The decision to invest in a vacation home is a big undertaking for most people and we pride ourselves on being able to provide the broadest possible help to potential buyers in their endeavors. But let’s be clear – there are some things that we just can’t advise:
“Guaranteed income makes sense” – we had one client earlier this week who told us that he had received details of condos with a guaranteed income yielding a net return of 6% to 7%. Our response to him (as it is to anyone tempted to be taken in by such “guarantees”) was to advise him to run like crazy from these. We’ve seen other heavily-promoted schemes this week for new single family homes that offer the same trap for the unwary. We cannot advise you that these schemes are places to spend even a second thinking about, unless you are not bothered about what happens to your money.
“Vacation home deals close to the theme parks – median price just above $100,000” – a national news website this week used statements by one local Broker to suggest that median home prices were in the low $100,000s and few homes were above $250,000. Clever wording was used to make it seem like these numbers related to homes close to the theme parks and communities with swimming pools, golf courses and other amenities. An examination of recent sales figures shows a very different story: the median price is 75% or more above the number quoted. And many homes sell for more than $250,000. So we definitely can’t advise you to take the numbers seriously. But if you do, let us know and we’ll help you with bargain bridges in Brooklyn.
“Vacation homes are a great hands-off investment: buy your home and then ignore it while it makes money for you” – well, you can and should find yourself a good property manager and expect him or her to care for your home. And maybe even generate you some rental income, if that’s what you want. But the most successful vacation home owners are those who make sure they are well-informed ahead of their purchase and then treat it as a business once they own. So taking no interest in your fine new home is something that we can’t advise you to do, unless you have no concern about how fast your property can deteriorate and how much running and maintenance costs can rise to.
So let’s get a little more positive. If we can’t advise you on those things above, what exactly can we advise you on that will benefit you? In summary, we can help with everything from start to finish when you are looking for a Central Florida home, including:
Identifying which homes match your requirements- How to get your home for the best price
- How to set it up to meet your ownership and rental needs
- Questions to ask prospective management companies
- The full and uncensored picture on ownership costs.
And . . . . all of that costs you zero, because in Florida, real estate fees are paid for by the Seller. So you get professional help with your purchase, at no cost to you.
Too good to be true? Read here and here and here for more details about all of this.