented as a 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 bed too) 3. Theme it out as much as makes sense (depending on how many bedrooms...you don't want to deck out a 4 bedroom home!)

The rest will come down to how good of an operator you are. How to you manage reservations, negative reviews, complaints, damaged furniture etc. I've sold to people that turned around poorly run homes and also to people the ruined a cash cow because they didn't put in the work. 

It is true that there are far less larger homes than 3,4 & 5 bedrooms, so you automatically have an advantage. Next, something that many touched on..multi gen families coming here to rent one big home...but they didn't mention that Orlando(Disney) is about as recognizable global destinations on the planet. We aren't just talking the Smiths from Ohio. We are sooooo International and get vistitors from every corner of the planet and they all come with large families. Those travelers are not going to a cabin or a house boat, they are coming to Disney to spend money, take advantage of that! 

As far as recession goes, these CAN be rented long term, but the resort communities aren't the most family friendly when you are living there..schools aren't good, the communities are gated and strict, shopping is very touristy and your neighbors are on vacation and change every week. It's a fine exit strategy if the numbers work, but sometimes taking a loss can have tax advantages....(I'm not a CPA or lawyer ;).

There is a lot more to touch on, so reach out if you want to go over more, love talking about this stuff!

Best of luck!

@William Kuslaka the sold data is easy to get from the MLS, just need specific criteria to make sure it is accurate. Square footage, age, lot size to give a general idea, then you go in and narrow down by finishes, age of mechanicals, school zones and a few other things.

Builders can be all over the place and many factors such as is the land high and dry, does it have utilities to it, what are impact fees in the area and then you get into the sqft price based on finishes and trim levels. But I would plan to start around $175-200 sqft, builders are just too busy and charge what they want and only take the jobs that make them the most, we have an enormous shortage of skilled labor here. I would also plan on builders not being available to start for several months minimum. Sorry this isn't the news you want to hear, but the reality of our local market. 

@Gina Lujan Sorry to hear that! Maybe explore finding someone to arbitrage your STR? I'm not a big fan of the strategy, but also hate to see you lose money. When you bought, did you have other exit strategies like MTR or LTR, will it cash flow that way. Or have you asked others to evalutate your listing to maybe see where you may have deficiencies that could improve your cash flow and fill up the calendar?

What other markets are you interested in? Are you looking out of state? Where do you like to vacation, maybe consider that and do a second home loan so you have less cash in the deal this time? (assuming you used 20+% down on the first). I'm in Florida, so I know nothing about your market, but always happy help problem solve. 

Best of luck!

@Shobha Joshi Welcome to the forums. Hopefully we can help you get focused on the right areas. For your budget, you are going to be out of most anything in the Orlando market unless you go further out from the city (north to Deland/Debary, Sanford) (south to Haines City/Lakeland) west to Groveland and Masscotte) to find anything in that price range that isn't in a war zone or dilapedated. 

I sell in Tampa, but can't say what to focus on or stay away from as I don't know it as well. 

Best of luck, let me know if I can be of further help. 

@Ariel Broyles, Welcome to the forums! It would be best to see what needs and criteria you have for your family before suggesting areas. I know schools may not quite be on the radar yet, but likely will be..do you travel and want a convenient route to the airport, are you planning to take the kids to Disney alot?, Do you want to be near hospitals or a commute to work that you want to be minimal. Do you like East coast or West coast beaches?..lots to go over rather than suggesting 'my' favorites or what is hot or 'up and coming'. 

Happy to have a conversation and help you make the right choice. BTW, sinkholes can happen virtually anywhere and are actually quite rare to be a concern. Hurricanes don't affect the Orlando area much other than wind and rain (with some flooding exceptions). We have hundreds of lakes though, so make sure you are looking in 'Flood zone X' if that is a concern. 

Best of luck, reach out if I can be of any help!

 I could help a bit in Sanford and Deltona areas if you like. I do a fair amount of busines in that area. What specifically are you wanting to learn?

Hi @Aaron Nash welcome to BP! Glad you had a great experience for your vacation home. Your home in Altamonte, depending on exactly where and if its over 1300 or so sqft, should be worth $350 or much more. If its smaller or in a older neighborhood, maybe a little less. 

I would be cautious about doing airbnb as that area will likely(sooner than later) get caught up in the regulation game that municipalities are playing. Make sure you run number for doing a long term rental and a mid term rental as other exit strategies.

Since you have so much equity, you have options. Many will say 'never sell anything', while others may advise to scale into bigger properties while leveraging your appreciation gains. If you want to buy another primary, you could pull out the equity of that house, wait and save more, use 401k money, if you have one or rent out the current one and use that cash flow to help lower the payment for your new home. If you are a veteran, you could use a VA loan with 0 money down. If not, they are 'supposedly' expanding the Hometown Heroes program later this summer to allow anyone to use it.

Sounds like you're doing your homework and have a good idea what you want, but let me know if I can be of any further help.

Best of luck!

@Wesley Myers In Orlando, you are right, every house is built with pool and hot tub (if you are in one of the resort communities like Championsgate, Solara, Windsor and many others) Occupany on homes with pool and no spa are about 20% less according to my PM sources. 

My clients usually install automation for everything possible, lights, pool, garage a/c, thermostats etc. That way they can control things when its empty  and if desired, charge them if they want pool heat at a $XX per day rate or the whole stay for $XX. Some charge extra for using the grill too!

So I would say it's a must and will likely pay for itself pretty quickly whether you charge your guests for it or just save money on your gas bill.