Okay, to share some details...
We have been looking since January 2012, but we decided to wait until after October 2012 to get serious, because I am a teacher, and I was trying to get my National Boards Certificate renewed (in NC there is a 12% supplement for having that, and losing it would have meant no vacation home for us!). I've driven down to Florida from NC numerous times to tour homes and check out what is available. By the time we were ready to get serious (found out I got renewed!
), the market had shrunk considerably, so it was a little more difficult.
My criteria was that it had to have 4 bedrooms, since I am really close to my sister, and we each have two kids and a spouse, a sunny pool (of course), a garage, a not-too-terribly-expensive HOA, and a covered lanai to get out of the sun. I was willing to drive a little (but no more than a half hour) to Disney in order to get a deal, so I wasn't looking in the most expensive and closer locations. When we go to Disney, we always rent a home, and we don't mind driving 15-20 minutes, since I figure it sometimes takes that long to take the bus anyway.
When I drove down in January, I found three houses I really liked, and DH and I chose our favorite. It had two master suites, two additional bedrooms, a third full bathroom, two living areas, and everything else I wanted and more (bricked driveway and pool surround...full covered patio across the entire back of the house, etc.). It was a foreclosure that originally sold for >400k, but we did not offer anywhere NEAR that. Someone else made an offer at about the same time, and the bank set up a bidding "war." They won.
After that, we made an offer on our second favorite house, but that one didn't work out because of the special financing that was being offered. Then our third favorite sold while we were waiting. I found another one I liked A LOT online, and we made an offer on that one, but we got outbid on that one as well. It was a too-good-to-be-true one anyway.
After all that, I was about ready to give up when the financing for the buyers of the very first one we liked fell through. The bank told us they would not put it on the market if we wanted it still!
We offered 3k less than our original offer, and they accepted it to keep from having to re-market the property!
We used the same realtor the whole time...Dave Robertson from Dolby Properties, and I have to say we were very pleased. He worked really hard for us. He offered all kinds of good advice and stuck with us for more than a year of "just browsing." Furthermore, he is still helping us out tremendously now that the sale is final. He is getting the pool cleaned up, helped put us in contact with painters, furniture people, appliances people, and more. He is willing to meet installers or arrange someone else to do so and is generally working just as hard after the sale to make sure that when I show up for Memorial Day weekend that I am happy with my purchase. Awesome guy...highly recommended.
The house is in a gated neighborhood in Davenport, so it is about a 20 minute drive from Disney. It is getting painted starting tomorrow! We will then furnish it (I'm having so much fun picking out decor!) and install both an alarm and a thermostat that I can control via my smartphone or computer (very cool!). We are not moving there....just using it as a vacation house. We may rent it out some in the future.
Any questions.......just ask! Love to share!
After "stalking" you all (and not in the creepy way, I swear!) and asking for advice about what makes you choose one rental over another (more than a year ago), and traveling to Florida multiple times, and making offers (and losing) houses, and struggling with crazy banks and lenders....
So excited and had to share! 
. Hopefully, that will make most people comfortable enough with them. If not, my sense of security trumps it, and they can choose to rent elsewhere. 
glad to share info.
