buying a villa

[Ali and boyz]

unure where to post this thread !!

anybody got good advice about buying a villa near disney that is built or can be adapted with disabled facilites and also is it easy to buy here when your property would be a million miles away. thinking about it but a big step

 

[stubb]

hi alli

we took the plunge in june. It is a big decision to make but we are so glad that we have done it. Have you seen somewhere that you like?

MICHELLE

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

This is who we used. http://www.artheiter.com/
I can only comment on our purchase, which was made vary easy by Art.
He helped us open a US bank account and showed us many resorts.
Most realtors have access to all properties for sale, not like in the UK where they are tied to one company.

make sure that the villa you want is in an area zoned for rental, else you will be unable to rent it out.

All villas are disabled access friendly, but to get one adapted especially will be difficult to find unless you buy from new, i.e. disabled low sinks, baths etc...
Buying pre owned is better as they are cheaper.

 

[Ali and boyz]

thanks both. I had thought in the Davenport area.

We had thought about buying here in the UK but have now thought that the rental return will be significantly lower . We haven't been back to Florida since my DS's accident but have rented a villa for this time. If we have a good ecperience re the flying (can't go virgin etc because we are flying from Glasgow) then we would def. go for it as this is the only thing worrying us at the moment. I know you can rent equipment etc. but my DS seems to need everything, hoist, shower access, special mattress etc etc. so feel this would be the answer as there doesn't seem to be that many villas fully equipment.

As you say Michelle it is def. a big decision but feel if we don't do it now we never will.
Michelle do you rent your villa out or do you keep it for your family etc. only reason I am asking is that if you rent it out do you get someone over there to deal with all the change overs etc. and the up keep of the ground when you aren't there.

also ......... sorry for the 50 questions but did you find the whole experience relatively easy. because my DS relies on us so much it won't be easy for us to keep popping over to get things organised. thought we could have a look when we were out in the summer but doubtfull if we would get back over.

really appreciate your repies.

Al. x

 

[Ali and boyz]

This is who we used. http://www.artheiter.com/
I can only comment on our purchase, which was made vary easy by Art.
He helped us open a US bank account and showed us many resorts.
Most realtors have access to all properties for sale, not like in the UK where they are tied to one company.

make sure that the villa you want is in an area zoned for rental, else you will be unable to rent it out.

All villas are disabled access friendly, but to get one adapted especially will be difficult to find unless you buy from new, i.e. disabled low sinks, baths etc...
Buying pre owned is better as they are cheaper.

Hiya Obi did you do it all from the UK

 

[Ali and boyz]

I did some research re flights etc from GLASGOW (need to go direct because of DS) and can't see any from October through until May. Is this the norm. I seem to think there def. flights over xmas etc. feel this would be a big factor if we bought a villa.

 

[Hilary]

I did some research re flights etc from GLASGOW (need to go direct because of DS) and can't see any from October through until May. Is this the norm. I seem to think there def. flights over xmas etc. feel this would be a big factor if we bought a villa.

I don't know about Glasgow, but certainly our local airport at Cardiff doesn't have Orlando flights through the winter, just May to October. It sounds as though Glasgow may be the same

 

[terrynewpack]

If you will need to rent it out then make sure you have plenty of time available to do it. The successful villa owners make it almost a full time job and they have to because the numbers of homes available exceeds the number of guests who want a villa. The other good news is that building of thousands of new homes will make the job of filling them with guests much more difficult.

Then you have the problem of getting a reliable and trustworthy management company. Not easy and most villa owners who have had a home for any length of time have at one stage or other been ripped off by their management company. Some people have been ripped off several times and very few are with the company they first started out with.

Beware.

Terry

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Hiya Obi did you do it all from the UK

Not all of it. we had a couple of trips out, the first to look at the villas, the second to arrange with Art the finance. (Well, that was the excuse for the trips anyway <grin>)
But we did a lot via eMail.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Terrynewpack
I take it you own a villa out in Florida?

