So You Want To Buy A House In Florida: The Definitive Guide To Buying, Owning An Selling A Vacation Rental Home

By Lionel Dore

So You Want To Buy A House In Florida is the complete guide to buying, owning and selling a vacation rental home in that state. It is written by a UK ex-pat who is a Realtor, a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and who, with his wife Christina (who is also a Realtor) bought their first property near Orlando in 2004. At that time, information on the buying process was very difficult to find and even now, if you want to get a complete picture, you have to search for appropriate key words on the internet. Not only is that a time consuming process, but you may not find exactly what you are looking for. You definitely won't come away with a complete understanding of the process involved in purchasing a vacation home in Florida, especially if you doing so from outside of the US.

This book has all of the information you will need in order to start your search with confidence, have the knowledge to understand how a Realtor can help you, and guide you through the whole process of buying a property, through to picking up the keys to your new home. It doesn't stop there though. If you are financing your purchase, you will need a mortgage. We take you through that process too. If you are buying a vacation home, you will also want to know (before you buy) the costs involved in owning that property throughout your ownership. If you are renting it out, you will also want to know (before you buy), what it rents for now and the historic income and expenditure. We include a whole section on property management, so you understand what that very important aspect of vacation home ownership involves. You will be subject to US taxation on any profit you make from your home, so we discuss that too.

At some point in the future, you may wish to sell your home. So that you get the full picture of home ownership from start to finish, we include a step by step guide to disposing of your property. When you have read this book, you will be a fully informed, buyer, owner, landlord and seller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667872520

Book preview

Title

Copyright © 2022

Lionel Dore MRICS

ISBN: 978-1-66786-500-3

eISBN: 978-1-6678725-2-0

Although we strive to keep our content up to date, the housing market can change quickly, and we cannot therefore guarantee accuracy of the content herein.

https://www.doreglobalteam.com

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

1. Our Story – A Foreword

A. Buying a Property in Orlando

B. Moving To Florida

C. What Is the Difference Between A Real Estate Agent and a Realtor

D. Why Choose Dore Global Team?

2. Why Buy A Vacation Home In Orlando

3. What Should I Buy?

A. New Build

B. Resale

4. Where Should I Buy?

5. Types of Properties

A. Condominiums

B. Condotels

C. Townhomes

D. Single-Family Homes (Villas)

6. Pros and Cons of Owning the Various Types of Property

A. Condominiums

B. Condotels

C. Townhomes

D. Single-family Homes

7. Homeowners Associations (HOAs)

8. Community Development Management District (CDD)

9. How Do I Pay For My Home?

10. How Do I Find My Ideal Home?

11. Will My Home Make Money?

12. What Should I Look At To Determine Whether It’s a Good Investment?

13. What Are The Expenses Incurred In Running My Home?

A. Fixed Expenses

B. Variable Expenses

14. Who Pays The Buyers’ Agent?

15. How Do We Work Together When We Are In Different Countries or States?

16. Do We Need A Solicitor To Do Searches?

17. Proof Of Funds and Pre-Approval

18. Sending Money to the US

A. Opening a US Bank Account

B. Currency Transfer

19. Short Term Rentals

20. Short-Term Rental Communities

21. Who Will Take Care of My Home?

22. The Buying Process

A. The Search For Your Home

B. Showing Homes

C. Making An Offer On A Resale

i. The List Price

ii. Comparative Market Analysis

iii. Days On Market

iv. Motivation

v. Making An Offer

vi. Working With The Listing Agent

vii. Earnest Money Deposit (EMD)

viii. Seller’s Disclosure

ix. Home Inspection

x. Appraisal

xi. Loan Commitment

xii. What Are Closing Costs?

