posted by orlandovacationhome on Jan 2

When evaluating your options for Orlando vacation home rates and accommmodations, keep in mind that size does matter. Let’s look at some Orlando vacation rental options when compared to a hotel room.

A typical hotel hotel room runs approximately 325 square feet in size. The average nightly rate in Orlando for that hotel room runs around $80 per night depending on the time of year or .25 cents per square foot if you are evaluating a cost average based on size. Two hotel rooms could tightly accomodate eight people for a total of $160 per night.

For a three bedroom vacation villa/home that will sleep eight to ten persons, it will run around the same amount ($160/night) depending on time of year, amenities and subdivision. Such a vacation home/villa will be roughly 1,800 square foot on average. Therefore, for a much larger home, your per square foot cost is .09 cents per square foot, plus you get the use many amenities that typical Orlando hotels do not have such as a fully equipped kitchen, private garage and private pool.

In summary, Orlando vacation homes/villas represent significantly better value than hotels if you are traveling with 4 or more persons. Based on our caluclations, hotel rental rates run around .25 cents per square foot while vacation homes are in the .09 cents per square foot range on average.

Why would you book a hotel in Orlando? Please consult our blog postings for helpful tips, consumer information and community reviews.

posted by orlandovacationhome on Dec 31

The Daytona 500 will be held this year on February 15, 2009. This is the biggest and most prestigious racing event in the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) calendar.

The race has been held every February since 1959 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The race was originally held in part on the actual beaches of Daytona, but now consists of 200 laps on the 2.5 mile track at the infamous speedway.

If visiting the area, it is no secret that Daytona Beach hotels sell out early and command top prices. Many Daytona 500 fans will look at staying in Orlando for some or all of their stay in order to get more reasonably priced accommodations and perhaps visit some of the theme parks while in the area. An Orlando vacation home rental might make the perfect stay.

If you do stay in Orlando during the 500, we recommend getting up very early the day of the 500 as traffic tends to be packed. When 200,000 people try to squeeze into such a small area, the roads get clogged. Last year we left at 4.00 AM and it took us about 1 hour to arrive at the speedway. Friends of ours who stayed in Daytona at a local hotel who left just 2 hours before the race took almost 3 hours to get to the track.

Daytona-500-2009

posted by orlandovacationhome on Dec 30

As you watch your team progress through the playoffs, don’t forget to get the early “home field advantage” by thinking about your vacation home accommodations now for the Super Bowl. Regardless of whether you are a Titans, Giants, Panthers or Steelers fan, vacation home accommodations in the Orlando area are a super value compared to cramped hotels (aka “the cheap seats”). In this defensive economy, and as your team reaches a tight end to the season, be the receiver of some great rental values. Moreover, the kicker for vacation home value includes, but is not limited to:

1. Privacy in a secure residential environment.
2. Space for your buds.
3. Home style amenities to please every member of the team. 
4.  Most vacation homes are south of Orlando, so they are convenient to

          the stadium in Tampa. In fact, most homes are within 70 miles or a mere

          1,232 football field lengths away from the actual Super Bowl site.

So as you think of accommodations that will make your Super Bowl experience special, don’t pass on Orlando area vacation homes as the perfect option play! Click on our blog posts and independent community reviews to learn more about renting vacation homes in the Central Florida area.

posted by orlandovacationhome on Dec 10

Renting a vacation villa can be tricky, especially when you are unfamiliar with the area and heavily rely on internet claims to make a selection. While we are confident with the value that vacation homes provide in general, we are not confident that rental rates are priced efficiently based on the quality of the vacation home community.

Using our independent exclusive community reviews and ratings as a guide, we checked a few websites for vacation home rental rates. Here is what we found for a generic 4 bedroom/Sleeps 8 home:

* Good/Best Rated Subdivisions -  The mean rate in mid season was in the $133 per night range

* Fair/Average Rated Subdivisions - The mean rate in mid season was in the $108 per night range

Using our example above, there does appear to be a 22% rate differential to move into the better communities. We checked the low season rates as well and the price differential was very similiar. However, we did find that in the peak season and holidays, pricing patterns became very erratic and it became difficult to find any correlations between community quality and rates. This would be most likely explained by the surge in demand over supply during these time periods.

While this aspect of our brief analysis might lead us to believe there is some aspect of pricing efficiency, a deeper review of the rates advertised within each community varied widely. For instance, one of the examples was at least one home advertised for $140+ per night in what we consider to be the lowest rated subdivision based on amenities, common areas and quality of homes. In fact, in that same community, rates varied 40% for roughly the same accomodations at the same time of year. This was not unusual when we pulled up vacation villas within other neighborhoods as well. As we stated from the beginning, buyer/renter beware of what is out there for your Orlando vacation. Orlando villa rates are not priced efficiently .

Again, as we stated on other posts, it pays to shop around. We hope our community ratings section will help you as a consumer make a better decision. As always, the quality of the interiors of individual homes will vary within each community, so utilize the reviews as a guide.

posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 29

The Orlando Sentinel reported on November 11, 2008 that thieves have been actively targeting the Central Florida vacation home market.

As the economy enters deeper into recession and unemployment increases, breaking into Orlando vacation homes becomes a way of making extra cash for criminals.

Vacation villas are popular with thieves, as they are often vacant. Moreover, if they are in fact occupied by renters, during the daytime hours they make an easy target while renters are at the theme parks for their vacation in Orlando.

