Any Windsor Palms owners here?

[disneysteve]

We're booked in a Windsor Palms condo in November. My wife and I are approaching the point in our life when we might be seriously looking to purchase a rental property and I'd be very interested to speak with anyone who owns there to find out what your experience has been.

Steve

 

[FLeisure]

Disney Steve,
Investing in real estate here is something that needs to be thought about for a long time.

Every week I shatter someone's dream of buying a home here because they haven't given the matter due consideration or they thought it was an easy investement. Too many folks have the same idea of buying a property, renting it out and hopefully covering the cost. It sounds easy but the reality is that it rarely happens.

I'm not saying it doesn't and I have a few successful people who do it, but it really takes a lot of effort and a little luck to succeed.

The questions you need to ask yourself are:

1. Why am I really buying the property ?
2. Who will use it ?
3. What are the costs involved beyond the mortgage ?
4. Is the property in the right location ?
5. Have I got time to devote to getting bookings ?

That's just 5 basic ones and there are many more.

Further, in this area you might be tempted by companies offering "rental guarantee schemes" and IMO they are not worth the paper they are written on. They sound all well and good but you try getting your money if they default ! Not easy.

Try and find a Realtor you feel happy working with and one that will have experience and knowledge in regard to the short term industry. There are a few good ones and loads of average/ poor ones.

The next step is to do plenty of research on existing condo's in the area and not just on Windsor Palms. Find out the average rental rates and occupancy levels. When you have done this ask yourself the question, can I still afford this if a) I don't get any rental income for 6mths and b) for 10 mths ?

When you are here in November, use that period to do plenty of research. Look at other properties including homes. Drive around the whole area and get a feel for the place. See what's for sale and generally take your time. I don't know if you have studied the market as yet but you should be compiling a list of properties that are for sale now and then seeing if they are still available when you come in November.

As far as the market is concerned at the moment homes in the price range of $140 - 190K are scarce. In 34747 zip code (that's Windsor Palms area) there are currently 229 properties for sale with 65 of them being condo's/townhouses. There are currently 5 properties for sale, all of them condo's/townhomes, from $ 124,900 to $ 185,000. 4 townhomes have sold recently from $ 119,050 to $ 161,810.

In 34746 area 259 properties are listed for sale with 109 properties not really in the right location for rental purposes. Lake Berkley seems to be the area with most townhomes for sale that woukld compare to Windsor Palms. Currently there are 13 townhomes/condos for sale ranging from $ 133,000 to $ 159,900.

The thing to remember in all of this is to take your time. property will still be here next year and the year after !

 

[disneysteve]

Thank you for your incredibly detailed response. You're always a great source of info on the local market.

We've talked/dreamed of owning property in the Disney area for years but were never realistically in a financial position to seriously consider it. We absolutely wouldn't jump into anything without all the research you advised. In fact, it would probably be 2 years or more before we were actually ready to make a decision.

Is there any dependable source to research occupancy rates rather than trusting the agent or owners of the properties? Is rental history public record?

I know that it is a very competitive market and like most, I may do my homework and decide to stay out of the ownership business, but at least I'll know I looked into it properly.

Steve

 

[JANNYANS]

The only official record of occupancy is the amount of taxes paid on each rental and they vary from county -county and to the amount charged .It will tell you whether the owner made a payment to the tax collector for each month but you won't know how many weeks it covered -and you would have to ask the homeowners to see their copy as I don't believe the receipts are kept on public record.

 

[FLeisure]

No Steve, there is no public information available on rentals. Remember there are two sorts of rentals, i) long term rentals and ii) short term rentals.

In the case of long term this covers rentals of 6 months or more whereas short term rentals can be 1 night.

Occupancy rates can be gauged by calling several different management companies and talking to them. Some won't goive you that information and some will.

To give you an idea, my companies occupancy rate used to be around 80 per cent prior to 9/11. Since then everyone has seen a decline although the later end of this year and bookings into next year are seeing a recovery.

The bottom line in STR is that you, the owner, simply have to do your own bookings thesedays. Gone are the days when you could rely on MC's to do 100% of the rentals. The absolute best combination is when an owner and an MC combine their efforts to get as much rental income as possible. You'll note here I say "rental income" because that is what it is really all about. It is not about rental weeks.....eg., it is better to get 20 weeks at $1,000 per week than 35 weeks at $ 600.

To give you a better idea of things, I currently look after 75 homes. Of these, the vast majority of owners break even or lose between $ 3-7,000 per annum. Most of these owners are happy with this as it is the cost of their vacation every year anyway and they are investing that money into something they enjoy and will eventually walk away from without losing money.

Of the other owners, I have a handful who ae very successful and actually make money...between $ 5K and $20K per annum. These are very much the exception.

And finally I have 3 owners who actually lose more money than $ 7K per annum ! They don't rent their houses at all !! Now that's a nice position to be in but not many can afford it !

Anyway, whatever you decide Steve just take your time. If you decide not to buy then you will not have wasted any time and you will have arrived at your ownreasons for not doing for the right reasons. And if you do decide to buy...you'll be on a steep learning curve for a couple of years ! Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[FLeisure]

The only problem with that JANNYANS is that some owners pay the taxes themselves and some MC's send in a group return. It is pretty much impossible to obtain data on vacation homes occupancy levels unles directly from an owner or from a MC.

I can tell you though, that in Polk County, the taxes collected account for over 40% of the income to Polk County! Now that data makes a few politicians sit up and take notice !

Further the economic impact that the STR industry has on the 4 Corners area (Osceola, Polk, Lake & Orange) according to a study carried out by Weber College is over $1.6 billion !