3 Ways Your Property Manager Could Be Keeping Your Vacation Home From Selling

When it comes time to sell your Orlando vacation home the last thing you want to deal with are those little hiccups that might prevent your property from selling or complicate the transaction. One of the biggest problems we often run into when selling a fully booked and turnkey vacation home is property managers who are not cooperative. Because they are the ones controlling most of the access and information about your home, they often have the power to make or break your sale. You can hire the most established, wonderful and highly recommended Realtor in the great town of Orlando but if your property manager isn’t on board with the sale than you can count on it sitting on the market a very long time. Over the years we have seemed to narrow down some of the reasons they might fight against this and what you can do about it in advance so you don’t run into issue:

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1. They are Worried They Will Be Losing the Home to a Different Management Company
It’s natural for a property manager to become insecure and concerned about losing your home from their portfolio and naturally so. They have bookings already in place that they will have to move around if your home is removed from their program after it closes. The best thing you can do is to ensure your property manager understands that you and your Realtor will provide an excellent recommendation to the future buyers and that your Realtor makes sure that the home is advertised as a turnkey property and all bookings stay as long as the management company stays. What sometimes happens is, in a desperate attempt to convince the current buyers to stay with them, the property managers will over promise and exaggerate the homes future bookings and past performance. This only misleads the buyer and causes problems later on during the transaction.

Top Five Most Common Complaints From Kissimmee Vacation Home Renters That Could Cost You Money 

2. They Are Offended You Didn’t Use Them To Sell Your Home
Most property managers also have a real estate license and are able to sell your home. If they don’t they are usually affiliated with someone who is. This doesn’t mean that it is the best choice for you to use. Because they are property managers and their main business is property management, not real estate, they usually do not have the facilities, experience or infrastructure in place to effectively market and sell your home. Any agent can slap your home on the MLS but a true vacation home Realtor will go 10 steps above that with a proven sales system that they have used time and again. Property managers should manage property and Realtors should sell property. To do both is to become half as effective and that is not fair to the customer, which is you. Sometimes, the property manager becomes non-communicative with the Realtor in hopes to prevent their efforts of selling the homes. It sounds crazy and unprofessional but we run into these road blocks all of the time! Be sure your property manager give 100% access to any and all marketing materials that your agent needs to place inside your home in order to help facilitate the sale. Sometimes they will not allow Realtors to advertise that the home is for sale both inside and outside of the home. Your home loses tons of exposure from this.

15 Quick Fix Tips For Getting More Bookings on Your Orlando Vacation Home

3. They Are Afraid of Being Exposed
This is the rough part that your Realtor faces when trying to sell your property. They cannot lie or exaggerate how many bookings are in place to try and attract potential buyers however, the only way they can know how much income is being brought in from that home or its past performance is by relying on what your property manager says. Your Realtor is going to have to provide documents that prove this income is actually coming in and has in the past. Without the booking history and future booking documents for your home most buyers, who want something turnkey, will walk away as your home has no credibility at that point. By not providing those documents your property manager can kill your sale during the due diligence period. If your property manager will not provide these documents to your Realtor or you that you than it might be time to question whether they really have as many bookings in place as they are claiming to. It’s also a great marketing tool for your agent to be able to quote how much income your home produced the past two years.

As much as it sounds like property managers are the bad guy, it’s not the case with all of them. There are hundreds of property management companies in the  Disney area and about a handful of them provide a high level of service, are professional and most important honest. Our job is to seek those companies out and align ourselves and our clients with the most honest and ethical companies. Not the companies who want to pay us to refer them homes. The Flamingo Group never accepts referral fees from any management company for sending them business as we feel it’s a conflict of interest. We’re also experienced in dealing with difficult property management companies and are prepared to do what it takes to get your home sold regardless of the road blocks that may pop up ahead. To find out more about how we can help sell your vacation home and our one of a kind marketing system, please contact us today for a no obligation consultation.

The Orlando Vacation Home Real Estate Trends of 2011- What To Expect in 2012

So 2012 is finally here to greet us all with some cold weather but that’s okay because the sun is still shining here in Orlando. If you’re like me, you’ve probably mapped out quite a few goals for the 2012 year that you’d like to try and accomplish if the world doesn’t end this December <joking>. . . I’m sure for many of you, owning a vacation home is probably somewhere on that list. Lets take a look at some of the 2011 trends we noticed and help use them to guide our investment plans for 2012.

Trend #1: Lots of Cash Flowing into Florida
In 2011 we noticed many foreign investors starting to move their money into US bank accounts and many domestic investors liquidating their non-performing assets and gearing up to move their money into Florida real estate. According to Jani Lowdell at Centerstate Bank in Davenport, of those foreign nationals who opened a US bank account last year, all purchased a vacation home within 90 days. Those who did jump into the market in 2011 got amazing deals but many held out in hopes the prices would drop in 2012. There have been so many rumors flying around that banks were going to release a ton of inventory and flood the market this year with homes causing prices to drop again.

What To Expect in 2012
I’m not an economist however, based on my hyper local knowledge of THIS real estate niche in Orlando (vacation rentals) I’m about 98% sure that prices are not going to drop at all in 2012, unless there is some terrible natural disaster which nobody can predict, except of course the Mayans (I couldn’t resist that one). Despite rumors, most professionals do not believe the banks are going to allow another real estate collapse by flooding the market with all of their inventory at once. We might see maybe a 5% increase in inventory this year but that’s not enough to cause prices to drop. Especially when the demand for vacation homes has never been higher.

