Who would have thought only 12 months after getting the keys to our beautiful villa that we would be pretty successful in renting it out.

Make no mistake it's not easy, you have to work at it and throw a little money at it to advertise. But getting that booking gives you a buzz. To close the deal is a great feeling. Finally, speaking to the guest who then compliments you on your beautiful home is the icing on the cake!!

My first remit, prior to purchase, was to get a management company who can get you bookings. WRONG! You need a management company that can trust and then clean, maintain and look after your house. YOU can get the bookings, if I can do it so can you!

Make no mistakes you are not going to make a fortune out of renting, indeed the income will/should just about pay your bills and mortgage. If you think you are going to profit greatly from that side, forget it!!

If I can go back to March 2003 when I first made contact with Dolby it was a million and one questions and in July we (ok, so Dolby helped a 'little'!) found the house of our dreams. There was so much to do but Dolby made it easy and we were on our way to become villa owners.

We upgraded it and made it truly lovely, every time we come over we add something to it, our latest addition is a Jukebox. (Yes, a jukebox!!). The guests love it. And there lies a little tip, make your villa stand out, be different and you should have little problem in renting it out.

It's not been all plain sailing but the positives totally outweigh the negatives. Beautiful home, wonderful climate, Brilliant investment, rent free holidays, successful renting, great friends and not to mention an extremely happy wife! (Well we have to do something to make them happy!!!)

Successful, yes.
Would I change anything, no!

HERE'S MY VILLA RENTAL WEBSITE

BRIAN MANN, BOLTON, UK

Written January 25, 2005

We bought our 4 bedroom 3 bathroom villa located on the 17th Tee at Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club in June 2004. We had never owned a holiday property and were really looking for something to invest in and have a little hobby to work on.

We bought a website domain and went about creating our own website, after going live in on July 1st 2004 we had two bookings in the first week. We spent over £500 in advertising in the first two months and now spend around £30 a month this resulted in us obtaining at least two weeks bookings per month the summer months were all full.

This year it has gone from strength to strength, we currently have 39 weeks bookings in place for 2005 we make a profit every month and have changed our management company to one which does not offer bookings and just does exactly what they say - "Manage". I can't really go into the finer details into how we get all the bookings all I can pass on is what we did.

We could have purchased a house for significantly more money, however we wanted to make a 30% deposit (This reduces your mortgage). We put enough money into our US Bank to pay for all our mortgage costs for the first year (This gave us breathing space before we had to make profit).

Be prepared to make a loss in the first year. (You will be very lucky to break even in the first few months - if you realise this beforehand it is a lot better to take). Think about how much you are charging for rentals (We paid a larger deposit therefore do not have to make as much money to break even). If your villa is empty it is not making money (Better to earn peanuts than spend them). You have to speculate to accumulate (All our bookings come through our own advertising) Dont be afraid to ditch your management company (There are good ones out there just ask other renters).

We have since decided to purchase another home in Florida and are going through this process once again with Sam and Lesley at Dolby Properties. We didn't even view the property we went on Sam's word and we wouldn't just do that with anyone. The one thing you can be sure of with Dolby is professional service, help and advice every step of the way, they even keep in touch after the sale goes through, it is very handy having new friends in a country where you have a home you can't always see.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR TWO VILLAS AT www.southern-dunes-villa.co.uk
and www.florida-sunshine-villas.co.uk

ALLEN AND SARAH SKINNER, ROSS-SHIRE,SCOTLAND

Written January 25, 2005

Hanging Moss Villa is situated in Sunridge Woods, Davenport, a short drive from Disney. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with lovely views over a lake, in a very peaceful area and virtually unoverlooked. As soon as we walked in, we knew it was the one for us! The villa is virtually un-overlooked. We bought it after spending a 3 week fly-drive in Florida in 2002, when we fell in love with the place and decided to do something very unlike us ' buy a place in the sun!

The buying and renting experience has been very positive for us. We went in with realistic expectations, knowing that there are many villas out there - and let's face it, they're all lovely ' but as long as we cover the management costs, rates, etc, we're happy. The profit comes from the property and the knowledge that when we retire we will really reap the benefits by living there for a lot longer than just 3 weeks.

