buying properties remotely in Orlando

[Ronnie Ho]

Hi, I live in NY and I am planning to purchase my first rental investment property in Orlando around the Disney area. I am thinking the property can be used for STR on aribnb, vrbo, etc. My real estate agent has been showing me listings in the Orlando through a portal, but she said that to actual visit the property is very difficult since there'll always be tenants and most of the listings don't even have a floor plan, so I can only get an idea of the place through the pictures and need to make a decision based on that. I would like to hear others' experience if it's similar to what I described. Thanks a lot in advance!

[Quentin Moore]

I live in VA and just purchased an STR in Kissimmee, FL. Here are some tips:

Consider using a lender and a local agent that mostly engage in STR deals.

Identify the STR communities you want to buy in. This includes Championsgate, Reunion, Windsor Hills, Solterra, Festival, Storey Lake, etc. They all have pluses and minuses. I chose Storey Lake because of its location.

Once you know which community you want to buy in, you can google for the floor plan or virtual tours by searching on the community name.

Pull up the community you are interested in on the Zillow.com map and click "Save Search". You will then get an email whenever there are new listings in that area.

Whenever you get an email alert, if the home's photos and the numbers look good, consider putting an offer on the property. :-) Maybe this quick reaction isn't as necessary now. In the Spring, homes in the area I was targeting were going under contract fast. Note that you can always back out of the offer during the inspection.

If the home has bookings, your agent can ask the selling agent to ask the STR guest if your agent can visit the home during their stay. The guest will probably say no. :-) You can then try to have your agent visit the home between bookings, i.e., between when one guest checks out and the next guest checks in.

Ask your agent to record a video walk-through. If you can have a live video session, that's good too. Still have the agent record a walk-through that you can review later.