Search Kissimmee Vacation Home Foreclosures

Trend #2: Tourists Staying in Vacation Homes vs. Hotels Has Increased
The amount of people traveling to Orlando this year was up about 20% according to Stephen Walker, owner of Signature Villas Orlando. A vacation rental management company in Kissimmee. He said they had their best year yet and they were so busy they needed to find more homes to accommodate all of the people wanting to book their homes. The really sweet part about that- they had more direct retail bookings this year than any other year.

What to Expect in 2012
Expect the tourism industry to continue to boom, mostly driven by countries like Brazil who are currently experience a booming economy and seem to have taken a specific liking to the Orlando area. Also expect to see more families that would normally be staying in a hotel start staying in a vacation home due to the growing awareness. We haven’t been able to nail down any specific reason for the rise in vacation home awareness in 2011 however due to the viral power of Facebook and the internet we only expect it to double in 2012. If you haven’t yet jumped in on vacation rental investment, 2012 might be your year to supply the growing demand.

Tips for Orlando Vacation Home Renting 

Trend #3: Tenanted and Turkey Properties Were a Hot Number This Year
Tenanted properties were always a hot seller for long term rental investors because they offer immediate income and very little, if any, hassle. The same for booked short term rentals. Many investors were willing to pay a premium this year to not have to deal with all of this hassle versus having to start from scratch, renovate, secure a tenant and place into management. At the end of the day, when you add up what your saving on a vacant property you usually end up the same as if you would have paid a bit extra for tenanted because of the vacancy time and renovation costs.

What to Expect In 2012
Expect an increase of tenanted properties hitting the market. Even the banks are starting to recognize the value in selling a tenanted property that they are letting tenants stay in the homes in hopes to attract an investor looking for immediate rental income. Also watch as the rental demand increases tremendously on long term rental properties causing rents to rise and making landlords very happy they own a rental property. You’ll notice more turnkey properties popping on the market in the vacation rental world also. They offer so much value to the investor who doesn’t have the time or want to deal with all the hassle of getting it up and running themselves.

Most Profitable Turnkey Vacation Home Community in Kissimmee

We hope to earn the opportunity of helping you achieve your investment property goals this year in 2012. For a free, no obligation investment property consultation with our Director of Sales- Lisa Arcia,  please contact us directly at 866-422-6191 and if you have enjoyed this article please consider subscribing to our blog and stay updated on future information.

 

Vacation Home of the Week- 916 Orange Cosmos

We’ve gone through dozens of applications and viewed numerous homes to bring you some of the best vacation homes and owners that Orlando has to offer. We’re proud to compile this list of unique vacation homes and outside-the-box thinking owners. We think each of these homes deserves to be recognized and certainly should be at the top of your list for those of you traveling to Orlando. Check out this week’s Vacation Home of the Week!!

 

916 Orange Cosmos Blvd

Location: Davenport, FL
Neighborhood: Watersong Resort
Owner Booking Weeks: 20
Management Booking Weeks: 4
Website: www.SunshineStateVacation.com

Why Owners Chose This Home:  “We liked the model home and decided to one built newly and just across from the club house. Watersong Resort is uniquely located in a preservation area with beautiful woodlands and lakes.”

What Makes This Home Unique: “Of course all houses are built Tuscany style. Our house difers, because we had the furniture and most decorations and paintings imported ourselves from the Netherlands. High quality and contemporary design. Makes it stand out in the crowd.”

Marketing Strategies: ” To cater for non-English speaking customers I not only translated the website in the respective language, but also reserved appropriate domain names, eg .de .nl .eu etc. I also created a communal website or owners in Watersong Resort to publish their property on for free: http://www.amsport.nl/site. Also installed a Family & Friends discount program and a kick-back referal program.”

The Pink Flamingo’s Review:
The outside the home is very nice but unassuming and upon walking into Bou’s home it was like walking into a model home.  Everything is so unique and I don’t use that word lightly!! I spent quite a bit of time just looking at little things like the wall decor, art work, furniture etc. I was absolutely enamored by all of the detail and work put into this home.  When they had the home decorated they had everything shipped over from the Netherlands, so it’ all authentic. No IKEA in this house! One of the coolest things in the home was the little city landscape that runs across the top of the wall meeting the hallway and the kitchen. How cool! It’s little things like that, that really make this house unique. It’s also very tastefully upgraded and clean.

The real thrill comes when you walk outside into the backyard and your whole backyard is overlooking the most beautiful conservation areas. This is one of Watersong Resort’s major focal points, its gorgeous conservation views. This home is located on one of those direct view lots and it’s walking distance to the clubhouse so you not only have privacy in the home but convenience! What I truly love about the Watersong Resort is that it’s one of the few communities in the area that has really captured the Tuscan style architecture.  The homes don’t look like any other community that you’ll see in the Disney areas and the clubhouse is very high end so you’ll get nothing but luxury here.  It’s also very close to the golf course at Providence which is a huge selling point to golfers. . As a matter of fact, their guests seem to like it so much that they have had two purchase a home in Watersong before they left to go home during their visit!!

Watersong Resort Davenport, FL

Bou and his wife are Dutch nationals and had visited Orlando before making this purchase. They both still work, Bou is a software salesman and has worked in both the Netherlands and Germany which opens up his market of renters tremendously. When they were in a position to purchase a vacation home, being in the Netherlands, they naturally considered places with a warm climate. They had friends that owned vacation properties in France, Spain and Portugal and had told them horror stories about security, and unreliable property management companies in those places. After alot of research Florida was their vacation home destination of choice and they started to explore the market in Orlando.

