Neil-

I would suggest that if you are serious about buying that the first thing you do is line up financing. Mortgages for foreign nationals take longer to qualify buyers and most U.S lenders will want 30% down. There are a few lenders here in Kissimmee that work with International Banks that have good loan programs but I would still start with lining up financing first.

The management piece is an important piece to consider as well. As stated by other Realtors you should call a few different companies to see what kind of rental programs they have and how their fee structure works. None of them will guarantee you a certain amount of rentals but the average that most will tell you is around 25 -28 weeks. I tell my vacation home clients to help increase rentals for their unit to advertise their home with friends, family, work, local newspapers, and free websites. Most management companies will reduce their fees if you can bring the bookings in. Keep in mind your best case scenario is to break even with your rental. If you are looking for long term rentals, there is a market for them as well. Many retirees come down to Florida looking for rentals anywhere from 2 to 6 months out of the year. This is something you will want to also as the management company if they have long term rental clients available.

If you focus your search along the tourist strip (highway 192) you will find a good selection that will fit your needs. I just ran a quick search and there are 20 home’s with pools that are under $170,000 and in good areas. E-mail me at steve@thefloridalivingteam.com if you would like a complete list of these vacation homes.

If you need a list of vacation home management companies, visithttp:// www.thefloridalivingteam.com and look for vendors under the partner list. You can also search for vacation homes on that site as well.
Steve Glose
Real Estate Specialist
The Florida Living Team
Keller Williams Realty

407-616-7286 direct
020 3239 7286 london
407-962-4242 office
866-531-1709 fax

Mon May 5 2008, 18:43

Are you in a financial difficulty or you need support in your finances? Do you want to raise an urgent finance for business or other personal use, Search no further, your very help is here. I am a private lender and has been helping people out on issues like this. I have testimonies for that. For more information contact me via email: mark_wilton3@yahoo.com

Sat May 3 2008, 06:41

Hi Neil

Sorry, there was a typo on our website address. Here it is: www.orlandorealestate-li.com

Sat May 3 2008, 04:34

Hi Neil

I am assuming you are looking to take advantage of the current market conditions as an investment and you are not a typical 'vacation-home buyer'. If this is so, I think there is a lot of merit in this strategy, particularly for Brits and other Europeans.

Purchasing for long-term rental can obtain many of the benefits of the 'investment' angle, without the potential liabilities of short-term. This is always assuming you don't want any personal use out of the property.

This is exactly what we are recommending to our investor clients. If you ARE l;ooking purely from the investment angle, then the capital appreciation element is important to you., so you should be selective as to where you buy. This also holds true for rental potential.

Many communities way out on SR27 are “ghost towns”, which is NOT good. Furthermore that area on SR27 has NO APPEAL to the “long term renters” . You should also be careful when buying in a 'short-term' area, because some long long-term renters do not want to be in the middle of a dormitory town with frequent comings and goings. Having said that, there are a number of good communities where you can obtain both.

Just for your interest, the data we are receiving from the Orlando Board of Realtors indicates that since March of 2008 the number of existing home SALES has been increasing, which we are interpreting as price stabilization and inevitable price increases at some point in the unforeseen future. So that news coupled with our just having begun the SUMMER months (May, June, July, August) which are the PEAK “move-in” dates for LONG TERM renters (as well as prime Summer months being good for SHORT TERM rentals), leads us to believe that we have a fairly short window of opportunity to take advantage of current market conditions.

We are an international company with our own licensed people in Florida and Europe. We have access to ALL the properties listed on the Multiple Listing system in the areas you are looking at. We also have good experience in this area.

I personally am based south of London and would be happy to chat things through. We

Hope this helps. You can see our main website at: www.life-intl.com but the Orlando website is shown below..

Geoff Berry

Sat May 3 2008, 04:26

Neil:

Most Europeans prefer to invest in short-term vacation rentals, not sure if that is what you are looking for.
Short-terms are rented by the week or month to people traveling form all over the planet to visit Disney World in FL. It is an amazing business which when done right not only provides a self paying investment and equity built up, it provides you a vacation home which is deductable from taxes (at least in the US).

There are some really good deals in the $170 range, even fully equiped and furnished properties. My office also carries the largest inventory of Foreclosure properties in the county. If you would like to know more, or to receive listings of homes now available just drop me a note.

Tony.Vega@ColdwellBanker.com

Fri May 2 2008, 15:28

Hi Neil,

The rental market is also a little slow BUT if the rent is reasonable the property should rent out OK. My area is Poinciana which is a part of KIssimmee. The avergae selling price right now is about $145,000 for a 3 or 4 bedroom home about 3 years old with 1700 sq ft of living area. Homes can be purchased for as low as $100,000!! Not bad!!

Your interest rate would depend on your financial situation. But if your credit is good you should be able to get 6% to 7% on a second home.

You can search for properties and get current market conditions at my website http://brokerbryant.com

I hope this helps.

Fri May 2 2008, 11:25