buy a villa or pionts

[paulh]

SIL and BIL are thinkinking of buying a villa in Calabay park at calabay lake near to baseball city we say they would be better buying DVC points what do you think is it to far from disney or is it close enougth to make it worthwhile
Paulh

 

[WKUMAD]

Don't know where Calabay Lake is located. Or baseball city. And I have spent the last ten winters in Ft Myers, Fl. If you mean in the area of Haines City, Fl. there is a baseball stadium there. Not sure it is currently used by a spring training baseball team.
In any event, a choice between the two would depend on how it would be put to use. Some people buy villa's and condos and place them in the rental program for income and for occasional personal use. We all know what the DVC points would get you.
Haines City is about 30 minutes from Disney.

 

[mbb]

the two would be so different, it really depends on them...

I'm assuming that they would rent it...you may want to pm tednvon , they post frequently over on the Orlando Hotels Board. I know they own a home...

Sure they would enjoy either!!

 

[paulh]

they told us that base ball city is bing regenerated it is near exit 54 on I-4
Paulh

 

[Dean]

These are so different that it's almost impossible to compare. I don't know the area you are referring to but in general, they should only buy a villa if they're going to use it an awful lot. The only area I'd consider buying a villa to rent it out would be a beach resort type area and even then it's a very big step. Of course the two aren't exclusive of each other, they could buy both but maybe less points. Other options would include regular timeshares which would be much cheaper. The ideal option might be a fractional share property though I am not aware of one in FL personally.

 

[BillPA]

Baseball City is west of Disney on I4 or 192 to rte 27 south. It's about 30 minutes + traffic jams that happen on I4, could run a hour at times. I agree it is almost impostibe to compare the two.

 

[Beth]

They're building some really nice villas over there - on golf courses. Couldn't believe how that area is being developed - it used to be all groves and pasture.

 

[JimC]

If you want to retire in Florida, then buy a villa in a good area. It does not matter if you decide to retire elsewhere in the state. You lock into the Florida real estate market at todays prices and ride along till retirement. Then you can sell and buy where you want to live.

 

[vernon]

Having done both I think I can give you some ideas on the plusses and minuses for either idea. Both Jim and Dean make sensible points which raise the question of how commited you are to Florida. Are you interested in more than just a holiday commitment?

At the moment with £ at such a great exchange rate I can understand the attraction of UK residents looking to buy into American assets. Where this could become a problem is the on-going commitments you're are left with either purchase. DVC has it's "dues" a house has a much larger potential for costs depending on the rental ability. If the £ moves back to it's lower levels of the last 10 years would you be able to fully fund these commitments, don't forget that although many realators will tell you that you'll be able to rent out your house to (help) cover costs few (none) of them will make a firm guaranty that will be the case. My own experience was that the house was costing me between $2-3,000 a year. Granted I was occupying the house for between 6 and 8 weeks a year myself, so it could be argued that my "rental" cost was about $300 a week, but I did have a fair amount of capital tied up. Do be aware that anywhere that's more than 20 minutes drive from WDW ( and baseball city is definately more than that) is going to be more difficult to rent out than somewhere closer to WDW. Villa rental is quite a competative market and to rent out your home will require you to commit a reasonable amount of time to doing so.

Coming back to the point of commitment, IF they would be spending more than 8 weeks of the year in Florida, then I think you can make a reasonable argument for the villa route. Certainly if they are looking at retirement in the near future and would spend say 4-5 months in Florida then certainly a villa is going to be the better option. If however retirement is 10-15 years in the future and they would rely on rentals to help cover their costs I would agree with Jim that a better option would be to buy a house in a decent rental area ( so they are hooked into Florida property values) and they can then decide to move to a different area when they would be spending a lot more time there themselves.

Both ideas have a lot going for them. DVC is a much smaller commitment both financially and emotionally but a villa does offer you the dream of one day spending at least 6 months of the year in Florida once you've retired. I don't think either choice is always better than the other, it is very much dependant of the aspirations and situations of those making the choice.