Owner’s like Bou who live overseas have such a huge advantage to tap into their network of travelers in their country. Bou is doing exactly that. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even have a HomeAway ad yet. He’s strictly doing most of this by word of mouth in Holland and Germany, which is very impressive! His homepage is also generating leads for him. What he did, that I thought was really unique and outside the box is he started an Orlando Forum in the Dutch language (http://www.sapg.nl/smf) and set up a content management system based website for Watersong Resort owners to publish their property for free. (http://www.amsport.nl/site). Owners can naturally swap referrals with each other on this site. They do advertise on Home Owner’s direct (UK) and VRBO.  Bou’s goal for 2012 is to target the German speaking market with over 90 million people!

If you’re looking to rent a home that’s truly unique, convenient and private than The Pink Flamingo highly recommends Bou’s Home Away from Home in the beautiful Watersong Resort.

Watersong Resort Vacation Homes For Sale

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Vacation Home of the Week- 640 Blue Jay Way

We’ve gone through dozens of applications and viewed numerous homes to bring you some of the best vacation homes and owners that Orlando has to offer. We’re proud to compile this list of unique vacation homes and outside-the-box thinking owners. We think each of these homes deserves to be recognized and certainly should be at the top of your list for those of you traveling to Orlando. Check out this week’s Vacation Home of the Week!!

640 Blue Jay Way

Location: Davenport, FL
Neighborhood: Sandy Ridge
Owner Booking Weeks: 18
Management Booking Weeks: 19
Website: www.OrlandoHouse.me

Why Owners Chose This Home:  “We wanted a home that was a bungalow (single floor), newly built, 4 bedrooms, and with a great floor plan. Two of the bedrooms had to have master suite amenities; with private baths and at least one had to have a walk-in closet. The pool area required a covered lanai overlooking the pool; with southern exposure to enjoy the sun!

We chose to buy in Sandy Ridge, Davenport because it is set within a lush conservation and is ideally situated within easy reach, 20 minutes,  of the popular Central Florida theme parks and attractions.  The community is very well landscaped and also has its own kiddies play area. Being close to great routes such as Interstate 4 and Hwy 192 makes planning those all important days out to parks or shopping that much easier. We also wanted Florida’s beautiful coastline within easy reach, from the quiet white sands of St Pete’s to the fast pace of Clearwater, and with one of the closest (Cocoa Beach) being just over an hour’s drive away.

We wanted renters to have easy access to golf. Golfers will be spoiled for choice when it comes to golf courses, Sandy Ridge is within a few minutes drive of the popular Champions Gate Golfing Resort.  It was very important to have close-by supermarkets, shopping strips and some fine restaurants within a few minutes.”

What Makes This Home Unique: “Our home provides a stunning single floor layout, with beautiful porcelain tile throughout the main living areas (soon to be shown on the web site). Each room in the house is professionally decorated.  A south facing backyard with a covered lanai overlooks the screen enclosed heated pool. The kids, young and old, will enjoy the farmers field seen from the backyard with horses.”

Marketing Strategies: ” Our house has what 99% of all rental homes don’t have, an iPhone/iPad application. This opens up a whole new marketing tool. Google “iPhone Orlando vacation home app” and our application will appear first in the search results. Search “Orlando Home” in Apple iTunes, and our application appears first in the list! We have had numerous inquiries and rentals through the application.”

The Pink Flamingo’s Review: I’ll start with the home itself.  I was in 640 Blue Jay Way  a couple of years ago when I sold Dave and Lois the home and back then it was a very nice home after they fixed it up. Nicely appointed, great location and awesome view but when I went to preview the home a couple of weeks ago I had a “WOW factor” experience when I walked in.  The entire home, except for the bedrooms had been updated with all beautiful 18×18 ceramic tile and it really made the house pop!  This is such a smart move on the owner’s part, especially  for a one story home as the living areas tend to get more traffic.  It’s really adds a more luxurious feel to the home.

Blue Jay way is such a cute home, it’s perfect for families traveling with kids because the floorplan is very cozy and no matter where you are in the house you can have a pretty good idea of where the kids are and what they’re up to.  There’s no getting lost in this home and you don’t have to worry about the family being disconnected by an upstairs.  In my opinion, it’s the perfect family retreat home or even for two couples traveling together as it has two masters.  This home is really great for just about anyone but I love the intimacy and convenience that it offers for families.

Sandy Ridge Properties

The backyard is really cool, it has a view of some farm land and you can see horses grazing and just hanging out. The whole community is very much like that. If you take a drive through Sandy Ridge you’ll see tons of trees and nature. That’s what I love about it. You don’t feel like you’re in some cookie cutter community where all the tress have been chopped down. There is plenty of nature for you to enjoy. The location of the home can’t be beat. It’s not even 5 minutes to a Publix shopping plaza and a short 15 minute drive to Disney.

The owners, Dave and Lois, are a really nice couple from Ottawa and are super laid back and down to earth. Great people to do business with and I’m positive that anyone renting out their home will have nothing but a first class experience working with them. Dave is extremely tech savvy and very sharp. He did something for his home that I have never seen anyone do before, he created an iphone app in his spare time that people can download to their phones. How cool is that? You can actually read reviews on the home, check out local attractions, shop car rentals, check the booking calendar, book the home and so much more!! In fact, based on my search in itunes I think Dave and Lois are the ONLY vacation home owners that have an app for their home. That is truly outside the box marketing and I love it!! If you haven’t already, go to Itunes and download their app here.  It’s free! Don’t forget to “Like” their page on Facebook too.

When traveling to Orlando, if you want to work with honest and ethical people, get a great deal on a cozy yet classy vacation home than I highly suggest renting out 640 Blue Jay Way from the Pollocks.  It gets our Pink Flamingo two thumbs up!

