Anyone from the UK had good experiences buying a villa in Florida?

[Robblps]

To be honest with you, Cornishfrogboy... (mental name) thats probably the best way to do things. I bet most people haven't even thought of that. It makes far more sense to do things your way than renting abroad. I've never thought of that, people want to own that Orlando villa or townhouse. This way the profit on the UK based property could pay for their 3 months out there too. Its quite genius !

[themacfamily]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

This is (IMHO) a great question and an interesting thread. Here is my personal view.

We are looking into buying a holiday home. It will be in Falmouth and fully furnished.. where I already live. I can furnish it through discarding my current (good condition) items and replacing them in my own home with new. The money that this property generates will be used to pay to stay in somebody else’s home.. anywhere we choose to in the world in any year. Somebody else can take the risk of living several thousand miles away from a very large investment, while my investment will be very close to home.

1. In our town, a two bedroom flat can be rented out to students between mid September and the middle of June as we have a 7000 student University experience going on. 2019-2020 terms were 23 September to 12 June. Students don’t like renting year round as they are rarely around in those summer months, yet end up paying for them. I can make a better rate by hoofing them out for the summer and then Air bnb’ing those months. The student can pay slightly more over 8.5 months and then I can charge more in those 3.5 months to tourists.

2. I fully understand all taxation rules as I have rented out in the past. They are in any case, extremely simple.

3. I will not need a management company or to pay for one. I can advertise easily and varyingly cheaply through numerous mediums. In the event of snags, I have recourse to my own Handyman skills (I was a self employed general handyman for a while upon retirement from the Police) and also have a very good knowledge of specialists such as plumbers, roofers, electricians, central heating engineers etc in the area and who to trust or otherwise. I am thus not reliant on the management company to select various tradesmen that may or may not be giving the MC inducements for trade. With 33 years in Falmouth and great Grandparents in the graveyard, I know exactly where to go for best skills at best price. I also have great access to ‘mates rates’ and ‘good will’.

4. I can do my own books.. as I have done in the past, saving plenty.

5. Decorating and general upkeep, turn arounds, snags requiring immediate attention?.. I would do them myself. Why pay somebody? I will be living less than 10 minutes away.. even when all the roads are blocked by Visitors.

6. U.K. properties are generally more substantial in build and less vulnerable to general wear and tear with concrete, brick and heavy roof tile construction, no serious infestation risks etc.

7. We do not have extremes of weather that can destroy your investment.

8. We will have much smaller resort or estate maintenance fees. I don’t have to pay towards Beach, Restaurants, Bars, Communal facilities etc.

9. I am not reliant on the goodwill or otherwise of a management company 3.5k miles away who decide which villas achieve full occupancy and conversely, which do not unless there are more visitors than available Villas. For instance, I have had 8 vacations involving Villa or condo stays in the Orlando area, always in Easter or Summer School Hols and have always had what was clearly an oversupply to choose from... A couple at very short notice. I have never paid more than around £550-£580 per week with pool.

10. What happens if air fares go through the roof in the next few years as Airlines struggle to recoup huge losses? This will always impact on tourist footfall and therefore rents, management costs etc. What happens if the USA hits owners through increased taxation after they have nearly bankrupted themselves. It is for sure that taxation will be reviewed.. affecting ownership costs and tourist foot fall. With my plan, I am pretty safe from any of that.

I appreciate that this is a contrary view to many others, not negative, but in an oblique way, a different answer to the same question. We want to have options of travel as we approach normal retirement age and in the event that it is too much hassle as we get older, it is...
1. An awful lot simpler to sell off a property in your own back yard.
2. Easier to manage that sale
3. We are far more lightly to profit year on year from a U.K. property rising in capital value, than a Florida Villa where we all know that prices can be highly volatile in both directions.

I intend seeing the Far East, the remaining ‘A list attractions of the USA, South America, Cruising, Southern Africa and a few other places that I have not yet visited. Whilst owning a local holiday home will no doubt help fund it, it will in no way limit my options year on year.

I have had a few mates invest in Floridian villas over the years, one with no mortgage (He won £125k on ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’) and others with varying loans. All got out, most lost money between prices of purchase and sale.. and were relieved to escape. I never rented off any of them because even with mates rates, I could do better elsewhere. Several of those have purchased similar properties locally.. I.e swing role student let/ holiday homes for rent.

I appreciate that many have had delightful experiences from owning or part owning (the rest in mortgage is not owned) Florida Homes. Having done my sums and asked questions, it doesn’t work for me. Perhaps my ambitions are wider reaching (worldwide) and in any case, I am risk averse!

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Very interesting take on the question, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts