posted by orlandovacationhome on Sep 6

Although vacation rentals are often described with such descriptive and apt terms such as “luxurious” and “premium”, one might be surprised at their affordability as well. Vacation homes are a great means for budget travel in Orlando. For example, let’s take a look at some vacation rental options in Davenport, Florida which is an excellent choice for a Walt Disney vacation. 

A quick check of booking sites for such quality resort communities as Calabay Parc, Tuscan Hills, and West Haven indicate that a 3/4 bedroom vacation house sleeping 8/10 persons would run anywhere in the area of $139 to $199 per night depending upon the season. Compare this cost to booking 2 separate hotel rooms and being stuffed in that amount of space for a full week with three other adults or kids. Not our idea of a great vacation! This is not even considering having a private bathroom, game room, potentially a private pool, washing maching and other amenities of home. Family vacations and group travel to Orlando will never be the same after you have stayed in a vacation home.

The other area that provides for such a great travel deal is the fact that most vacation rentals also have full catering kitchens. The savings you will accumulate from cooking breakfast in the mornings and dinner in the evenings is significant. Many travelers fail to consider this savings in their budgets. This will allow for the best experience in the world apart from the Disney vacation itself.

Consult our travel site often for unbiased reviews and news from Orlando. There are some exciting new attractions such as the Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It at Universal and the upcoming Harry Potter attraction in Orlando that are getting a lot of buzz. This site rates and reviews over 80+ resort communities in Davenport, Kissimmee and Orlando for your convenience. This puts the power of consumer choice in your hands. The plethora of vacation rental options is what makes the local market unique.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Jul 19

Regardless of how you feel about social policy, recently proposed tax and economic policies could be doubly hurtful to the domestic vacation home industry.

As many real estate markets are beginning to work off excess inventory, the new higher tax policies for the higher income earners might not be good for vacation home owners.

Collectively the vacation home industry has a substantial impact on our national economy. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, there are 8.1 million vacation homes and 40.5 million investment properties in the United States.

First, the newly proposed tax policies would push the average state and local tax rates over 50% for the higher income earners in many states according to the July 20th, 2009 edition of Barrons Magazine.

Moreover, the top five highest combined taxed states would be Oregon, Hawaii, New York, California and Rhode Island with a potential combined tax rate over 56% on taxable income for their top income earners. Other than Florida, Utah, Colorado and North Carolina, these states represent some of the highest areas for second home/vacation home ownership. In other words, as people leave these states to seek lower taxes vacation home owners and the vacation home industry will be effected disproportionately hard as housing inventories swell. In addition, taxing higher income earners (prime second home home buyers) will decrease their level of disposable income and ability to buy vacation homes.

Second, look at unemployment in these five states. According to the latest US Bureau of Statistics, the average unemployment rate for these five states is 10.5%, a full point above the national average. In fact, Oregon, California and Rhode Island are also in the top five for highest unemployment. The vacation home industry has been a source of high paying jobs for some time. Again, raising marginal tax rates will not only sting areas with high vacation home ownership, these actions will only likely cause the employment situation to get worse.

Regardless of your political stripes, raising combined marginal tax rates could hit the vacation home industry hard in a time when market conditions showed some signs of improvement.

As always don’t rely on an opinion, always consult a CPA before making a tax decision of any kind.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Nov 8

The third quarter earnings report for Disney was not pretty. In many investors’ eyes, it raised more questions than answers. Chief Mouse Executive Bob Iger reported that the first half of 2009 looks to be just shy of 10% under last year’s booking pace. He also alarmed analysts by stating that his predictive view of the attendance market is “limited”.

Disney responded by rolling out a new “buy 4 days/nights, get 3 free” promotion. This is strong evidence of the weakness coming into 2009, and the theme park market will need to perform some heavy discounting in the new year to stay on par with last year.

Disney Earnings Impact Orlando Vacation Villa Homes

Presumably area hotels must do the same to bring in their market share of tourist dollars. Vacation home rates will almost assuredly follow suit because staying in a home is an upgrade from the regular hotel stay, and that consumers may not be in the financial mood to take advantage of that upgraded experience. The dollar has also appreciated making foreign exchange rates less attractive for international travelers. Although air travel pricing has been sluggish to drop, gasoline pricing has been cooperative for the consumer lately. We suspect that regional drive-to traffic may need to replace lost international traffic in 2009 if Orlando vacation home rentals are to keep pace with last year’s figures. In that light, vacation home marketers must do a better job of highlighting the advantages of a vacation home over a hotel stay and then delivering on that Orlando vacation promise.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Oct 29

Buying A Vacation Home in Orlando – Kissimmee

At a dinner party in our home town of Frome, England, we recently met a couple who told us they just bought a vacation home in Orlando, Florida.

As we go to Orlando all the time and our mum owns two vacation homes, we had a lot in common. Our new friends told us where they bought the home, so we looked it up on the Internet. When we visited Kissimmee the following week, we met with our management company and started talking about the home. The owners told us they paid $220K cash for the house. Our property manager said the same model was selling for less than $160K (bank owned).

In America, there are various real estate professionals that can help you. To ensure you are getting the best deal possible, directly hire your own independent professional advisors. Your cost for this type of advice will be several hundred dollars for an appraiser as an example. 

Hiring a professional to do some market research could have saved our friends almost $60,000. Don’t make the same mistake!

So if you are looking to buy a vacation home in the Orlando, Kissimmee, Clermont or Davenport area, do your homework and directly hire a team of independent professionals these might include CPAs, Appraisers and Attorneys. As always we just express an opinion and don’t offer professional advice. Please reference our disclaimer.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Oct 25

With a fragmented industry with lots of players and no strong “branded” presence, the consumer for vacation homes is left to make some decisions with little or no information regarding the maintenance and cleanliness of the home they will eventually be staying in. Quality assurance in the mind of the consumer will be the ultmate differentiator after staying in the home or referrring

Orlando Vacation Home Management Quality Assurance

How Clean is your Vacation Home

others to frequent that management company again. Along those lines, and before booking any vacation home, one should make sure that the management company has a program in place to proactively manage maintenance and cleanliness of each vacation home.

A quality program for housekeeping may include training methods, graded inspections and employee recognition to deliver a home that is clean and well maintained for each inbound guest. All three elements and others are part of an overall strategy to compete with the cleanest hotels, and to deliver a pleasurable experience.

From a maintenance perspective, regular and thorough inspections of the entire home are an important part of the process. Too many companies use the guests as their de facto QA team, which should not be the case, and is

All Vacation Homes Should be Quality Inspected

certainly not what you paid for. Performing needed maintenance and preventive maintenance at appropriate intervals before the guest arrives keep the home and its collective infrastructure operating effectively to the benefit of the occupants.

Before you book your vacation home, make sure the management company has a quality program in place as evidenced by testimonials, referrals or a program mentioned on their website. Although this might seem a given as a consumer, it is surprising to see the number of companies that don’t see the guest experience as part of their “brand”. Why? They put their time and efforts into other areas of the business or they purposely cut corners to reduce expenses. Make sure you never book with a company in the latter group.

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posted by orlandovacationhome on Oct 5

Good Vacation Home Management

So you own a vacation home? Join about 40,000 other owners in the Orlando, Kissimmee, Disney, Clermont or Davenport area.

What Homeowners should demand from their management company:

1. The option to opt out of the management contract at any time if you are not happy with the company.
2. The ability to rent out your home at least 65% of the year.
3. A quarterly quality assurance and inspection report with photos and scores for all aspects of your home from the AC system to pool.
4. Assurance that home repairs are completed at cost, and that a detailed report is provided of work completed
5. All capital projects are bid out in writing to at least three bidders for items such as roof repair, ac replacement, pool resurfacing etc.
6. Minor repairs are billed at a rate no higher than $35 an hour.
7. You can login-in to your account 24 hours a day to view all bookings, maintenance and account details.
8. They are licensed and insured, and can provide all documentation
9. They provide resumes of their key staff
10. They respond quickly and professionally to your requests and answer their phones by the third ring 24/7

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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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