Sandy Ridge Vacation Homes For Sale

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Vacation Home of the Week- Platinum Key Villa

We’ve gone through dozens of applications and viewed numerous homes to bring you some of the best vacation homes and owners that Orlando has to offer. We’re proud to compile this list of unique vacation homes and outside-the-box thinking owners. We think each of these homes deserves to be recognized and certainly should be at the top of your list for those of you traveling to Orlando. Check out this week’s Vacation Home of the Week!!

 

Platinum Key Villa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Location: Kissimmee, FL
Neighborhood: Windsor Hills Resort
Owner Booking Weeks: 40
Management Booking Weeks: 10
Website: www.Keys2OurVacation.com

Why Owners Chose This Home:  “This home was strictly an investment and the numbers were the most important factor. Taking that into consideration, Windsor Hills seemed like the most obvious choice as it was pushing the standard to the next level on vacation homes. It was just an Orange Grove at the time and the home was purchased site unseen, not even built yet, but the location and amenities were what sold it it”

What Makes This Home Unique: “Platinum Key Villa has flat screen TVs in every bedroom, is professionally decorated by an interior designer and offers only the highest quality linens and towels. There is nothing low quality in this home. Many guests refer to it as home-only better”

Marketing Strategies: ” Word of mouth up in Toronto seems to be the biggest ticket for the homes but also VRBO and Homeaway have really helped. Having multiple homes is also a huge plus because you get six times the amount of inquiries and can shift them from one home to another if one is not available.”

The Pink Flamingo’s Review: John is a businessman, investor, real estate agent and now a professional vacation home owner.  He knew from day one that he was going to make this work. He owns five vacation homes in Kissimmee. All of them are in Windsor Hills except for his most recent purchase in the new community of Calabria. His business plan is only to specialize in high end vacation homes in the nicest communities in the area because the rents are so much higher on a high end home, making it possible to turn the vacation home into a very profitable investment.

Windsor Hills Resort

He purchased his first vacation home in Windsor Hills as a prototype and wanted to see how it would go. After having so much success he went on to purchase four more vacation homes and he’s not done yet! Because John does this for a business and an investment (this is in no way his full time business, this is more like his hobby!) the numbers have to work on the homes.  Being in real estate up in Toronto and understanding how property investments work, he analyzes the numbers on every property before making a purchase. His strategy of only buying new homes in upper end communities seems to be working out very well for him as all of his homes have been booked almost the entire year at top rates. When it comes up a luxury vacation home, renters don’t seem to have an issue paying more money to stay in the home as there is a market for those type of renters.

What I like about John’s marketing strategy is that, even though he owns five homes and it’s a profitable business for him, he still treats everyone of them like it’s his only home. John and his family travel to Orlando often and enjoy their luxuries of their homes. They will stay at what ever home is available at the time. Taking on their fifth home has offered them more vacation time as it’s just getting up and going and during the downtime they have been able to come down and enjoy it more. He also uses his homes for his business retreats with his business partner. Being able to vacation and write it off at the same time is such a perk!

One very smart tactic that he did to save time and marketing dollars is that he purchased two exact same homes, right next door to each other and decorated them both exactly the same way.  He did this so he can market them both under one ad and when guests inquired on one, if it’s booked he could just put them in the other without having to upsell or downsell them on a completely different home. Even the little things like the title of his website, Keys2OURvacation.com makes you feel like your discovering something new and exciting. He could have said Keys2YOURvacation but instead he wanted to make it all about the true meaning behind owning a vacation home, enjoying someone else’s private home! He very tastefully named each of his homes after the theme of his website, “The Key”. Each home unlocks a key to a different vacation, I love that he even went as far as having a logo created for his vacation home business.

All of John’s homes are gorgeous. They are all professionally decorated by an interior designer and located on great lots within Windsor Hills.  John seems to have a knack for choosing great locations, probably because of his real estate background, and offering everything in a home that a renter could ever want. The fact that he even uses the finest linens is impressive as many people get cheap with these things.  His homes offer a luxury vacation and convenience to everything. Disney is less than 3 miles away from his homes and you can get to just about everything you would need in less than 5 minutes.  The community itself has a movie theater, game room, water slide, convenience store and the list goes on. Windsor Hills has definitely raised the bar when it comes to vacation homes.  Because they are one of the newer communities in the vacation home niche, Pulte was able to see what worked and didn’t work in their previous communities and they made sure they got it all right the last time in Windsor Hills.

John’s vacation homes are a must stay in when visiting Orlando. Nothing has been overlooked and I think you’ll find his prices to be quite reasonable for a luxury resort.

Windsor Hills Resort Vacation Homes For Sale

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Vacation Home of the Week- Sunshine Villa Orlando

We’ve gone through dozens of applications and viewed numerous homes to bring you some of the best vacation homes and owners that Orlando has to offer. We’re proud to compile this list of unique vacation homes and outside-the-box thinking owners. We think each of these homes deserves to be recognized and certainly should be at the top of your list for those of you traveling to Orlando. Check out this week’s Vacation Home of the Week!!

 

Sunshine Villa Orlando

Location: Davenport, FL
Neighborhood: Westridge
Owner Booking Weeks: 48+ (WOW!)
Management Booking Weeks: 0
Website: www.SunshineVillaOrlando.com

Why Owners Chose This Home: “We chose this home because it has great structure – 4 roomy bedrooms, formal living room and dining rooms, plus an open concept kitchen, breakfast nook & family room.  Lots of windows that face the extra large southwest facing pool and lanai.  The biggest pool and lanai that we found on our house hunting trip! We chose Westridge Community on HWY 27 because it is centrally located – close to shopping, restaurants, golf courses, and major highways providing a quick trip to almost any attraction – especially Disney at only 10-15 minutes away.”
What Makes This Home Unique: “Our home is unique because we care, we provide personal service and always put our guests first.  We have refurbished and decorated the villa personally with all the upgrades and extra touches that each one of our guests takes notice of and appreciates.  We have an extra large southwest facing pool / spa and lanai.  The villa’s private and newly fenced lot provides privacy while enjoying the pool and lanai with views of greenery and plam trees.  The villa hosts a fully stocked kitchen with all new appliances, blender, cappaccino machine, pizza pan, and more … The games room is ready for action with a pool table, ping pong, darts, billards table, foos ball, darts, and a large chalk board wall !!  Provided is a Disney DVD library, board games, books, and playing cards.”

Marketing Strategies: “A host of marekting tactics and strategies enrich the bookings at our villa.  We like to tap into niche markets, use popular advertising websites like Homeaway and VRBO and by making the guest feel welcomed.”

The Pink Flamingo’s Review: First of all, anyone who can pull in 48+ weeks per year without a property manager deserves a standing ovation in my book! That alone is quite impressive. It doesn’t surprise me though, when I first met Lisa she had a vision of what she wanted her vacation home to be. She didn’t just want a rental house that she could put people in and generate income from, that seemed like more of a bonus to her. She wanted a home that she could pour her style, emotions and talents into and that she certainly did!

Sunshine Villa Orlando feels like a home not a house, it’s not your typical vacation rental that people get herded in and out of like a bunch of cattle.  You can tell this home is different from the minute you walk in. It’s the home of people who care about the type of experience their guests are going to have while staying here. One of the best features of the home (and believe me there are many) is the huge over sized pool in back. It’s one of those pools that makes you just want to jump in and lounge on a giant pink raft while sipping a mai tai. I also love the hot tub, it’s big and very inviting as well. What I also really liked was that there is a cabana bath leading out to the pool from the third bathroom which is probably one of the most convenient things a person could ever ask for!! The house will not let you down, it’s just not possible. I’ve seen so many vacation homes and this one has it all. That’s a fact!

Lets talk a little bit about the owners, Mark and Lisa, they purchased the home in 2010 and have completely renovated it. I know Lisa poured her heart and soul into this home to make it what it is. She was dedicated from day one to make Sunshine Villa Orlando a reflection of who she is and in my opinion, if I had to choose just one word for her and her home it would be quality. She’s a quality person who goes out of her way to make sure other people are taken care of. You can see by the guest reviews that I’m not the only person who thinks this!! I love that she incorporates niche marketing into her booking strategies and that she really leverages her website and Facebook page as well for marketing. She always updates her Facebook page when she is at the villa or leaves updates when she is running specials. Be sure to connect with Sunshine Villa Orlando on Facebook also!!

I highly recommend this vacation home to anyone looking to rent a nice property in the Davenport area. I think you’ll really like the community amenities and more importantly the home itself!

Westridge Vacation Homes For Sale

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5 Reasons Why Your Offers Keep Getting Rejected on an Orlando Investment Property

Perhaps you know this situation all too well, you’ve been trying to acquire an investment in the Orlando area for quite some time now and you’ve placed offer after offer after offer but still nothing. You start to question your Realtor and/or perhaps even yourself. You’re a cash buyer, who wouldn’t want to take an offer from a cash buyer, right? Wrong. Let’s take a look at some of the main reasons why your offer’s are getting rejected on not just bank owned properties but other hot ticket properties.

Search Thousands of Investment Properties in the Disney Areas

The Market Is Stronger Than You Think
Maybe it’s you? . . . One of the biggest reasons I see investors losing out on fantastic houses everyday is because of their perception of the market. The have listened to too many friends or family members talking about how depressed the Florida real estate market is that they have formed this idea that they are going to fly down and have the prime selection at hundreds of houses that banks and residents are just desperate to unload.

Reality Check- This may have been true back in 2007 and 2008 but it’s now 2011 and the investment property market in Orlando (vacation homes and income properties) are the hottest commodity to the foreign group and just like you, they are also all cash buyers many of which are educated on what the market is really like. So when you place low ball cash offers on these properties your offer is sent in with about a dozen other cash offer by investors who are NOT lowballing.

Private Listings Not Available on MLS- Davenport Resort Townhouses from $103,000

Your Offers Are Weak. . . but Why?
Your offers are too weak and so is your investment strategy. If your goal is to actually secure a property sometime this year than you really need to evaluate your reasons as to why you keep lowballing on properties that are already undervalued. If you keep low-balling and missing out on amazing deals the only one who loses if you. The seller is going to get their asking price, if not more, and you’re not going to get a property. If you are low-balling because you can’t afford to pay full price in the budget you are looking in than you need to look at properties in a lower budget that you can afford to place full price, or higher, offers on and still be in your comfort zone.

Reality Check- If you now know that, on almost any given property that is in decent shape and in a decent location, you’ll be going up against at least a dozen other offers than you need to pony up your highest and best offer up front. If you’re trying to play the back and fourth game you missed the boat on that. You only get one shot to buy these homes in a multiple offer situation (which is usually always the case) so don’t fart around trying to play games. If you want to get something thousands under market value than you should consider buying directly from the courthouse. . . but remember you save money on the sale price but you inherit all the liens. Do your homework first.