 

[JANNYANS]

I think I spend at least 6 hours a day just answering enquiries, sending quotes , answering guests questions ,going to the post office to mail details etc.It is almost a fulltime job if you are going to get it rented out yourself which is the safest way to make sure it goes some way to cover your costs .Many companies will offer you guaranteed rental schemes but having been on one in the beginning they are not worth the paper they are written on in most cases.As terry says it will get harder to rent out the homes as more and more are built and at a higher cost which means higher rentals which means it may well be harder to rent out as we all like a bargain .
I always advise you ask yourself the question -If I had no bookings or bookings on a low rate for 6 months -which is quite likely in the beginning can I afford to run two homes full time with all the bills each of them will produce without having to add to the pot in Florida.
Having said all this it is nice to have a base there but it is certainly not a decision to take lightly .Also you need to bear in mind the exchange rate -homes that are being built or plotted now are at todays rate -what if you tie yourself into an agreement and then the rate drops before completion.
What ever you do don't rush into it .

 

[vernon]

I have to agree with Jannyans that it's a big step and shouldn't be undertaken lightly. I also agree that trying to rent out your home can be very time consuming, particularly at the begining, if you want to get in enough people to cover your costs. IMHO this is almost impossible to do in the first couple of years, even if you can afford to spend many hours each day in trying to promote and rent your home. This is particularly going to remain the case as house prices rise ( as I believe they will) and there is more competition in the rental markets. The exchange risk is also one that needs serious thought. If you agree to buy a house now ( say for $185,000 or GBP 100,000) , it takes them a year to complete it, you don't exchange any money to pay for the house and the exchange rate drops to $1.55 per pound in sterling terms the price of the house will have risen from about GBP 100,000 to almost GBP 120,000.

To the OP, I know you are looking at the Davenport area, and there is a lot of infrastructure ( roads etc) going in there at the moment, but for many people going on vacation it would still be considered a fair distance to travel to get to the attractions. It would be cheaper to buy there, but more difficult to rent. If the house is basically for you, you're happy with that area and any rental is going towards helping with some ( not all) of the costs then that's fine but if you NEED rental in order to be able to afford the upkeep, then I think you'll find buying a slightly smaller property nearer to WDW would be a more sensible plan.

Almost all owners of vacation homes employ some sort of management company to deal with some of the rentals and most of the maintenance issues (many owners use them as the collection/drop off point for keys to the house). Obviously this is a huge trust you are giving to these companies and while the majority of the management companies are honest, not all are. This is another area where you need to spend a lot of thought.

As far as getting the design specs so it is suitable for your son, I don't think you'll have any problems getting the house set up so it is handicap access "friendly". Jana and I recently toured a retirement community to look at their house plans and to glean some design tips. As upgrades they had a heap of things to make it easier for older people who were losing some of their mobilty, so the homes are set up with minimal # of steps ( I'm sure a wheelchair ramp is going to be no problem to include) , shower rooms instead of bathrooms and easy access all around the homes. There are a number of retirement communities in the area where you could look at their design choices/options and ask your own builder to include them in the house you'd like built. Getting these sort of features included from the beginning is going to be easy for the builder to do, if a little time and thought (from both you and the builder) goes into the challage. IMHO at the moment, if you want to buy a house that's ready to move into you are paying about a 15% premium to be able to do so, if you want a house that already has handicap access then you are likely to pay a further premium to do so, it is also likely that even if you find a house that has some handicap facilities, they will have been designed with someone else in mind. For those reasons, it's going to be much cheaper to have your own house built from new and you will also get the benefits of being able to tailor each feature so that it will be the best fit possible to your sons individual needs.

I would strongly recommend taking a visit to Solivita in Poinciana and taking a trip through their model homes. Or all the developments I have seen they had by far the most variety of home designs ) I think 9 or 10 different sizes and styles) and would give you the most input into how to have a house designed for your son's needs. IMHO the retirement communities offer you the best tips on how to design a home for ease of use.