would like some advice on buying a holiday rental home in kissimmee

[adomakin]

Im thinking about buying a holiday home in Kissimmee. I would be buying it with my brother and my sister in law (three way split on all costs) and we would rent for the most of the year and have maybe a month or two for ourselves to share.
Is there anyone around that could give me any advice on where to start and what would rent well (ie property type and areas) or any do's and don'ts?

thanks in advance

[Porsche-O-Phile]

It's been many years since I lived in FL, but my take on Kissimmee is that it's largely a dump - either it's "cheapo" tourists looking to skimp on every dime for a family vacation or Florida trailer trash. Maybe it's changed in recent years (this was almost 15 years ago). There are some decent areas and as a general rule the closer you get to Disney World, the more likely it is you'll be able to either rent the place (to employees) or time-share it short-term to vacationers.

There is a huge, huge, huge move within the Disney company right now to make their resorts "all-inclusive". At WDW in particular right now there's a HUGE push to getting guests to stay on property versus in the surrounding areas. This includes several lower-priced resorts (like All-Star Sports) that are competitive with the Motel-6s of the surrounding areas simply on cost basis alone (to say nothing of being able to cut out rental car fees by having shuttles everywhere on property and direct to/from the airport, etc.) I'm going to WDW in October and probably won't set foot off of Disney property for an entire week, nor will I rent a car. No need. Disney is doing this one right.

So what that means for you is probably your best bet is to try and get WDW cast members as employees, not tourists, since the trend is clearly going Disney's way with respect to cornering the tourist/lodging market through their package deals. Do you know anyone down there who works for the company that can get your property listed in the company newsletter? If not, maybe try the local Craigslist with a caption like "attention WDW cast members" etc.

I suggest Disney employees because they're (usually) going to be reliable and decent people, plus if they share a place (most likely) you'll guarantee long term tenancy as individual people maybe move out but replacement roommates are allowed to come in. No big gaps in occupancy (money out of your pocket). In general, trying to find a place that's a little newer, a little closer to the park, a little nicer and with some decent amenities (pool, hot tub, tennis courts, etc.) will probably command greater appeal and response. Keep in mind that most WDW cast members don't make that much money, but they're also not dirt poor. I wouldn't go "luxury", but certainly not "trashy". Middle-of-the-road in a decent area of town not near the trailer parks.

Best of luck to you. Don't know if that helps, but hopefully.

[id10t]

I'd not do it - scheduling conflicts, maintainence, repairs, etc.

Instead, there is a hotel company in Orlando (forget the name but can get it from the wife if you are interested) that rents houses in subdivisions. Fully furnished, dishes, towels, etc. all there - just add you and food. And they all have pools. 3 to 5 bedrooms, etc. And cheap - we stayed in one last year, it was $150/night after taxes.

[Racerbvd]

Why Kissimmee?? Why not close to the water??
Fernandina is a nice area, and there is a great car show there every year too.

[rammstein]

I am now in the business of buying up blocks of unsold condo units, and our focus is South Florida. Kissimmee is obviously much closer to Orlando, but still, my best piece of advice if you DO try to buy anything is to bargain like CRAZY! Everyone is super overextended and eager for capital. You are in the power position as the buyer. Still, I would probably just rent as needed. Its a risky time to be getting into this.