Buying a vacation home??

[Joann]

Hi we are buying a vacation home in Orlando close to disney... just wondering if there is any Canadians who have purchased one there or is in the process and would like to share thier experience with me please...

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

Congratulations!!! That must be very exciting!!!!!
We are not in the process, but have always wondered how it works. Is there any info you could share. Was it pretty easy? What percent do you have to put down? Do you have to rent it our for a certain amount of time? What are the taxes like? And anything else you could let me know would be wonderful.

 

[minnie56]

Can't really help..we ALMOST bought last month!
Went to RBC-Centura there --met with the Home Specialist Banker, spent a day with a Realtor, viewed many homes, then cooled our heels.

Good Luck and Congrats!

 

[chrisann]

but other than looking online, we don't know where else to start or what would be expected of us. If you could pm me with the steps you've gone through, that'd be great!

 

[sk8jdgca]

RBC centura is a good place to start- since it is connected to an canadian bank there isn't the problem of no credit bureau.

Just a thing to think about- If you own property in US, depending on the size of your worldwide estate, you may have to pay US estate tax-Not going to be a problem for everyone but something to watch out for

 

[Joann]

Hi Thanks for the replies... we have not bought yet... we just got our real estate agent in Orlando from my friend here who is an agent here who is also buying property in Florida. Her and her husband know agents there so they got us in contact with a guy in Orlando to help us.. He called hubby last week to ask what we are looking for , hubby told him aswell as I did in email and he has continually sent us emails of listings for what we are looking for... all in the Disney and universal area as we want it for renting aswell. There is certain properties that are for sale for rental and vacationing only aposed to living in full time.. all that he has sent us start at 113,000. up to 300,000 ....it is outrageously amazing what we can get for about 250,000 in those areas fully furnished with private pool. Taxes depends on where the house is located I noticed some about 3 grand a year up to just over 5 grand a year and some that are in gated communities also have mnthly or annual fees u need to pay for ( like condo fees for mataining) they have gone from 30 a mnth to 200 quarterly up to 1000 a year for some in addition to the land taxes.Some that are for sale have mangement companies that rent the houses out for the owners now that can continue over for you with ganenteed rentals if you keep them on working for you.
Thats why I asked here about this as this is all I know so far ..Have not checked into the banking part as we dont need that for the mortgage. But you do need to still own a home here in Canada to be able to own a vacation home there ..

 

[minnie56]

Just be sure to dot all the 'i's' and 't's' as I am sure your Realtor will guide you.

As a Foreign Investor, your property taxes will be significantly higher than if you were a full time Florida resident. Florida is one of the few States that is not terribly buyer friendly for us that live North of the border!

When we were considering and we still are mulling it...there was someone here on the Boards, I think from the U.K boards. that sent me a PM with some pretty scary tales and lackluster result-despite ideal promises- with the Property Management companies in Florida. Another also invited me into some Florida owners Forum and the reading there was very interesting as well.

Be sure to really research first. If you are unable to sustain the home in times that it is not rented, you could find yourself in hot water pretty fast. We have owned in Florida, twice, so I know whereof I talk and that was when times were hot!

The home we had our eye on, began at $425,000 ..was a Model-fully furnished-pool-spa-conservation lot...was on the Market for 313 days and JUST sold this past week for $260,000. It had never been lived in. There are great buys..but that is not the entire picture.

Good Luck!!

 

[mom_rules]

We were thinking condo too. Have property, but no dwelling on it.

Anyone know how foreclosures work?

 

[who's ur daddy?]

I could sooooooo become a snowbird. November to March in Florida would be awesome.

Working on the financing (lottery tickets) as I write this...

 

[Joann]

Just be sure to dot all the 'i's' and 't's' as I am sure your Realtor will guide you.

As a Foreign Investor, your property taxes will be significantly higher than if you were a full time Florida resident. Florida is one of the few States that is not terribly buyer friendly for us that live North of the border!

When we were considering and we still are mulling it...there was someone here on the Boards, I think from the U.K boards. that sent me a PM with some pretty scary tales and lackluster result-despite ideal promises- with the Property Management companies in Florida. Another also invited me into some Florida owners Forum and the reading there was very interesting as well.

Be sure to really research first. If you are unable to sustain the home in times that it is not rented, you could find yourself in hot water pretty fast. We have owned in Florida, twice, so I know whereof I talk and that was when times were hot!

The home we had our eye on, began at $425,000 ..was a Model-fully furnished-pool-spa-conservation lot...was on the Market for 313 days and JUST sold this past week for $260,000. It had never been lived in. There are great buys..but that is not the entire picture.

Good Luck!!

Thanks for your reply .... Ya we are aware of all that I belong to the snowbird group which they are still fighting to get the 10 % a year increas on taxes for Canadians lifted .. I also have a few friends that thier inlaws own there that I am going to talk with. My friend here who is an agent is also purchasing there so I trust her and her husband as they are in the business and they guy they refered us to is there friend in Florida. There is ALOT to read up and learn on ... We will NOT be using a management company there for renting it out .. I will be doing it as I don't work and am able and have the means to travel back and forth to Orlando when needed so I will be manageing it .. ( I don't trust easy to let someone else do it for us)The key to this is ask alot of questions which I am doing here and elsewhere hehe and READ READ READ LOL So much to learn and research so you don't get screwed over. I need to sit down with my sister in laws inlaws who own a house there and rent it out to the same ppl for 6 mnths every year while they are not there and see how they went about everything ...When I do I will pass it along their experiences

 

[Joann]

We were thinking condo too. Have property, but no dwelling on it.

Anyone know how foreclosures work?

I am going to email our agent there and ask him about those if I learn anything I will paste it here

 

[minnie56]

Well, that's all I am saying. Be sure what the facts are.. In the subdivision we looked at, there was a maximum 30 day rental allowed. A long term tenant is often ideal, but not allowed in all neighbourhoods. I am a Travel Agent, and I do NOT want the work of renting it out despite the many leads I potentially have. Been there, done that.

I have a friend that spent 2 months in Daytona this past Jan-Feb. She is willing to rent whatever we buy, for those same 2 months. But in that Neighbourhood, can't do it. Too many rules and regs..and as mentioned, I've done it.

 

[mom_rules]

Well, that's all I am saying. Be sure what the facts are.. In the subdivision we looked at, there was a maximum 30 day rental allowed. A long term tenant is often ideal, but not allowed in all neighbourhoods. I am a Travel Agent, and I do NOT want the work of renting it out despite the many leads I potentially have. Been there, done that.

I have a friend that spent 2 months in Daytona this past Jan-Feb. She is willing to rent whatever we buy, for those same 2 months. But in that Neighbourhood, can't do it. Too many rules and regs..and as mentioned, I've done it.

I've heard of that too. Also some neighbourhoods that don't like absentee owners-not sure how they could stop that though.