Windsor Hills or Storey lake for STR?

[Zach Mustafa]

Hi,

Our family is interested in purchasing a home for STR in the Kissimmee area. We are between getting a 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo in Windsor hills (in the mid 300s) or a 5 bedroom 4 bath townhouse(in the mid 500s) in Storey lake.

Our question is which is better? And is a condo in Windsor hills profitable? we can’t find any info on the potential revenue for either one. 

Thank you all so much for your help!

[Shawn McCormick]

@Zach Mustafa, both of these are solid communities, they do have some differences to consider. A few questions will help determine which one may be best for you. Do you plan on this for just passive income or will you be using it yourself?

A couple things..Windsor Hills is about the closest resort community there is outside of Disney property and has a fantastic following of loyal guests that have been coming for years. It is popular with UK travelers. The condos are situated right near the clubhouse and pool area, so thats a benefit too. The buildings have elevators, another nice feature. One of the issues to watch for is that these are older, most built in 2004-2006. So many tend to be outdated in finishes and furniture and may need appliances, water heater and a/c's replaced as well. So consider that when looking. There are never more than a few for sale at any given time, so you can't be too picky, but if you have a choice... These generally will perform very well and consistantly just due to the fact they've been around for so long and word of mouth, even before FB and Airbnb existed. There are a couple of FB groups you can go in and ask questions and snoop around for feedback from previous guests. 

As far as Storey Lake, you can't really compare a 3/2 condo to a 5/4 townhouse. However, both of these communities are in my top 10, so theres that. Storey Lake is much newer, but was marketed well by tour group operators and travel agents and property managers so it gained popularity and still does well. It is a littler further and you have to go right into the main entrance to Disney, (so living here, I wouldn't want the traffic, but vacationers know theres not really a way around that). Storey Lake has many more units, and there are always more for sale, right now there are over 25 townhomes available and they are as close to the clubhouse as some other communities, so walking there generally isn't suggested and isn't convenient for guests. However, since they are newer, the furniture and cap-ex type expenses should not be something you will have to consider, meaning the higher purchase price will be a little bit justified by more beds and less big expenses to get you up and going. 

With either of these types of units, like @Michael Baum mentioned, there is much more competition, 3-5 bedroom units make up over 40% of the market and it is much harder to make a small unit stand out from the competition with theming etc. Neither of these have private pools or garages to benefit you either. So if you plan to use it yourself and hope the rest of the years rental income will pay for itself, you will likely be fine. If you are looking for high returns, you will have to really manage and promote it well. They will both beat a LTR income, but also more time and work. 

Hope this helps, best of luck

Thanks @Michael Baum!