Read Also: 5 Things to Consider Before Buying a Kissimmee Condo

Your Realtor is Not Presenting Your Offers
This is not a conspiracy theory, it really happens and it could be happening to you. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the market there are some Realtors who just don’t want to deal with the hassle of submitting your offer because they don’t think it will get accepted, you didn’t offer what they suggested, there was too much paperwork on the back end, they really want to buy it for themselves etc etc, . Not only is this unethical but it’s downright nasty and against the Realtor code of ethics. It’s so important in this market to be working with a Realtor you trust because it’s a cut throat market out there and Florida is full of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Reality Check- If you suspect your Realtor isn’t submitting your offers you may have to do some legwork to find out but there is a way that you can find out for sure. You will need to track down the listing agent of the property and call to find out if your offer has truly been submitted. They will be able to verify for you if an offer was submitted matching your info. If you don’t want to have to take it that far, you can ask your agent for some type of email confirmation from the bank or listing agent that the offer was received. In all honesty, if you have to second guess your Realtor this much and go through this much effort to confirm suspicions than you probably aren’t working with the right agent to begin with.

Read Also: Six Signs You May Be Ready For An Orlando Vacation Rental Home Investment

Your Terms Are Not Attractive To The Sellers!
So maybe you are putting in full price, or over, cash offers and your Realtor is presenting them but you still keep getting outbid. It’s possible that the rest of the terms in your contract are just not attractive! Terms are things such as closings dates, inspection periods, seller concessions, home sale contingencies etc. All of these factors play a role in making your offer stronger or weaker. Cash is king but so is a quick closing, short inspection time frame and no requests for contributions from the seller.

Reality Check- From one investor to another, put your self in the sellers shoes every time you go to submit an offer. Pretend you have five contracts sitting in front of you and they are all 5 thousand over asking price. One can close in two weeks with a 5 day inspection time frame and the rest are 30-40 day closings with a 15 day inspection period. You know which one you would take. . . banks and sellers are no different. When buying from a bank, you are just a number to them. Your offer will get submitted into an automated system with dozens of others and the asset manager will select the highest and best and reject the others. It’s nothing personal so don’t ever take it personal if your offer gets rejected.

You Don’t Have All the Facts
This happens quite often and it’s usually not your fault. You’ve found a great house and you get so anxious to bid on it that you call your Realtor in a frenzy to get a contract typed up right away for full price. Your Realtor assumes you know the value of what you’re bidding on and gets it over to you. Lets stop right there; If you’re bidding on a house that is listed for 10% under what every other home in the neighborhood sold for, you need to know this because the home will sell for 10% more than the asking price!! The only way to know this is to make sure your review the comparable sales for the past six months in the community before settling on your offer price. Full price isn’t always full value and properties (unless they are trashed) are not selling under market value.

Reality Check- When reviewing comps and deciding what to offer, don’t offer the lowest amount of all the comps. You have no idea why that home sold for so much less, it could have been trashed, have mold, chinese drywall, who knows! Good properties in this market will sell for the highest market value and sellers (banks especially) are educated on what that value is. It’s not worth losing out on good deals because you’re too busy trying to be cheap. Cheap investors never win in the end because they miss the boat and end up buying high, when it’s too late. Listen to the advice of your Realtor, it’s their job to do everything possible to help your offers get accepted and pushed through. If you don’t listen to their advice than you have only one person to blame when you miss out on a great property.

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Five Things To Consider Before Buying a Kissimmee Condo

Condo investments are the most popular investment choice right now in the Disney and Orlando areas. Many people are flocking to them due to their very inexpensive price tag and convenience with upkeep and maintenance. There are factors you need to consider before you just jump into bed with a condo community here in Orlando. The last thing you want to do is wake up with regrets when you get slammed with a huge special assessment shortly after the closing and you find out your condo association is broke!

1. Know the Vacation Rental Restrictions Up Front!
Most people read the condo association bylaws after they are under contract to buy a property. . . this is not the best time to be reading that heaping piles of rules and regulations. You always want to get a copy of the bylaws before your due diligence period starts so you have one less thing to worry about. What are you looking for in the bylaws? Rental restrictions of course. Some of the most common are short term rental restrictions, just because the community is zoned for short term renting doesn’t mean there still aren’t restrictions on the minimum time period a renter must stay. You also want to make sure you aren’t buying in an age restricted community if you plan on being able to rent to all ages!

View Exclusive Condo Private  Inventory Not Found on MLS

2. Condo Association Stability!
Orlando, Kisimmee and Davenport Condo associations are going bankrupt left and right due to the foreclosure epidemic. What that means to you is you could be buying into a community that is not financially stable and you may end up having to pick up the slack for other people who aren’t paying, what do I mean by slack? SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS!!  You need to make sure the association is not in debt, they have a healthy reserve fund, all major renovations such as new roofs, landscaping projects or structural issues such as elevators have been recently replaced and when the last increase in the fees were.

Watch Quick Video Tip on Condo Association Stability

3. Do They Have a Private Management Company?
Many condo associations outsource their property management to larger companies who handle several associations and they are not present onsite. It’s always good to live in a condo community that has an onsite property management company for both the homeowner’s and the renters. This means they will be able to address your concerns faster, deal with any emergency issues quicker and you can walk right over to the office and speak with them if you need anything.

Top Three Recommended Disney Area Condo Communities For Vacation Rental: Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Bahama Bay.

4. How Vacation Rental Friendly is the Condo Community?
Many vacation rental zoned condo communities are a large mix of both long term renters, owners, snowbirds and vacation renters. If your goal is to book, book, book than you really want to stick with he communities that are vacation rental friendly and have the resort style amenities such as fitness centers, convenience stores, move theaters, fancy clubhouses with restaurants and extravagant pool areas. Those are the communities that are going to attract more short term vacation renters than long term.

