Maintaining vacation home- orlando area (Kissimmee, Winter Park: rentals, HOA, insurance)

[roku12]

Hello y'all,

We live in SC and are in our 40s. While not retiring anytime soon, we want to invest in a vacation home(small townhome/condo) in the Orlando area. We want to use it as summer home and also visit when the kids have school breaks. We plan to let our family & friends use the house, if they are visiting Orlando but the house might stay vacant for 2-3 months at a stretch.
1. Just wanted to get a realistic viewpoint of the fellow forum members on maintaining such vacation homes.
2. Being a vacation rental hub, does Orlando area have property management services that do scheduled inspections of the home without costing a fortune?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in Advance !

[bmw335xi]

You shouldn't have any issues regarding a condo. If it's a townhome, you'll need to find out if the HOA will take care of your "yard" if applicable or if it is your responsibility. I would have internet service and just have an outdoor camera and an indoor camera. Eufy is cheap and can be found on amazon.

[wp169]

i used to live in Orlando and if I didn't leave my air conditioning on high, ants started coming on the window sills, so if you don't keep your vacation home cool all the time, ants might come in.

I heard the management companies in Orlando aren't trustworthy, don't know if it's true.

Additionally, certain parts of Orlando have high crime rates, so you should be careful where you buy property.

[roku12]

Thank you for your inputs, guys. Will keep them in mind.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by roku12

Thank you for your inputs, guys. Will keep them in mind.

Best advice: DON'T (let the prices/rates drop/insurance market settle out).

First need to check with your potential HOA about guests. Some care, some don't. Same goes for rentals.

Next up: Check the insurance, some companies do not want to insure vacant places.

I owned a 2nd home (200 miles away). Water was turned off when I left, I didn't get any surprises except one time the A/C failed, unit was not stifling hot but not cool either so that was a $4000 surprise.

Our HOA allowed ONE rental per year, whether it was for a day or a full year it didn't matter but not multiple rentals so a VRBO would not work. We never rented it.

It was nice but essentially a $3300 a month expense, some months we were there 1-2 times other months it was not at all. I lost money on it, even if I broke even I wouldn't do it again unless I planned on using it more than a weekend here or there.

VRBO would give you a realistic idea of how much you would use it, rent this year and figure out if you want to buy next year. You might also find out that summers in Orlando are miserable.

I'd think something on the coast will be a better deal in the long run, something an hour from Orlando.

[roku12]

Thank you for the detailed info. I was looking for something like this.An advice/ personal experience from someone who owned a 2nd home far from primary residence. Will keep it in mind. HAGD...

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by roku12

Thank you for the detailed info. I was looking for something like this.An advice/ personal experience from someone who owned a 2nd home far from primary residence. Will keep it in mind. HAGD...

It depends what you want to do with it. If you have a condo and just want to have it and not rent it out, it's easy. If you want to rent it out on the short-term market, then it's too much of a headache.

[roku12]

I agree. Thank u...

[zwz002]

I don't see why the OP's idea wouldn't work out. I own a vacation home in Kissimmee that I primarily rent out on airbnb/vrbo. The cashflow is great and I get to visit the area and occupy it myself from time to time. All I do is just block off the calendar so other people can't book. The property management issue is a hit or miss. I have no issues with mine and running it hasn't given me much of a headache for the past couple of years. I certainly understand that it's not for everyone, but just my two cents.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by zwz002

I don't see why the OP's idea wouldn't work out. I own a vacation home in Kissimmee that I primarily rent out on airbnb/vrbo. The cashflow is great and I get to visit the area and occupy it myself from time to time. All I do is just block off the calendar so other people can't book. The property management issue is a hit or miss. I have no issues with mine and running it hasn't given me much of a headache for the past couple of years. I certainly understand that it's not for everyone, but just my two cents.

There's no reason it wouldn't work.

Orange and Osceola both have zoning categories that are called "Tourist Residential." That's where I would focus. Winter Park doesn't permit short term rentals and Orlando only allows them if you live on the property for most of the year. Other cities in the area have similar restrictions so it's best to stick to the areas that allow it by code.

It's relatively easy to find good housekeeping services that are set up for short-term rentals. It's also easy to find good pest control and home inspection services.

I lived in Columbia for a year then in Charleston for the year after. It was in Columbia in the summer where I first heard, "Ain't nothing but a screen door between hell and Columbia." The heat there is no joke. Orlando is like that but for 3 months longer. So my red flag question for you is, why on earth would you want to spend time here during the summer? That's about as "out of the frying pan into the fire" as it gets.