posted by orlandovacationhome on Jun 4

Statistics compiled by the Orlando International Airport (OIA) show that April, 2009 year-over-year air travel to Orlando Fl dropped 7%. An increase of international seat capacity of 10% helped offset this net decline in overall air travel volume.

This is not surprising, but this domestic number is especially weak considering that mid-year 2008 was a period of escalating air travel pricing. The OIA also noted that April, 2009 was a period for air travel volume over three million passengers, the first of that magnitude in nine months.

The next several months should be superficially good year-over-year travel comparisons. The petroleum and jet fuel commodities bubble pricing began in mid-year 2008 with subsequent traffic falling dramatically afterwards.

On this blog, we have been emphasizing the importance of the international market to the Orlando villa rental market from inception. Spending by international travelers is projected to be close to $10 billion annually with resulting tax receipts over $1 billion.

Continued expansion of international air capacity at OIA will undoubtedly help Orlando villa owners and rentals longer term because this group tends to disproportionately patronize these accommodations.

Travel to Orlando FL

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jun 2

Vacation homes and rental homes in Fl are an important part of travel to Florida.

In a landmark 2008  study commissioned by the Kissimmee Convention and Visitors Bureau, research indicates that vacation home owners and guests spend over $384 million in one county (Osceola) alone.

Vacation home rentals continue to be a more accepted means of accomodations and gain market share, but the industry has no formal organizational means of tracking economic impact statewide.

There are three major vacation homes markets in FL. These markets include Orlando, Miami and Destin/Panama City. There are also two secondary markets for rental homes in FL including Tampa/Clearwater and Jacksonville. It is difficult to extrapolate the total number of vacation home visitors statewide, but based on the report mentioned above, Osceola County drew 1.2 million visitors staying in vacation homes alone.

Although awareness of vacation homes for travel to Florida is on the rise, more consumer and economic data and information is needed. Holiday rentals in Orlando are a great way to enjoy the area.

Vacation Rentals in FL

This website focuses specifically on the Orlando vacation homes market to disseminate that needed consumer information. Over 80 resort communities have been independently rated and profiled which should give consumers a greater sense of trust for what they are booking. These vacation reviews are viewable on the main page of this website. The reviews section includes such premium resort communities as Emerald Island Resort and Windsor Hills Resort. Orlando FL is a great destination for theme parks, golf, restaurants and other attractions.

Rental Homes in FL

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posted by orlandovacationhome on May 18

We have reviewed every major short term rental/vacation home community in Kissimmee Florida.

To further help our readers, we have selected what in our opinion are the top eight Kissimmee vacation rental home communities. 

We define “vacation homes” as detached dwelling structures with multiple bedrooms and are similar, if not synonymous, to single family residential homes. A complete explanation of the various vacation rental options are linked here.

Here we go. The top eight vacation home picks for short term rentals in Kissimmee, Florida based on vacation rental evaluator reviews are (in alphabetical order):

Acadia Estates   

Bella Vida Resort 

Emerald Island Resort 

Formosa Gardens Estates  

Rolling Hills Estates

Terra Verde Resort 

Windsor Hills Resort 

Windsor Palms Vacation Homes  

 Just click on any of the communities above for detailed review scores, video tours, photos and interactive maps.

Best Kissimmee Vacation Homes

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posted by orlandovacationhome on May 17

In this post, we list the top vacation home picks for vacation rental home communities in the Davenport, Florida area.

For our purposes, “vacation homes” are defined as detached dwelling structures with multiple bedrooms and are similar, if not synonymous, to single family residential homes. A complete explanation of the various vacation rental options are contained on a prior posting.

The top vacation home picks in Davenport, Florida based on evaluator reviews are (in alphabetical order):

Solana Resort   

Tuscan Hills Vacation Homes 

Watersong Resort 

West Haven (multiple communities)

Click on any of the links above to get a detailed review score, map and video tour of each of these communities.

As we state in our disclaimer, community ratings are objective opinion evaluations. There are additional and notable vacation communities in Davenport, but based on our criteria, these were the best overall.

Each of the Davenport vacation home communities above received a “Good” or “Premium” quality review from our evaluators.

