Buying a Villa

[Guest]

Hi, I would be happy to help with info about buying a holiday villa in Orlando. As well as owning a holiday home in Orlando, I am also a licensed Florida Realtor based here in the UK. You can PM me, or email me at david@opuk.com
You can also visit my website at orlandopropertyuk
Look forward to hearing from you,

[jam jar]

Some great reading in this thread. Some very interesting points made

[Redsnapper]

Yes - very interesting thread.

but Unfortunately it has pretty much ended any thoughts we had about buying a property out there

[steve@mac155.f]

Originally Posted by Redsnapper

Yes - very interesting thread.

but Unfortunately it has pretty much ended any thoughts we had about buying a property out there

See more...

Why you just need to get what you can afford to run, a small condo could be a starting point.

Took us 5 years to be in a position to buy, never right it off you just need to do a lot of research and saving.

Steve

[Rizzoface]

If there was one thing you would all do differnently when buying a villa, what would it be?
i ask because there seems to be quite a few "regrets" on here

[stupet11]

Originally Posted by steve@mac155.f

Why you just need to get what you can afford to run, a small condo could be a starting point.

Took us 5 years to be in a position to buy, never right it off you just need to do a lot of research and saving.

Steve

See more...

That was my thoughts on this - I'd be tempted to get a foot in the door with a condo - less walls to paint / roofs to fix / pool to maintain etc - less initial outlay than a villa - easier to bail!

Not sure how the fees compare - if I had a villa, I;d also want it to be on a community anyway for peace of mind and confidence among potential renters...so maybe not too much diff?

I think I'd be tempted to wait till I can buy one outright, spend more time there myself, and rent to friends and family - less pressure then, can be where you want it to be etc

[Midsummer]

If you are thinking of buying a condo you will find that the HOA fees will be high as the whole complex is responsible for the grounds, upkeep of the pool, insurance and various other fees which will work out to anything up to $600 per month.

Also if you leave your home empty for more than 30 days at any one time your insurance will rocket.

[PerksP]

We have just passed our first anniversary of owning our townhouse. It's been a steep learning curve but one that I have enjoyed.

As our house is on a gated community, our HOA fees cover all groundswork and exterior maintenance of the property so our unexpected costs are restricted to the inside of the property and pool (which I know are potentially high). This means we pay much higher than average HoA fees but feel it balances out as we have no external maintenance fees and less to do when we go out there so we still get a holiday and just spend some time updating furnishings etc. which we quite enjoy.

We have learned a huge amount during the last year and are very happy that we took the plunge. We run the rental side of things ourselves and, although it takes time, I like to do this myself for a variety of reasons. Renting through a management company incurs additional commission fees and gives you less control. Doing it yourself means that you know who is going into your property and can offer rentals that you know will cover your costs.

The most important thing we learned, very quickly, is to have a property manager that you can rely on and trust. We switched from a large company to a smaller company within the first 12 weeks of ownership and that's the best move we made all year.

You do need to know you have a fallback in case you have a lull in rentals but we are looking at ours long term with the aim of using it as snowbirds ourselves to escape January and February. DH is American so we do have the possibility of moving eventually.

Don't be completely put off buying but be very prepared for everything that has been mentioned in this thread.

[Guest]

Thank you all for your constructive post on this issue it has certainly opened my eyes to a few issues.

We have been looking at all the foreclosure property's and it seems very tempting to go for it but now I am more aware of all the extras think we may have to think again


Thanks again

[Midsummer]

Also be aware it takes over your life. Your life is ruled by the computer as you need to be on top of enquiries, updating web sites and dealing with problems at a distance. Awkward guests and believe you me there are a number of those. Those that do damage and deny that it was them or those that are expecting the earth and swear blind you had such and such on the web site and it is something you have never had, but try convincing them that and it is well nigh impossible.

We have already started our list for work for our next visit, apart from the normal housekeeping jobs, washing all pillows, comforters, etc. painting, replacing a chipped wash basin and painting the pool deck.