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Did you know that Orlando is the fifth most visited city in the United States?

With so many visitors flocking there, Orlando is the perfect city for a vacation rental investment. If you’re not interested in renting it out, that’s okay too–you can always enjoy the property as your second home.

Either way, Encore Club Resort is the ideal location to begin the search for your vacation home. Located only six miles from Disney World, it’s centrally located to everything Orlando has to offer.

If the idea of second-home ownership is new to you, don’t worry. In this post, we’ll reveal how to buy a vacation home and what to expect owning a vacation rental.

How to Buy a Vacation Home in Orlando

What should you know if you’re thinking about buying vacation rental properties? Here are five important factors to keep in mind.

1. Location, Location, Location

Brace yourself for a shock: A vacation home must be located in an area where you (or others) often go for vacation.

This is one reason why Encore Club Resort is the ideal location for a second home. It’s right in the heart of Orlando’s tourist attractions, including theme parks and world-class dining.

It’s also within easy driving distance of both the east and west coast of Florida–and everything those locations have to offer.

A vacation home in Orlando is a solid investment, whether you rent it out or use it for your own family and friends. Vacation rentals are expected to bring in $17.9 billion in revenue in 2018–so don’t miss out!

2. Determine Total Cost of Ownership

Of course, you want to buy a vacation rental that’s both enjoyable and profitable. These are terrific goals–but your purchase also needs to make financial sense.

Once you’ve found a property you’re interested in, you need to perform a cost-benefit analysis. Research vacancy rates in the local area, as well as the prices of other short-term rentals (your competition).

Now, compare this to your monthly mortgage payments and operating costs. Can you afford to pay and care for the property–even if it sits vacant for part of the year?

You won’t have any trouble renting out your property during the summer or around Christmastime. But every vacation destination has its high and low seasons, including Orlando. You’ll also earn less if you choose to live in the home part-time yourself.

Keep in mind the associated costs of homeownership, too. These might include:

• Booking fees
• Hotel taxes
• Home owner’s insurance
• HOA fees
• Management/maintenance fees
• Utilities
• Property taxes

However you intend to use your Orlando home, make sure you’ve done the math. You want your investment to work for you–not the other way around!

3. Get Financing and Make an Offer

So, you’ve found your dream vacation home. If you haven’t already, it’s time to get in touch with a local realtor and start the buying process.

The type of financing you choose will depend much on your personal situation. In short, here are a few options available to you for buying a vacation rental:

• Conforming loan
• Portfolio loan
• Balance sheet loan
• Multi-family loan
• Short-term or bridge loan

Your bank or financial advisor can give you more information about the best path to take.

Once the paperwork is signed, it’s time to turn your new purchase into a money-making machine.

4. Create Your Rental Income Plan

If you haven’t already, you need to decide where and how to market your Orlando vacation rental property.

Airbnb is one logical route, with over 4 million vacation properties worldwide. You’ll create a listing that describes your home, its amenities, and the surrounding neighborhood. Whenever someone books your home for their vacation, Airbnb takes a 3%-5% booking fee.

A similar concept is VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner). You can create your own listing or hire a property manager to advertise it for you. It offers several different subscription and fee structures, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

If you’re not up to the task of doing all this yourself, you might consider a hotel program. You’ll enroll your vacation home in a management service that advertises, rents, and cleans the property for you. In exchange, you’ll pay a franchise fee and a chunk of your income to the management company.

There’s no right or wrong path to take here. It just depends on you and how “hands on” you want to be with your rental property.

5. Don’t Forget Operational Services

It’s possible that your primary residence is right down the road and you have all the time in the world to maintain your second home.

For most homeowners, though, their vacation home is located nowhere near their primary home. Unless you’re willing and able to visit your second home often, you need to hire some type of property management service.

These services take care of things like landscaping, lawn maintenance, and interior cleaning. If your property has a pool, you’ll likely need to hire a separate company to care for your pool.

Keep in mind that if you belong to a Home Owner’s Association, they’ll likely take care of a lot of this maintenance for you. (That’s what those HOA fees are for).

Find Your Dream Vacation Home Today

Whether you’re buying for your own use or as an investment property, finding the right home is your first–and most important–step.

Now that you know how to buy a vacation home, it’s time to start shopping. Check out our featured listings of beautiful homes available in Encore Club Resort and other luxury communities in central Florida.

If you’d prefer to send a message or talk to an agent, feel free to contact us anytime. We look forward to hearing from you!