Davenport Vacation Homes

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Mar 4

Gatorland ® is located in South Orlando just off Orange Blossom Trail. Visit our interactive map below for more information.

Gatorland Orlando is situated on 110 acres of wildlife preserve. Gatorland is also one of Orlando’s oldest attractions starting as a roadside show in 1949.

Today, Gatorland in Orlando is one of Florida’s most affordable and interesting family attractions. Gatorland features thousands of alligators and crocodiles, and also has an interactive aviary, nature walk, petting zoo, breeding marsh and observation deck. Around the park you can take a historic train ride which helps to show more of this fascinating exhibit.

Many of the vacation homes and vacation home communities we write about are typically no more than a 20-25 minute drive from Gatorland Orlando. This attraction makes for a worthwhile visit during your Orlando vacation.

The staff at Gatorland put on a host of shows during the day which are always good fun including: gator wrestling, wild life shows, and the famous Gator Jumperoo. We had a great time during our review of Gatorland.

For more information contact Gatorland at:
14501 S Orange Blossom Trl.
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 855-5496

Gatorland ® Orlando Florida

The Famous Entrance

Baby Alligator

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Feb 19

Florida Pines

Florida Pines Davenport is located approximately 8.5 miles southwest of the Walt Disney World Resort ®. Florida Pines villas are located southwest of Orlando and west of Kissimmee. The Florida Pines vacation rental community is located approximately 5-10 minutes by car from major shops and restaurants.

The Florida Pines vacation homes are typically well maintained. The community facilities consist of a community pool and a playground set among the pine trees after which the subdivision is named.

To learn more about the quality and nature of the vaction homes in Florida Pines, check out our interactive video ratings review below as well as our interactive map.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jan 4

Bubbalou’s Bodacious Barbecue, Orlando FL

5818 Conroy Rd
Orlando, FL 32835

(407) 295-1212

Rating: Best BBQ Barbecue Restaurant in Orlando

We have tried pretty much every BBQ joint in Central Florida. We did like Smokey Bones, but since it was closed down it has pretty much left Bubbalou’s on its own in terms of better BBQ in Central Florida.

Fast and efficient service the concept is locally owned and operated with only a handful of stores around central Florida.

The store we listed above is closer to Universal Studios as there are currently none around the Walt Disney World or Kissimmee area in which many of the vacation homes we write about cater to. Call them at the above phone number if you want to find out the closest location to you.

Great ribs, giant onion rings and fast at the counter service. This is a no frills restaurant that relies on wait for it – good food to keep it busy. Great garlic bread and we love their sweet sauce. If you have room, order one of the little pecan pies.

We have had discussions with local BBQ aficionados if Bubbalou’s really is the best BBQ in town, once in while an obscure restaurant will be thrown out there, but consistently Bubbalou’s is the best. Many major corporations (some with thier own catering operations) use Bubbalou’s just for their BBQ product for catering certain events.

Rib dinner with soda will run you about $14 a person. View on our map link below.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Dec 6

If the most recent data is to be believed, hotel revenues in Orlando are dropping at possible catastrophic rates, and this could be an indicator of what some may have already felt in the metro Orlando vacation home industry.

Data for Orlando vacation home occupancy and rate is difficult to collect, as the industry is very fragmented. However, as market indicators, we are inclined to consider hotel data trends to help as a mirror to the vacation home industry.

Recently SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH, a provider of hotel industry data, reported that revenue per available room tumbled 13.2 percent nationally during the week Nov. 9-15, 2008 compared to a year earlier. Revenue per available room, or RevPar as it is termed, is a key gauge of a hotel’s revenue performance.

At the local level, metro Orlando has begun to see the largest drops in both rate and occupancy across the board for the hotel industry since 2001. For the week ending November 15^th, 2008 hotel Rev PAR dropped by a whopping 27.3 % according to the ORLANDO CVB records .

So what are the ramifications for the Orlando vacation home market? Hotel data now tells us that a short term combination of rate and occupancy are in a state of significant decline. Not a surprise given the current economic environment, but the level and rate of the decline is much more devastating than what is being reported on some media outlets. It remains to be seen if these short term indicators become longer term trends for the Orlando market and can provide some basis for an Orlando tourism forecast.

