House hacking / STR around Universal or Disney

[Sagi Hassin]

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience with house splitting/house hacking?

My wife and I are thinking about splitting a house, living in half and renting the other half as a STR.

We are currently living in South Florida and not super familiar with the different areas and neighborhoods in the Orlando area (specifically around Universal or Disney).

I’m trying to learn more about the different zoning laws and make sure what we want to do is legally possible.

Any and all advice or tips is greatly appreciated.

Also, would love to hear from real estate agents who have experience with these types of investments.

Thank you in advance,

Sagi

[Chris C.]

Hey Sagi!

I do some flavor of this currently. First things first: Most of your tenants will be kids. Like, younger than college-age kids. A lot of people coming to work at Disney are a part of the Disney College Program (Read: Internship). Most do not stay long as "contracts" are 6-7 month stints. You will get more selection if you cater to this period instead of traditional year long leases.

Be ready for typical college-level issues: They didn't do their dishes from the night before. They leave a mess behind. Set up strict leases to help alleviate this. There are good ones out there, but prep for the worst and you won't be surprised when it happens.

Also - be ready for really off schedules. Most of your tenants will work weekends, or come back to the house at 12AM or later. You'll need to be ok with whacky schedules - no matter if it's a DCP kid or a lifer. Because of these schedules, I find that most of the tenant pool from Disney does not have the time or freedom to properly care for a dog. I have had 3 incidents with different dogs before I swore them off for good. Fair warning.

As far as zoning - Most of the area near Disney is SFH-zoned. You are probably talking big numbers (maybe 600-700k+) to get a MFH-zoned property within 20 min of the Disney area that isn't a dump and in need of severe rehab, I know from experience. There are some SFH that have garage apartments - this is your best bet if you wanted to set up a "Duplex" environment. Your utilities and your mail will still need to go to the same address though, so you will still interact at some level. I have friends who have "upgraded" their SFH with in-law suites and other separated living areas to achieve a better level of privacy and command a higher rent. You'll need to work with a designer or local real estate office I think on that one. The office will be more likely to give you advice if you use their agents to buy.

I warned a lot but have had good experiences too. Nothing like getting free or discounted tickets to events through roommates who are generally happy to live with you and are responsible adults who need a safe, quiet place to retire after a long day on Main Street. Personally, even after all my strife, I would do it all again for sure.

Feel free to add or reach out to me if you'd like any feedback on neighborhoods! In general, the closer to the parks, the better pool of tenants you have access to, assuming you do want to rent to Disney folks.