by: Herman Nuncrsh
Sitting here in the Florida sun whilst the rest of the world concerns itself with Papal funerals and Royal weddings, neither event incidentally proffered an invitation to the wife and I.
I began thinking of all the people that would love to emulate this life. The ownership of a vacation rental villa in the sunshine state of Florida was never on the agenda. That is until the opportunity presented itself via the lottery to partake in the American dream.
What does it take? Capital! would be a good start, homes ranging from $125000 up to and verging one million dollars are available in the vacation rental belt, bounded by 192, 27 an 535. Those are not the numbers that won the lottery they are the main highways in and around the Disney theme parks.
Disney, Universal and Sea World are amongst the most visited theme parks in the world with thousands flocking to them annually.
Some return year after year and it is these travellers that are availing themselves of the many and varied vacation rental villas that are on offer for their stay in the sunshine state of Florida.
Where can you find such places? www.fabvillas.com is a good start with many homes on display. All privately owned and professionally managed it’s a good base to start of with to secure the type of vacation rental accommodation that you and your family deserve. What is available? There are ranges of town homes, up to the large single family homes, comprising of 2 bedrooms up to 7 bedrooms with an equal amount of bathrooms to each.
No more queuing to get ready in the morning! All within a short distance of the main theme parks.
These homes can be rented on a weekly or monthly basis and are value for money with their facilities outdoing all but the finest hotels. Motels are a thing of the past and it appears that they exist purely for the package deal travel companies.
Want to be part of the herd then that’s the way to go.
The discerning conscientious traveller has discovered the vacation rental villas and they are making a Bee line right for them utilising the web and sites such as www.fabvillas.com
Cost of renting one of these superb homes compared with the motel scenario is minimal as the villas are based on a weekly rental and not per person.
I digress, back to ownership of a vacation villa.
Many present homeowners took the plunge following two or more visits to the Disney area.
Having tasted the good life they decided to invest in a vacation rental home so that they and their family could enjoy a sojourn in the sun whenever they desired.
An added bonus would be to rent out the villa when it was not being utilised, thereby accruing an income. What could be easier?
A lot of myth is attached to the subject and its not all a bed of roses as is often portrayed by those who are ready to sell such properties to the unwary.
These are the realtors (in the UK known as estate agents) one thing they are very good at in the USA is the ability to earn exceedingly high commissions on the sale of such properties. It can be upwards of 5% and is generally around the 8% to 10%. This is what drives them to make outlandish promises to the unsuspecting tourists.
That’s pretty good when you work on the top end, the nirvana of real estate in the USA. Make two sales per year and a Lexus and 80 grand is yours. Of course every one that you speak to is having a hard time. Like bookmakers.
The rental homes need to be managed and this is the next step for the tourist, having enjoyed their holiday they go home and wonder what they can do to emulate the life.
So purchasing a vacation rental home in the Disney area is a good choice.
Mortgages are readily available to the right candidates and deposits can range from 5% up to 20% for those that qualify.
They up sticks and move over to Florida, as can be seen by the new line in disaster programs, showing potential owners of properties abroad and practically taking up all the viewing times on most British TV channels. They want to start a new life ( not exactly pioneers) and begin managing the properties in the USA and their ultimate goal is to manage up to 40 such properties.
Unfortunately greed then kicks in and the numbers are then increased, add to this the drive to earn as much for as little as possible and its not long before they are taking their realtors exams (takes about 8 weeks to qualify) then they are on the road to the pot of gold.
So when you contemplate taking the trip to the USA to visit the mouse, bear in mind that you may become so overawed with the place that you will want to stay in the vacation capital of the world and eventually to partake in the American Dream.
When you do, please think of me, the eternal optimist sitting by the pool wondering what the rest of the world is doing and quite frankly, not even caring.