Purchasing a condo/townhouse...any suggestions?

[rtjcbrown]

We are considering purchasing a condo/townhouse in the Disney area for personal use and rental income. We will be paying for it outright and won't have a mortgage. We would like 3 0r 4 bedrooms, and a resort-like community with lots of amentities close to WDW. You guys have probably seen them all, so I would like some feedback. Whats good and bad about, Emerald Island, Windsor Hills, Regal Palms, or any others that I might be missing.
TIA

 

[mbb]

www.orlandovillas.com and register on the forums there - lots of owners, and ALL so helpful..ther are even a few "private villa listings" for sale under the "Items for Sale" section.

I think there might even be a forum of "thinking of purchasing" type idea

HTH!!

 

[isla bonita]

We own in EIR and think we bought in a great area and have many amenities. Location, location, location. That is all every one says. Have not owned for long so might not be the one to ask about the long haul. We are loving it so far. I am not sure about the bad. It is extra each month to have the amenities. We do not have broadband in our resort as of yet that is a draw back. I think you should go down and visit all of the areas so you cn see the differences. We had a wonderful realtor who brought us around and gave us full disclosure. I did a lot of home work before we decided to do this. About a year and a half. I would also recomend to by resale and not build. I am not sure if I gave you any true advic and not opinion. If you would care to talk in depth PM me and I could anser specific to your questions.

 

[JANNYANS]

I have owned for 7 1/2 years and i would say stay away from 4 beds as the market is saturated with that size home. Also think carefully about how much time you have to put into rentng it out as the only way to get even a small return is to do all the paper work and bookings yourself.I cannot help with condos or resorts type areas as my home is neither but if you want an "older " point of veiw on the costings and runnings pm me by all means .

 

[tednvon]

Hello,
Very good info from Isla Bonita. We owned in EI. 7 bedroom 6 Bath...Bought in 2003 preconsruction for 195,000, total investment was about $250,000. Home just sold for $598,000.
I have no idea how this owner will pay mortgage and taxes and all the costs associated with the management of the home. Rents are going up very little because of the thousands of homes available. Isla is right, EI is a perfect location but still if you look at the rental calendars on www.vrbo.com you will see lots of gaps in rentals.

When we bought, there were five 7 bedroom homes in all of Disney area that I could find...now there are over 150.
So, without a mortgage figure you costs to be in following ball park/month

Taxes...........200-300
Insurance......100-125 this may be much higher now and HUGE deductable for
"named" hurricane
Utilities..........500-600 (pool heat, cable)
management/repair.....300-400/month
cleanings.................$100/rental
pool maintaince.........80-100
bug spray.................30-40
Community Dues dues/month..........180-200

So looks like about $2000/month with no mortgage...It will differ with size of the home, but so will the rent.

I am seeing homes for 500 to 600/ being advertised all the time....

Our 7 bedroom was about $1800 average for the week...two weeks/month, just covered costs and then the holidays gave us a nice profit as they were always full at top dollar...about $2500/week.

It is WORK to make money on these homes...No matter what your hear, NEVER count on management company to rent it out enough to make money..


Let us know if questions...It is fun but work!!!

Ted

Always something else

 

[runner26.2]

We bought a t/s this past spring in Orlando. In helping me to decide what to buy, not buy and what factors to consider I spent a lot of time at TUG which is a bulletin board similiar to this except for timeshare. There is a discussion forum as well as reviews etc. To access the reviews you must become a member, but the membership is very cheap ($10-$25 ??) range. It is an excellent resource. There is also timeshare forums.

http://www.tug2.net/

 

[isla bonita]

tednvon is correct in everything he has said. It is what it is worth to you. Ours is not supported by guests now and maybe ever. It is worth it to us to pay some of the expense to have a home that one day will be paid off and be there for all our family to enjoy. It is not an easy task to run. There are many horror stories out there. It is not for everyone. It has to be a place that you enjoy going to. We do. We have spent almost all of our vaca's in Florida. We are not all Disney but enjoy the whole area. I think the best thing is to talk to all who own and get specific. Make sure you have the good, bad and ugly. Keep as involved as you can. I pay all my bills and have a man/co for extra bookings, pool care, cleanings they are now over 100 per for the larger homes, also to be there in a 24-7 for our guests. It is a part time job to keep everything flowing. I also would not change anything. We were lucky and got in before all the increase in prices. We have a win win situation, if we keep it woohoo, if not prices have increased about 40-60 percent so woohoo.

 

[ducklite]

Be careful with taxes. Because it won't be your permenent home you won't be eligible for homesteading, and the taxes have gone up wildly in the past couple years. Your taxes will be based on your purchase price, not what other homes around you are paying if they are homesteaded. My point is that when determining your overhead, factor the taxes appropriately. If you determine a sales price you can call the local tax assessor and they will give you a figure. Don't go by what the Realtor says this years taxes are, because it's possible that your's could be four times higher!

Anne

 

[tednvon]

Hi again, let me amend a couple of things since the original post said condo or townhouse...this eliminates the pool costs and may lower taxes.

I still am in awe of people who spend 220 to 340 k for a 3 or 4 bedroom very nice condo and rent it maybe two weeks a month if REALLY lucky for 500 to 600 a week.
condo is probably less hassel for upkeep as you do not worry about roofs, lawns, pool upkeep, and insurance is less as your condo fees pay for the stucture and you pay from drywall to drywall for contents.

Just run the figures and I am a bit hesitant to say the property values will continue to skyrocket as they have...I hope they do for everyone's sake, but we decided to sell and move on. We still love Disney and spend 3 months there every year, but we know just go directly to owners and work out a 3 month rental for just two adults, no children, and as former owners we can do a lot of the little upkeep things that cost $40 an hour from a management company....

Good Luck and don't be at all afraid to ask us questions...

All the best....Ted

 

[Beachbum3]

Hi!

We have recently purchased a 2 bedroom/ 2bath condo at Windsor Hills. We also purchased to use for vacations as well as an investment. While we have been coming to vacation in Florida for many years this is our first purchase so we are still learning alot.

We decided to buy in Windsor Hills since we were looking for something new with a lot of amenities. We wanted to have a place to enjoy even if we didn't visit the parks. A 2 bedroom was ideal for us as we are a small family yet the condo sleeps six if we decide to bring along a few relatives or friends.

As suggested I would do alot of research to determine what's best for your family. There are so many places to look at and many more being built. As mentioned above the influx of homes and condos being built means more competion for the rentals. It has been O.K. for us but we are just getting starrted so we will see. If you would like any more information on Windsor Hills please pm me and I will try to answer any questons.

Patti