Urgent Help Needed: Turning Around a Struggling Disney Area Investment Property

[Maxwell Banton]

Hello everyone, I'm in need of some guidance. I bought a 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom property in Orlando near Disney World for short-term rentals. It's been a year, and contrary to my initial profit projections, I've been consistently losing money. Considering long-term rental as a better option, I listed the property, but after three months on the market and only receiving low offers, I'm reevaluating. This investment has increasingly felt like a financial burden. I'm contemplating making updates to the property but am uncertain about the return on investment (ROI) I would receive. I'd greatly appreciate any advice or insights from anyone who has navigated a similar situation. Below is my Airbnb link I am open to all recommendations!

https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/792049658049677604?guests=1&...

[Shawn McCormick]

Thank you @Michael Baum

@Maxwell Banton sorry to hear about your struggles. I just commented on another thread about homes like yours. I want to be considerate of your efforts, but also provide constructive critisim. I can't tell what community this is in, but it looks to be built for STR as I can see every home has a pool. However, it is definitely not one of the resort style communities like Championsgate or Winsdor Island etc. So that fact alone is going to make it very difficult to get your property seen based on how the algorithms work.

There are so many homes in the resorts that get attention just because the neighborhood gets booked alot. So some things I see with your home is that it looks like....well...home. It doesn't scream.."I'm on vacation in Florida!!". It looks like this could be in Ohio. With so much competition here, you must do something special to get people to stop scrolling when they see your lisitng. You need more colorful accent walls, take those stickers down, it looks like you phoned this in and spend an hour theming the entire house with a $200 budget. I know this is harsh, but take a look at others (go pretend you are booking and look at how well thought out the furniture, colors and theming are). You have basic finishes like laminate counters, 30" cabinets, a coil stove a TV sitting on a bar stool and your pool doesn't have a hot tub, that alone is losing you bookings. Nice job on the floors though! This just will not cut it in Orlando. 

I'm not sure what solution would be best, commit to spending more money to make it what it needs to be and hoping it works, finding a LTR tenant or selling at this point, that is up to you. But doing what you are doing will not work.

Best of luck to you!