We have been pretty successful with our renting. We have our own website ' www.hangingmossvilla.co.uk (you don't need to spend a fortune on one, we did our own via a hosting company (www.1and1.co.uk) and advertise on a couple of internet sights, Daltons Weekly, and are looking into other publications. We prefer to rent the villa ourselves as, apart from low income from the management company, tour company renters may not appreciate that it is someone's home. We ensure that people realise that it is our home and that we are very proud of it and want others to enjoy it as much as we do, promote all the good things about it and do not run other properties down. We also aim to be as friendly as possible and always offer help and advice. Most importantly, be honest.

One of the main reasons that we have found the buying/renting experience so positive is due to Lesley & Steve's after-sales service! From helping us with management companies to pointing us in the right direction for furniture, etc, they have been behind us all the way. From starting off as `the realtors' they have become real friends.

HERE'S OUR VILLA RENTAL WEBSITE

PHIL AND GRACE MASON, GRAYS, ESSEX

Written January 25, 2005

Once Upon a Time '''

Well that's how it all began for us ' `a fairy tale'. We'd visited Orlando many times on holiday with our young family ' always staying is villas sat by the pool and thinking `I wish' ' but always coming home thinking it was out of our reach.

Well, dreams and curiosity got the better of us and we initially started out looking for information on how to buy, what it entailed, what costs would be involved and then onto the management side of things and how to rent it out '' could we actually do this ??? With the tireless help and guidance from Lesley & Steve ' not to mention the millions of questions they answered, we knew we could do this ' putting it simply - they kept things real !!

In Dec 2002, we made the trip to go and buy our first villa ' so excited but so nervous about the whole prospect. We viewed 12 villas in all, all very nice ' but one just simply stood out to us and we knew it was our `Orlando Dream' we signed our contract there and then on the pool deck, paid our deposit and over the next few days with help from Lesley & Steve, we'd set up our US bank account and set up a mortgage with a 25% deposit. We flew home with our photos so proud we'd actually done it !!

I guess we were also lucky in the fact that we got handed over 18 weeks of bookings, although not at a great rate ' they were a head start that we hadn't thought we would get. On our arrival home we started setting up a website, getting a brochure together along with all the `paperwork' we would need to start getting our own bookings. We had chosen a Management Company who at the time we felt happy with and then eagerly awaited the closing date.

It was eventually ours ' our Orlando Dream Villa on Feb 21st 2003 ' a day that will be remembered for the rest of our lives.

Since this date, we have made many changes and have proudly enjoyed `making it ours'. Each visit as well as the usual `maintenance' and `touching up' we do, we usually find something new to add and are always looking for ways of improving and keeping our home up to date. We pay all our own bills, easily set up with your US bank account (an English version of Direct Debit) and even pay all our monthly taxes (Sales & Tourist) so easy to do once you know how and thus no need to rely on any Management Company to pay these on time on your behalf?

Our success '. Well to date (Aug 05) I guess we have been a success, our rentals for 2003 totalled 38 weeks, although 18 were passed onto us. 2004 we got 44 weeks booked, 2005 we have 46 weeks booked with 22 weeks already booked for 2006 and 2 weeks for 2007. ALL our rentals are from our own hard work and advertising, as we choose a small Management Company who would concentrate on looking after our home ' not get bookings. I would say yes our occupancy rates are good but to anyone looking into buying and think this is easily achieved would be wrong. We work very hard to the fact that it becomes a part time job, to a point I would say of obsessive at times, checking emails first thing in a morning and last thing at night ' with often many more in between. So if you are prepared for the `extra' work involved with renting out a villa ' then there is no reason why anyone cannot achieve the same bookings as we have. Our rental income has paid for all our running costs and bills including our mortgage to date, but the ultimate gain will come from our capital appreciation our home is gaining year after year ' after all ' Walt Disney World will always be 4 miles away!

Would we change anything or have done anything differently? Absolutely not! We love every minute of been Florida Homeowners and are now looking at buying our second villa this year ' of course with the help of our dear friends Lesley & Steve that is !

HERE'S OUR VILLA RENTAL WEBSITE
JOANNE AND TONY COOK, ROTHERHAM, S.YORKS, UK
Written August 6, 2005