The next step to buying your Florida Dream Villa requires some ground work to be done by yourself prior to arriving in Florida. Your First stop should be our new villa rental site www.buyorlandovillas.co.uk try it out for all the latest orlando villas to buy for you new holiday home.
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
Firstly decide where you want to buy. Do you want the villa to be close to Orlando's many theme and water park attractions or do you prefer to be near the beaches? and if so do you prefer the Gulf Coast (more expensive ) or the Atlantic Coast. Whatever you decide, as with all investment properties location is very important. Once you have decided on your location, you must decide the type of property and number of bedrooms, bathrooms, pool, etc. Do you want to be on a small development or larger resort development, do you want a gated or non gated community.
And last but not least what is your budget.
Once you have narrowed your options, we can then provide you with the latest information on the developments which are of most interest and likely to suit your needs.
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DO YOU NEED TO RENT YOUR PROPERTY
...a very important question as it will determine where you can buy. Only certain communities in Orlando are zoned for STR ( Short Term Rental ) Please do not accept any verbal guarantees from any salesperson regards STR without checking in the covenants and restrictions of the developer.
One of the most important decisions you will make is choosing the development which suits your needs best. Remember not all developments allow short term rental and if you intend to rent your property this is the single most important thing you must consider. A few developements allow a mixture of permanent residents and short term rentals, this has been known to result in permanent residents complaining to the state regards noisy holidaymakers.
Remember the developers agent is acting on behalf of the builder, and is bound by law to obtain the best possible deal for the builder, not you. Some builders and management companies offer guarenteed rental programs. These include a minimum income for the year or a minimum number of weeks booked for the year. What you aren't told is what the income will be for those weeks or what the agent will rent your property out for.
Florida Dream Villas strongly advise if you decide not to secure rentals for the property yourself, that you thoroughly investigate any proposals presented to you.
Our strong advise is that if you have the time you market the villa yourself. This allows you to maximise your income and makes it easier to reach that magical break even point. If we are being honest this can be quite time consuming but well worth the effort when the bookings start to come in. If you go down this route you will have to consider the costs involved in marketing your villa. Costs could include newspaper/magazine advertising, creating your own website, listing your villa on other websites and bits and pieces like business cards, flyers etc.
By this stage you should have narrowed you choice to a small number of developements.
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INSPECTION TRIPS
We would then look at the possibility of an inspection trip, which can be purely for the purpose of choosing your Florida Dream Villa or combined with a holiday/vacation.
While there are benefits to both senarios if you have limited time available and are there, purely with the inspection of properties in mind, then you are more focussed on the job in hand. However, we recommend an absolute minimum of 4 days for an inspection visit. We purchased our home in 4 days by travelling on the Thursday, on the Friday morning we met up with our realtor and were shown the villas and communities that we had pre-chosen to view. After a night of contemplation we made our decision on the Saturday, signed the contract with the builders, payed our deposit, chose our colours and options, opened a bank account and looked at some furniture packages. A very hectic but rewarding day.
Alternatively If you can spare a few more days, it will give you time to view a few more developments over a couple of days then take a day to contemplate and narrow your choice down to a couple of villas before finally viewing your favourites again.
You will also have more time to investigate the local area and amenities such as shops, resteraunts, banks and supermarkets to satisfy yourself the area has what you and your guests will be happy with.
Its now time to make your final decision. Should you decide to buy your Florida Dream Villa, as above you will then sign a contract with your chosen builder, leave your deposit and if you haven't already done so open a bank account and arrange a mortgage quotation.
Florida Dream Villas highly reccomend you use the services of a state registered realtor. In the U.K. we use estate agents who are normally employed by the house owner to find a buyer for their property. They then work with both the buyer and seller to agree a deal that is suitable to both. The downfall of this system is that the estate agent may withold information about the buyer or seller which may be beneficial to the other despite the seller paying their fee. In Florida the realtor you choose can only work on your behalf and is legally bound to act in your best interest disclosing information such as... Is the propert worth the asking price... Are there similar properties available at a better price.. Are there any known future developements that may affect the value of the property.
The Realtor we recommend has over 30 years experience in Real Estate Sales and has specialised in the short term letting market for the last 7 years. He is completely independent, not tied to any builder which is often not the case. Most villa sales are handled by Realtors who will negotiate with the builder to obtain the best possible deal for you.
Florida Dream Villas offer you the following service if required:
Provide you honest straight advice on any aspect of buying a villa before you travel to Florida.
Arrange all aspects of your inspection visit including flights, car hire and accomodation for the duration of your visit.
Arrange a tour and drive you to all developments you have chosen to view.
Advise on which developments are most likely to be suitable for your requirements including short term letting, location,
facilities and price.
Advise on mortgage companies, management, furniture packages, and where to open a bank account.