Search All Condo Communities For Sale in the Orlando Disney Areas

5. What type of  Vacation Rental Rates Can You Expect To Get?
That’s the million dollar question right there. In most cases you get our of it what you put into it. If you’re buying in a cheap, run down condo community and there are very little amenities for guests you’re not going to be raking in the big bucks on rental revenue. You’re going to get discounted rates for a discounted place. With condos being so inexpensive right now, it makes sense to spend a little more for the nicer community  because you will be earning more with rental rates. Always check the rates that other owners are asking for condos in the community you are looking. You can do that on VRBO.

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Six Signs You May Be Ready For an Orlando Vacation Rental Home Investment

1. Taking Frequent Vacations to Orlando
Do you find you and your family are taking frequent vacations to Orlando? Maybe it’s Disney World or Universal. Whatever the attraction, consider how much money you spend on lodging, dining and activities.  Generally the cost of all that combined annually could be a down payment on a vacation home.  When you’re not using it you can rent the property out which helps offset the cost of owning it.

Search Properties For Sale in Kissimmee’s Top Notch Vacation Rental Neighborhoods

2. Already Own a Timeshare
Timeshares are great for some people but with the real estate market at rock bottom prices on vacation homes have never been lower. Unlike a timeshare, if you own a vacation home you can visit the property as much or as little as you like and there are no penalties and unlike a timeshare you can rent your property out when you’re not using it.  Often times, the carrying costs of owning a vacation home that is being rented out ends up being almost the same as an upscale timeshare.

Everything You Wish You Knew BEFORE Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home

3. Planning Your Retirement
Many people who plan their retirement already have a set place in mind that they would like to retire to.  If you are one of those people consider the financial benefits to investing in a vacation home for your retirement.  The ability to offset the cost of owning the property until retirement and still use the home for vacations is a huge perk as well as the equity that you will be building towards your retirement nest egg.

4. 1031 Exchange
Many investors who are selling off their investment properties are looking to take advantage of the 1031 exchange for tax purposes.  What a great opportunity to invest your gain into a vacation rental property.  You not only save on taxes but now you gain a vacation home that you can retreat to as well as offset the carrying costs of owning.

5. House Exchange
Ever wish you could be part of a house exchange and travel across the world all while living like a local? The only downside to house exchanges are if you don’t own a vacation home, you would have to rent out your own personal residence to strangers.  I don’t know many people who would be okay with that.  Owning a vacation home now gives you the flexibility to trade up your house with someone else’s and not have to worry about personal belongings.

Windsor Hills Resort Homes For Sale in Kissimmee

6. You Just Want a Good Florida Real Estate Investment
If only for the reason that you’re looking for a property that will appreciate in value than buying a vacation home could be the best investment you ever make. Vacation rental properties are in a specialized category of real estate and due to their zoning flexibility for short term renting, there is always a demand for this type of property from international investors.  Vacation rental homes, in my opinion, could be one of the safest real estate investments you can buy.

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How To Ditch Your Bad Florida Realtor

If You Don’t Like Your Florida Realtor

So your Realtor was great over the phone, did their job, always got back to you and helped you get everything prepared but after you met and started working together he/she just didn’t seem to hold up to their first impression they gave you. This would be an unfortunate situation to find yourself in after you’ve spent all the time and money on your trip down here to purchase a property. If it’s just an issue of your personalities not meshing well than my advice would be- If they know what they’re doing and are experienced you may want to try to work through the personality issues.  At this point you run the risk of choosing someone new out of desperation and could end up with someone worse.

If your Realtor just doesn’t know what they are doing and can’t seem to give you any relevant information about the properties or even worse, doesn’t even show up than I have a couple of suggestions for you that shouldn’t waste too much of your inspection trip time:

• Contact their broker and let the broker know about your concerns and your experience with this Realtor so far and see if they have someone else in that office they can refer you to.
• Pull out that original list you made when you were interviewing Realtors and try contacting one of the other two Realtors.  They just might have some availability and can squeeze you in.
• If you are staying in a vacation home neighborhood, go to the nearest shopping center and see if there is a real estate company within that plaza, trying walking in and explaining your situation.  Explain to them what you are looking for in a Realtor and see if they have someone who is willing to take you out on last minutes notice.

I certainly don’t advise finding another Realtor at the last minute as that usually ends up in disaster however, sometimes these things just happen and Realtors just don’t workout.  Try and prepare for this situation ahead       of time and maybe have a Realtor in the back of your mind as a back up plan. Make sure you hold on to that itinerary, your next Realtor will need this so they know which properties you want to see before you leave.  If          you do switch Realtors, as a professional courtesy, let your current Realtor know that you are no longer going to be working with them so they don’t wonder what happened to you.

Remember, when it comes to buying vacation property in Orlando, if you fail to plan than you plan to fail. For a complete road map and guideline to getting from point A to Z and avoiding all the pitfalls in between when buying your vacation rental home in Florida be sure to check out our up and coming e-course “Everything You Wish You Knew Before Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home”

Four Free Ways To View Local Orlando Real Estate From Afar

Trying to find the perfect vacation rental investment from thousands of miles away can often become a very frustrating task. Homes might look great in the pictures online but what does the surrounding area look like?  If you’re not utilizing at least one of these five free mapping tools listed here than you you may be in for a huge surprise when you arrive here in Orlando for your property inspection trip.

1. Bing Birds Eye View: Birds Eye View from Bing is one of my favorite free mapping tools on the market. It’s so easy to use and gives an very clear picture of not only the home but also the surrounding area. It also offers an ariel/satellite view which is similar to what google has.

2. Google Street View: Some pretty funny stuff has been caught on Google street view but we’ll save that for the What the Flock section. Google street view is great for just about anything but above all it’s amazing for researching real estate.  It’s the second best thing to actually being able to walk or drive the streets your self.  Google street view offers you a 360* view of the street.  This is great if you want to see what your future neighbor’s houses look like or what your walk to the clubhouse will be like.