Possible ramifications in the vacation home industry could include:

1.     Rev PAH (Revenue per available home), is going to most likely drop significantly, as occupancies decline and some owners and home managers alike, quickly drop their rental rates.

2.     This could impact vacation home prices due to the fact that vacation homes would have a lessened ability to generate income, which would logically be reflected in the underlying home sales prices.

3.     Like any business, those homeowners that are best positioned to “hunker down” will be the ones that survive. Such factors could include: limited levels of debt, high rental occupancies, good locations and marketing strategies, excellent maintenance, and the overall experience of a good vacation home management company.

The good news for families, and even some event type groups seeking economic alternatives to hotel rooms, is that they may now logically consider the benefit of vacation homes. This helps the vacation home option become more mainstream. Please see our other posts detailing the economic viability of renting Orlando vacation homes and the value they provide to consumers. In addition, the best run vacation home management companies will most likely survive and the services they provide will become more essential.

In conclusion, there is no sugar coating the data. The drop in both rate and occupancy appears to have come so quickly and deeply that major media, and even many in the tourism industry, do not yet recognize. Expect possible systemic failures in Orlando’s tourism industry if these trends continue. Unfortunately, no one can preidict the future including us.

As always, our blog tries to inform you objectively, so subscribe.  Check the ORLANDO CVB data here.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 20

Let’s be clear, no one can predict the future. If we could, we wouldn’t be writing a blog. This post is  just an opinion. DISCLAIMER. As with any economic opinion, take it with a grain of salt. The authors of this blog are not professionals and do not give out professional advice.

The Orlando vacation house market has been hit hard, especially for many buyers who purchased vacation homes around the years 2005-2006. Prices have dropped in some vacation home subdivisions over 30% from their peak 2 to 3 years ago. For the metro Orlando area as whole, prices appear to have dropped. Click HERE STATISTICS(1).

There are arguments that prices will continue to DROP(2):

Vacation homes are much harder to finance than primary homes, and in the current market even primary homes are now hard to finance (2A).

Foreclosures are piling up. As people struggle with their primary home mortgage, they may give up their second homes.(2B)

There are large inventories (2C).

A few vacation home subdivisions struggle with upkeep of resident exterior areas. Vacation home managment struggles to keep this under aesthetic control for vacationers.(2D)

Banks will begin to compete against each other to sell foreclosed homes, and this could negatively effect vacation home pricing (2E)

Tourists are cutting back big time on Orlando (2F).  Thus, the demand for vacation rentals is also dropping. This means that owners have less income to pay the current mortgage which increases the risk of foreclosure.

In a depressed economy, the last thing people often want to do is buy a vacation home, but the first thing they may want to do is sell if they own one (2G).

Homeowners unable to refinance their vacation homes (they may owe more than the home is now worth) might let the home foreclose if they are unable to modify the loan terms (2G1)

When the world is facing an economic crisis (2I), discretionary items such as vacation homes are no longer in demand. If the USA enters a severe recession, the demand for some vacation home products could dry up.

There are arguments that prices will STABILIZE(3):

It would appear that the rate of price decline in some subdivisions is SLOWING(4) down, but prices are still dropping.

Some subdivisions are making the transition from primarily a short term rental market to subdivisions that cater to full-time owner occupiers as the prices drop, and the vacation homes become affordable relative to regular homes.

The government is reacting on a massive scale to solve the problem(4A).

There are some SIGNS(5) that the number of home sales has been increasing.

In conclusion, vacation homes in the Orlando and Kissimmee area face a unique set of circumstances that has allowed for significant price drops from their peak prices over the last 2 to 3 years. Forecasting the future with absolute certainty is an impossibility.

Subscribe to our blog for in depth graphical analysis and forecasts scheduled to be released next month. Click here to subscribe.

As always, please consider the people writing this post/bog to be unprofessional and incompetent at all times. Due to your own due diligence at all times use an Orlando appraisal company, real estate attorney and other professionals accordingly.

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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.

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