All Forum Posts by: Serena Kim

@Jaclyn Lignos

I'm finishing a blog post on this same topic as I own 2 short-term rentals in Kissimmee (and a 3rd under contract). The short answer is that vacancy rates declined over the past months, but recently I've been seeing a healthy pickup in demand, and I expect this to continue. 

With that being said, the short term rentals that are doing well have the following characteristics:

- Private single-family houses
- Private pool
- Excellent cleanliness

My conclusion is that in the future travelers will prefer local travel (vs top-10 destinations, hotspots), and will favor privacy, contactless check-in and check-out, and will not want to share amenities and common areas. 

Kissimmee is a great area for short term rentals and should do extremely well once parks start seeing a higher level of visitors. A few zip codes where I focus are 34746 and 34747, as the former is closer to the airport and the latter is in a better area and closer to Animal Kingdom. 

Happy to share more information and talk more about it anytime!

Serena

@Betty Zhu

Take a look at the 32821 zip code. I currently own two condos there, and they cashflow very well. Location is extremely good. Feel free to pm me with any questions and happy to help

@Ryan Hazelwood

I’m 32 and currently with my husband we have 7 rentals (5 long-term and 2 short-term) and in the process of acquiring our 8th. We started in 2016 and we are quickly growing it.

@Andrew Pensch

There’s so much cash flowing in the system + record low interest rates + low supply that I think it should keep supporting this hot market.

But to your question, a lot of agents are offering 3D tours or virtual tours these days. I bought my first 4 deals from out of state without seeing the properties.

1 - Start by picking the neighborhood you would be ok living in

2 - find a house that meets all of your criterias

3 - Send a strong offer (5-7 day inspection, no appraisal contingency assuming you dont mind paying a bit more than appraisal)

Once you get it under contract, get an inspector there asap. Good neighborhood + nothing wrong with the core of the house = nothing a few $ won’t solve once you move.

Low-balling in this hot market is not working as well, but I’m also seeing a lot of sellers frustrated by buyers cancelling last second because they lost their jobs or couldn’t meet financing. A fair offer with a strong guarantee that you’ll close should put you ahead of the competition.

Happy buying,

Serena

@Katie Miller

30% in equities: favoring US and Asian equities as easy monetary and fiscal policy will continue for a very long time.

30% in real estate: favoring low-tax states like Florida and Texas. Money circulating in the economy is increasing through extreme levels of central bank purchases, while the number of assets in the economy remains fairly stable, meaning the need for income/yield will only increase, making cash flows very valuable. I still haven’t met a person that likes to pay taxes.

20% in gold: investing in gold is betting governments will keep borrowing at elevated levels, and hence depreciate their currencies, causing investors to lose trust. My personal view is that inflation will accelerate next year (this could be a whole post/topic), which is why I wouldn’t use government bonds as a hedge for my portfolio

20% cash reserves: liquidity is always there, except when you need it

@Bill Rogers

I’ve been using cozy.co for quite some time now and it works great. It’s free, easy to use/setup, and tenants can also submit repair requests

Unfortunately I don't think so. Usually the mortgage is given based on the appraisal value of the property, and the closing costs are in addition to that. You could probably get a loan to cover the closing costs, but that would be an additional financing. Not sure if anyone has any other ideas?