How to Own a Vacation Home and Have Someone Else Pay the Mortgage

Orlando Real Estate Podcast with Chris Myers

The question I’m addressing today isn’t one I receive often, but I think it’s an important one to answer: “How can I get someone to pay for my vacation home?” The answer is actually pretty simple. Here in Orlando, we have some communities that are zoned for short-term vacation rentals. If you own a property, you can rent it out for a day, a week, or a month to vacationers. There are great property management companies that will do all the work for you, and you can even buy these properties fully furnished. The area I want to focus on today is Compass Bay, just minutes from Disney. It’s also near The Loop, one of my favorite shopping centers with shops, restaurants, and movies theaters. Downtown Orlando is also close by. If you got a mortgage on a Compass Bay townhome and rented it out 75% of the time, your return would be about 6%. That’s fantastic when you consider the fact that a normal, full-time rental here in the Orlando market typically has a 6% return. Another great part of a short-term rental is that you get to enjoy it with your family about 24% of the time, too. “Where else can you get a free vacation home your family can actually use?” If you paid cash, your rate of return goes up to about 10%. If you want to use the home a little more than 24% of the time, that’s fine too—you’ll just make a little bit less of a return. Even if you use it enough to only break even, you still get a free vacation home! Where else can you get a free vacation home? If you’d like to know more about Compass Bay or any of the many other short-term rental communities here in the Orlando area, just give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you in any way I can!