All Forum Posts by: Serena Kim

@Frank DiGiorgio at that point your agent would not be a transaction broker but doing other jobs for you. They should have tools with many different ways to sort listings and look for out-of-state owners, withdrawn listings, etc, but that’s time consuming. Maybe offer him/her additional compensation for doing that, or buy listings online for your criteria.

@Dev Paul I'm from NY and moved to FL in March due to covid. I have a property under contract at less than 250k for STR in Kissimmee (close to parks, and ~1hr from beach either east or west). The nightly rates are at around 130 in slow months like now and +200 in high season (Nov through Feb). Not a massive homerun but the cashflow is good. You should take a look.

@Terry Harris

In FL, now that people are getting a bit more comfortable with covid, I’m finally seeing properties come back to market. A month ago it was extremely hard to be a buyer, now you actually have houses to choose from, but competition for good properties is fierce. People are bidding with cash offers well above asking price, meaning there is still a strong imbalance of buyers vs sellers

@Andrea Aguilar

Ah that makes sense! Just watch out for 2 things:

1. A bulk of condos in Orlando don’t allow short term rentals. On the other hand, a well managed one makes for a great long term rental

2. The ones that do allow short term rentals have big HOA fees. The fees cover the amenities, and my current theory is that most visitors will want privacy. Hence, the will not want to share amenities, and will prefer a single family homes vs condos.

@Andrea Aguilar

That’s another option, especially if you will plan on living on the property at the beginning, rather than buying as an investment property.

I personally haven’t found a property (~3br with a pool) in the zip codes mentioned for less than $225k (assuming minimal repairs needed). I’m sure if we go farther from the airport and parks you can find properties for much less than that, but they lose the appeal for most visitors (the ones that come to the parks).

@Andrea Aguilar

Short term rentals should do well in the near future as travelers will probably favor the privacy of a home vs sharing amenities and common spaces with other guests. As Alice mentioned, houses will pool will tend to do better. A few steps you could consider are:

1. Select the area for the investment. I don’t think there are that many options in Orlando for short term rentals, but in Kissimmee you can find a lot of great communities for it, and still very close to the airport and parks. Search around the 34746/34747 zip codes

2. Save enough money for it. For a short term rental you’ll probably need 20% down payment (assuming you buy as an investment property), and then you’ll need around 15k for furniture + additional money for remodel. Typically, for a 250k house you’ll be looking at around $60k out of pocket

3. Remodel the house, get the permits, learn the laws and business. There are a ton of good posts on this, while it’s the most important step, I’ll spare the details

4. Start testing the water. Put your house on Airbnb/VRBO and start getting bookings!

Remember, the short term rental market is in a different industry from real estate (and regulated by another entity in Florida). It’s a lot of work, but the cash flow can be significantly higher.

Feel free to reach out with any questions and best luck!

Serena

@Kristin Synnott

Seems like you are referring to house hacking. From my experience, in Orlando it can be very challenging to find a duplex. If you have the money for a down payment, it may not be a bad idea to just buy a property as your primary residence. Once you get to know the area and the process of buying a house. You’ll learn a ton from buying your first house, and may even rethink your real estate strategy.

Feel free to reach out with any questions and best luck!

Serena

@Kevin Hill

Do you expect supply to return in your area or overall in the nation at some point this year?

In FL I’m seeing a similar pattern of houses not lasting a week, with investor bidding above list price or cash offers at asking. In part that’s due to the lack of inventory. At the same time, I struggle with the thought that given how low interest rates are worldwide and central banks supporting the markets with their “whatever it takes attitude”, why can’t real estate continue this cycle for another 10yrs? What other asset can you buy out there that can generate some cashflow? Stocks and corporate bonds on average are yielding less than 2%?

@Brandon Miller

I read 5 books before I purchased my first property, and I felt like I knew almost nothing. It seems like you’ve done a fair amount of education. Save some money and buy your first property in an area you are familiar with (seems like TX). You’ll learn way more with that first transaction than through books and videos, although the media will give you the confidence and motivation to start.

Happy buying!

@Jaclyn Lignos

If you type @ and add the name you should be able to tag people. It took me a bit to figure it out myself. 

Regarding specific neighborhoods: In 34746 try to stay close to the Poinciana Blvd, and as north as possible. I personally own in Indian Wells and Montego. I wouldn't buy south of Montego as it starts to get far from the parks. In 34747 try to stay as close to the I-4 as possible. The one under contract is very close to the I-4, making it easy to get to the parks.  

When I look at houses I look for the following:

• - Low HOA fees. That automatically removes resorts. Usually these resorts have a lot of great amenities, but my thesis is that guests would rather have a private pool than share it with other guests
• - SFH. No condos, townhomes, etc. Most condos don't allow short term rentals anyway
• - Pool. I used to own an SFH without a pool. While it rented fine, I noticed that a pool was commending $30-50 more per night. Since then I don't even look at houses without one.
• - Roof. A lot of homes in these zip codes were built around the year 2000, and many are coming to the market now with their original roof. Watch out for that.