Posting this here cause I think you are the only people who understand!

[mommary]

I am trying to decide if I should buy property down in the Orlando area.
I drove from Ft Myers this weekend to look at a condo near DW. Nice, can see the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Fireworks from balcony. Also looked at Properites in Celebration. Very undecided about what to do. Can I afford it ....yes but want to do the thing that makes the most sense. I live in New Jersey and I have 300 Vacation club points at the Wilderness Lodge. My husband will do whatever I want but he thinks adding points might make the most sense. We are not ready to retire for a while ( 53, 52) but I have been down there quite a few times in the past year ( damm that annual pass!!!) Help disboarders, I appreciate all your thoughts.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You need to talk to ducklite. She also lives in NJ and in Orlando.

 

[CarolA]

I looked into buying rental property in Orlando and chose not to for the following reasons. Might give you something to think about..


1. Upkeep. I don't want to spend my vacation doing "upkeep, maintenace" whatever on the unit. Even if you pay a lawn service etc. there is always SOMETHING that needs done. Plus with the Florida weather it's always something, fires, tornados, hurricanes...ALL of them do damage!

2. Price. I still think that market is overpriced. Folks aren't desperate enough yet. LOL! (There was an article in the paper here in ATL this weekend. The largest single identified souce for new home buyers here.... FLORIDA. ) People down there still seem to think the boom is ongoing...

3. Rental Glut. Sorry, there are too many homes on the market to make this feasible. (If you don't need to rent this might not be an issue, but if you were thinking about it do a search... lots and lots of homes....)

My thought had been, buy now and have it there for when I retire. Now I will just wait....

 

[bobbiwoz]

We've looked at properties/condos and single families in Orlando over the last few years and the market just went out of sight, and I agree that people are still not willing to come down to reasonable prices. I've been getting a newsletter from a particular realtor for years, and there's a house that's been listed as the special of the week for about 3 months...one time, Disney AP's were offered as a "Bonus" not a price reduction. This property is still for sale, and is now $375,000 and it's touted as "market low." I believe it began at about $425,000.

Also, we are more conservative regarding the renting of property. We wouldn't own the home in Cape May NJ if we had to rent it out to pay expenses. We bought it with my DSis who lives in NJ and can therefore keep an eye on it more often that we go there. We have heard horror stories from friends who had rental properties regarding the abuse their units had received.

We have decided not to buy...we still look...we're closer to retirement than you are, we're 60 and 62, but we have added on our DVC points to enjoy our Florida time at DVC, not having to go offsite.

Best wishes...whatever you do. We are now leaning toward retiring to our Cape May home, and take Florida DVC winter vacations. Although, nothing has really been decided.

Bobbi

 

[mommary]

Thanks for the input. All of what you have said makes sense and is something that I have thought about. I think right now I will just put it on the back burner. Will always be looking but I think I will add some points and just go down when I get good fares.