D. Purchasing a New-Build

i. Working With A Realtor

ii. Choosing A Plot

iii. Choosing Extras

iv. Pre-Approval with The Builder’s Lender

v. Signing the Purchase Agreement

vi. Construction

vii. Private Inspection

viii. New Home Orientation

ix. Closing

x. Furniture

23. Things To Note About Florida Home Construction

24. Closing

A. When Do We Close?

B. Title Work

C. Utilities

D. Closing Statement

E. Closing Disclosure

F. Walk Through

G. Funding Escrow

H. Closing Day!

I. Do I Need To Be At Closing?

J. Post-Closing Things To Do

25. Owning Your Home

A. Rentals

B. Security Deposit

C. Sales Tax

D. Advertising

E. Income

F. Income Tax

G. Expenditure

26. Role of the Property Manager

A. Advice on Upgrades

B. Advertising & Marketing

C. Setting Nightly Rates

D. Guest Preparation

E. Additional Fees

F. Checking Renters In and Out

G. Answering Guests’ Questions On-Site

H. Cleaning When Guests Leave

I. Taking Inventory

J. General Upkeep

K. Major Repair and/or Replacement

27. If I Change Property Manager, Do I Keep The Bookings?

28. Selling Your Home

A. Hiring Dore Global Team

B. Deciding on a List Price

C. Repairs & Renovations

D. Understanding How Long Your Home Will Take To Sell

E. Listing Your Home For Sale

F. Choosing Your Title Company

G. Receiving Offers

H. Countering and Accepting an Offer

I. Prior To Close

i. Secure The Property

ii. Let Your Insurance Company Know

iii. Liaising With Your Property Manager

iv. Remove Your Personal Possessions

v. Repairs

vi. Clean Your Home

J. At Closing

K. How Much Will It Cost To Sell My Home?

L. 1031 Exchange

M. Post-Closing

29. Tax and Depreciation

A. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)

B. Sales Tax

C. Property Tax

D. Income Tax

E. Capital Gains Tax

i. Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax (FIRPTA)

F. Depreciation

30. Communities Map

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thank you to my wife Christina, who has been with me through my and more recently our journey in real estate ownership, rental, lending, and agency. It’s her hard work that makes Dore Global Team successful and I hope this book brings what we do to a wider audience and takes her success to another level. She absolutely deserves it.

I would also like to acknowledge the input of David Filipponi of Florida Leisure Vacation Homes (www.floridaleisurevacationhomes.com) and John Brock-Edgar of International Mortgage Associates (www.internationalmortgageassociates.com) , both based here in Orlando, for their input into the Property Management and Finance & Tax sections respectively of this book, and in acting as guinea pigs for drafts of this book. If you are looking for a Property Manager and/or Mortgage/Tax Advisor, I highly recommend them.

This book is dedicated to everyone who has a dream of owning a vacation property in Florida. I hope this goes some way to turning those dreams into reality.

1. Our Story – A Foreword

A. Buying a Property in Orlando

Christina and I bought our first property in Davenport, on US 27 at Highlands Reserve, in 2004. There really wasn’t anything on the internet at that time and the first we really knew about the possibility of buying a home 3,000 miles away was via a Sunday newspaper, made from real paper!

We didn’t think much more about it until we were on holiday in Florida. I don’t even remember where we were staying, but we took a trip out to Highlands Reserve to see what was happening with that community. It was already more than half built at that point, so we could see what the community was like, and of course it had the golf course, a big draw. We went to the model homes and looked around. Much different to what we had back home in London, all with that new home smell and of course wonderfully decorated. Well long story short, we left, thought about it, came back, and bought one. Actually, we bought a sand lot on which the home would be built.

The builder’s sales rep advised us to use one of three recommended Realtors, something which is illegal now. I can speculate as to why that is, but I can’t write it in a book. We chose one of the three and got a heavy sales pitch. In reality though, we got very little value from them and were left in the dark for much of the time our home was being built. We learned a lot though about the builder’s contract (they are pretty much the same), the buying process and how closing works. We worked out the financing with our UK bank, which then left us a little at the mercy of currency fluctuations.

At the time, I was a Partner with a Construction Consultancy firm in London. I’m a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and have been in the property profession for over 35 years. Christina also worked in property, on the administrative side. Neither of us had experienced anything like this though.

We only had the property for two years and then sold it to someone else from the UK. The US was amid a boom in home