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.
- Professionally run with 24/7 customer service
- A professional easy to navigate web site to select your Orlando villa
- 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).
- The Orlando vacaction villa management company has their own service trucks and maintenance staff and are always on call.
- 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.
- Great vacation villa community facilities (i.e. pool, clubhouse, community activities)
- Internet access or WiFi in the Orlando area villa
- Crystal clear pool/spa
- Fully furnished includes items like blenders and other amenities in the kitchen – not just the basics
- 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.
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posted by orlandovacationhome on Oct 28
Foreclosures Effect Orlando Vacation Home Market.
The level of foreclosures in the Orlando vacation home market are now at or near record levels. As many vacation homes in the Central Florida are second homes and many were bought by speculators, the prices in many communities have dropped significantly. It would seem that many owners have simply walked away due in part that the rents from such homes are not enough to cover their expenses.
Some of the communities hardest hit are those that saw the greatest appreciation. Unlike regular homes, vacation home communities tend to have less permanent resident owners that can help stabilize the area or neighborhood.
Many banks are also being tough when lending on vacation homes which can further hold demand down. In effect, this means that many homeowners who bought a property over the prior three years could now face significant losses they sell today.
We are not real estate professionals, as we had to go through online public records, and methodically pull sales along with calling a few local realty offices in the Orlando and Kissimmee area. Our information may not be perfectly accurate so, as always, consult a real estate professional in the area and have them pull the data for you.
So what will happen to the Orlando vacation home market in the future? No one knows, and it is pure opinion and speculation at best. If we knew, we would be sitting on an island in Tahiti sipping a beer rather than worrying about the general state of the market.
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posted by orlandovacationhome on Oct 12
Renting an Orlando Vacation Home Rental in the Foreclosure Crisis – 10 Tips
Orlando vacation home foreclosure
Vacation homes sold quickly during the Florida real estate boom when demand in many cases was overwhelming.
Renting an Orlando Vacation Home - In Foreclosure?
Now demand appears to be significantly less than supply. Many homes are now bank owned or in some stage of foreclosure, so before renting a home rental, you may want to consider:
- Try and book the home rental as close to your travel date as possible.
- Ask if the home you are reserving is behind on its mortgage
- Ask how many homes in the subdivision have been abandoned
- Ask what percentage of the development you are staying in contains vacant lots
- Ask if the community facilities have been completed
- Ask what percentage of homes in the community have overgrown lawns
- Pay by credit card only
- Use a reputable rental management company. If a home they manage is repossessed, they have others.
- If booking direct from an owner, you must be able to verify the rental home will not be repossessed by the bank by the time your stay comes around.
- If in doubt, keep asking questions. There are hundreds of management companies handling rental homes – so pick a good one!
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posted by orlandovacationhome on Sep 20
Orlando Florida Vacation Home Subdivsions are Not All Equal
There are some great subdivisions out there for your vacation home, and there are some not so great.
We recommend you stay in vacation home communities that are newer (built in the last 10 years), and those that have extensive community facilities such as pools, club house, play ground, etc…
A gated subdivision is a nice extra touch, as it can keep unwanted elements out of the community.
If you are coming to Orlando for the theme parks, you stay as close to the parks as possible.
Also, find out a little about the subdivision – how many foreclosures are there? Are there incomplete and vacant lots? Are there a lot of lawns overgrown? Can you be at the main entrance to Disney in under 10 mins?
Our favorites:
Emerald Island
Windsor Hills
There are at least 50 other subdivisions to choose from, so be careful. Some of them are terrible and poorly maintained. Do your homework and ask a lot of questions!
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