3. Map Quest:

Compared to Bing and Google, Mapquest seems to be the awkward kid at school but even the awkward kids are good at something and mapquest is still my number one choice for driving directions and route planning.  Mapquest even has the 360* and ariel view options. What’s great about Mapquest is you can map the route with an ariel view and also add tons of cool options to your route like gas stations, traffic reports and much more. Mapquest is a very useful program for checking the distance and route from your potential vacation home to Disney or other popular destinations.

4. Google Earth:

Google Earth deserves it’s very own post but I’m throwing the short version in because it’s THAT important to know about and utilize in your property searches.  Google earth integrates street view, ariel view and so much more.  You can view the sun exposure at any hour of the day, see what your neighborhood looked like 3 years ago and if you’re an astronomy nerd like me you’ll love that you can even view the night sky from the house that your researching.  How cool is that? Google earth is  free to download and will become your best friend when trying to purchase and research a home from thousands of miles away.

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How To Estimate Rental Potential For an Orlando Vacation Rental Investment Using VRBO

As if I haven’t pounded this into the heads of my readers enough already here I go with a video tutorial to make this even more clear.  You must research a vacation rental investment before you purchase it, two of the most important things you want to know up front are

1. What is the rental potential of this property?
2. What type of rates can I generate?

In my up and coming ebook I go into this subject in EXTENSIVE detail with spreadsheets and videos but for the sake of keeping this simple, short and sweet I’ve created this quick little tutorial on how to quickly use VRBO to check the booking and rental rates of an Orlando vacation rental.  This method can be used for any vacation rental property listed for sale.  All you need to know is the neighborhood name and the general stats of the home (beds and baths)

Here is a link to the exact property I used as an example in this video
Here is a link to the example listing I used on VRBO

Important Information Regarding the Launch of The Pink Flamingo’s New Ebook

I would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who signed up on the waiting list for the up and coming ebook “Everything You Wish You Knew Before Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home”.  It’s quite a mouthful to say but I wanted the title to reflect the extensive detail of the ebook.  This is a project I have been working on for quite some time now and I’m excited to release it to you.

We’re Beefing Up
During the process of writing this book I have come across so many fantastic people that have inspired me, educated me, helped me and guided me. Like everything else in my life, if I can’t devote my absolute best to something I will not take it on, because of this I have chosen to add both video and interactive spreadsheets to the ebook. This ebook will no longer be just another ebook but the only Florida vacation home buying resource you will ever need and will be more of a workbook.  The process of adding these bells and whistles to this has caused me to have to delay the launch of the book.  I don’t feel it would be fair to deliver you the product in it’s current state, I want to give you the most valuable resource available on the market today and to do that I will need to push this launch back.  To show my gratitude to those of you who have been anxiously waiting for this ebook and registered on the launch list before December 7, 2009; I will be giving you this workbook absolutely free, details on that have been emailed out to you.

Again I want to thank everyone for their help and support with this project and please stay posted for the release date.  I don’t anticipate this going to far past January and I am pushing for before the New Year.  If you haven’t subscribed yet you can do so here to stay updated this project.   Happy holidays to all of you around the world and thank you for being part of the flock!

Are You Buying an Orlando Vacation Rental Home For All The Wrong Reasons

Don’t be that guy who thinks he’s going to get rich quick or cash in on an Orlando vacation home cash cow.  You should avoid buying a vacation rental home in Orlando if your reasons are any of these three.  A vacation rental home if doe the person who just wants to own a piece of Florida and understands they may or may not break even but they don’t care because this is their dream.

1. To Generate an Income
Stop right there and do not pass go.  If you’re one of those people that think you’re going to buy a vacation rental home and generate a cash flow on your property all while enjoying the fruits of your investment three months per year you are dead wrong and should reconsider your decision.  Yes- There are people in Orlando generating a small income off their vacation rental homes but it’s a very small percentage and there are several factors that have to line up for this to happen.  Most of the time, epecially for those taking a mortgage, you should expect to pull 20%-30% out of your pocket every month to own the property.  You do have a decent shot at breaking even but it’s going to take some work on your part.

View Properties With Transferable Bookings

2. For a Quick Flip
So you’ve been bit by the get rich quick bug and have decided you’re going to cash in on some of Florida’s foreclosure properties. . . Orlando vacation homes rarely make a good quick flip and its extremely difficult to net anything from the little money you may make flipping it.  The only vacation rental neighborhood in the Disney areas that I have seen investors successfully flipping houses for a profit in is Legacy Dunes and even that’s not what it used to be anymore.  Legacy Dunes used to be a nice little gold nugget buried away within Kissimmee that investors were cashing in on but word quickly spread and the inventory has dried up. You’re competing against dozens of other investors trying to do the same thing and as the higher you have to bid to get the property the lower your profit margin falls.  The best quick flip properties are bulk packages that are generally purchased by investor groups.

Read Also: Legacy Dunes Being Flipped For a Profit On Ebay

3. For a Beach Getaway
I know this sounds obvious but you would be surprised how many people contact me because they want a beach retreat and think the prices in Orlando are great.  Nine times out of ten those people leave very dissapointed when they realize that a one hour and fifteen minute drive is not exactly around the corner. It doesn’t sound like a long drive but if you plan on hitting the beach every day on your vacation than you may really want to consider the west coast of Florida as a better choice.  Orlando is not known to be a place to visit for the beach, it’s known for Disney and all of the other attractions.  The beach just happens to be an option for many, then again for those of you that don’t even live a days drive to the beach an hour and fifteen minutes may be the best thing since sliced bread.

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