Managing a vacation home
Along with the joy of owning a Central Florida vacation home comes the question of who will look after the property when you’re not there. Fortunately, there is a well-developed property management industry to provide a solution (of course, you don’t have to employ a property management company, but try dealing with maintenance problems from 3000-4000 miles away!).
There are many different types of company to choose from, so what advice can we give you to make the whole process as successful as possible? |
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Find a management company you can trust: you need confidence in the people with the keys to the door in your absence. Find an alternative if things aren’t working out with your current company. |
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Treat your home as a business – actively market it if you need the rental income and monitor your monthly expenses carefully. |
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Accept that you will have maintenance costs – things wear out, even in Florida. |
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Pay your own utility bills, so you know when they’re paid and you have immediate knowledge of the costs. |
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Pay special attention to property taxes & insurances – failure to do so is risky and can be costly! |
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Understand the Sales Tax/Licensing requirements – again, ignoring them can be costly. |
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Renting your property out? Recognize that not everyone will treat your home as you would wish (fortunately, only a minority of people). |
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Contact other vacation homeowners for additional support – for example, try http://www.top-forums.com for independent advice and experiences. |
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| Many of these may seem obvious, and they are only a brief summary of the issues involved, but the overall message is: stay involved and don’t leave all the decisions to your management company. Contact us via the inquiry form here with any more detailed questions that you have. |
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