So what is a vacation home renter to do? Like anything in life, there are no guarantees, but one option could be renting a vacation home in Orlando in a gated and guarded community. This does help control the type of traffic into a vacation home community. Second, you could rent a home with an alarm system. When reserving a home, we recommend that you ask what type of security is provided and available for the home you rent. Our blog’s community ratings area does indicate which Kissimmee vacation home communites are gated and/or guarded.

Some subdivisions have also begun to put up 24/7 surveillance cameras to monitor all traffic and record licenses plates. When signs displaying such surveillance are clearly posted, they can act as an active crime deterrent. If you are a homeowner, you may wish to install an alarm system in your residence and encourage your community association to put up some type of surveillance system.

Homeowners may also want to check their insurance policy and make sure theft is fully covered on their home owner’s insurance policy. In addition, renters may want to be sure and travel with a good personal vacation insurance policy of their own.

posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 15

Cheap Orlando Vacation Homes

Expect the Orlando vacation home rental rates to drop further for the following reasons:

1. Many current owners are now cash strapped and are willing to rent their homes for less
2. As the recession sets in, less people are visiting driving demand down to rent these homes for their Orlando vacation. Please see our POST on this topic.
3. There are large amounts of these vacation villas entering foreclosure and are being picked up for a fraction of their original price, thus the new owners can rent them out more affordably.

Many of these expansive villas can now be rented at a lesser price than most cramped hotel rooms.

Don’t be afraid to shop around for vacation villas in Orlando, and feel free to ask a lot of questions. Remember, all vacation villas and vacation home management companies are not created equal, so do your homework.

posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 12

When booking an Orlando vacation home rental via the internet, part of your decision will include selection a quality vacation home management company. There are plenty of Orlando vacaction managment companies to choose from in the Central Florida area.

1. Professionally run with 24/7 customer service
2. A professional easy to navigate web site to select your Orlando villa
3. The vacation homes have a quality assurance program in place to maintain top notch vacation home standards (Please see our blog post on this topic).
4. The Orlando vacaction villa management company has their own service trucks and maintenance staff and are always on call.
5. Location of the vacation home.The home should be in a completed and well maintained vacation home community subdivision. No vacant lots and overgrown lawns in the area. Please consult our site often for updated vacation home community reviews and ratings.
6. Great vacation villa community facilities (i.e. pool, clubhouse, community activities)
7. Internet access or WiFi in the Orlando area villa
8. Crystal clear pool/spa
9. Fully furnished includes items like blenders and other amenities in the kitchen – not just the basics
10. A game room for the kids

Ultimately, you will decide what’s important to you and your family’s Orlando vacation experience. Always try and book the homes with the best location (as close as possible to the parks if that’s where you want to be). Ask the management comany a lot of questions and consult our independent vacation home community ratings. The best run companies are always happy to answer all your questions.

posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 11

If you are visiting Orlando Florida and looking for a vacation villa rental, there is great news. There is a huge oversupply of Orlando luxury vacation homes for rent. This means deals to be had abound for your Orlando vacation.

 For about the price of a mid-market hotel room, you can rent a fully equipped vacation villa home with your own private pool and do as much self-catering in a full kitchen as you like.  This would certainly help you cut down on your dining and entertainment bills..

Thousands of homes were built over the last ten years, and now many owners need to rent them. On any single night in Orlando, many of these homes sit empty.

Occupancies Dropping

In Orlando, the hotel industry will be the first to tell you their occupancies plunged in September 2008 over 2007, with room revenues dropping by as much 20-25%.

Many Owners Need to Rent

Many vacation homeowners are now feeling the pinch of the housing crisis, and many of the speculators who bought now need to generate additional income to the pay the mortgage.

What does this mean to you, the renter?

1. Shop around. There are thousands of Orlando villas and hundreds of vacation home rental management companies. Make sure you rent a good home, get a great deal and stay in a great location for your Orlando vacation.
2. Always pay by credit card.
   

   Orlando Vacation Homes - Great Deals for Renters!

posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 11

SNAD: Significantly Not As Described.

Yes, there is a term for it! You rent an Orlando vacation home or condo that looks great in the photos, but when you get there, the subdivision is less than desired and the house is dirty and has stained carpets.

This is a major problem. The community reviews contained on this blog should give you a leg up on making sure your vacation home meets your expectations.

Your Orlando vacation home management company should be able to provide you with a detailed standardized score of your specific vacation home or condo before you book it. Further, they should warranty the cleanliness of the Orlando vacation home and that the property was inspected the morning of your check-in. You can then pair up this home specific information to the vacation home community reviews we post regularly.

Without this information this can be a difficult process, as some vacation home companies have a vested interest in you booking the homes they manage over someone else’s. As we describe on another blog, absentee homeowners who do not employ a management company may not be in town to inspect the property before it’s occupied by the next guest.

In Orlando, some of the vacation home communities are less than desirable, and some of the homes are just plain poor. If you know where to look, some of the Orlando vacation home community subdivisions are amazing and the homes are wonderful. Please consult our vacation home reviews contained on this site as a reference when booking your Orlando vacation.

Some sites try to provide you information on the homes, but they have vested interests by the owners and managers, as described above. This vacation home blog will continue to provide you with information that will help you make the right choice for your Orlando villa.

Booking with a well managed and professional vacation home management company is key. Ask them what type of quality assurance practices they have in place to assure your vacation home rental is the pinnacle of quality. A well managed vacation home management company will not hesitate to tell you.

The best way to learn is to ask questions. Got a question on a vacation home or a community subdivision? Email us. We respond for free.