Kissimmee FL - STR Analysis

[Michael Stokes]

Hello everyone, I am VERY new to real estate investment, and tend to be very conservative when it comes to any investing but I am very interested in real estate and have the capital to invest. I live in CT but would like to enter the STR game and of the places that are hot I am most interested in Orlando -- I know the area and find myself already down there multiple times per year.

Since I would be remote, I am likely going to work with a management company (at least year one) so hope to have booking/cleaning/maintenance taken care of by the company.  Since I am not local I am trying to optimize my strategy for looking into and securing a property.  I have spent a few weeks on Realtor, AirBNB, and other sites trying to compare costs with the approximate rent I could expect nightly.

With my conservative nature I was a bit hesitant to move forward with anything yet -- I am seeing a lot of condos in nice areas with amenities (saving me having to get a property with a pool) that are in the $150-$200k price range. I haven't found the exact neighborhoods on on AirBNB, but I am seeing a lot of properties being rented for $60/night. If I assume a 50% occupancy rate, that would be $900/month less the 20% management fee would net me $720/month, with the mortgage and utilities and HOA coming in closer to $1400/month.

I wanted to reach out to see if I am a) looking in the wrong areas of Orlando when evaluating $60/night on an AirBNB rental, b) spending too much on a condo to come in at 1400/month and expecting to turn a profit in Orlando, or c) looking into a condo when I should be looking at a single family home to turn a profit?

Thank you in advance for any guidance or suggestions!

-Mike