So it was in April, 2004 that we met Dominique from Dolby properties in Florida in order to pursue our ambition of purchasing a holiday villa. We chose Dolby Properties, and more particularly Dominique, as we were more comfortable dealing with an English Realtor who could communicate with us at our own 'English' pace. We quickly negotiated a deal on a 6 bed property in Kissimmee that backs on to lovely conservation woodland.

On our return at Christmas 2004, we became interested in the Reunion Golf Resort and we managed to purchase a piece of land overlooking the signature golf courses that they are building there. This was more for investment potential as this exclusive resort has been seeing higher than normal inflation rates when compared to the average villa prices in the area and will continue to do so as the resort matures.

During the past 15 months, we have seen our first villa appreciate by approximately 35%p.a. and the Reunion lot has appreciated spectacularly by over 30% in less than 6 months! The villa we have managed to let out easily for about 30 weeks per year and we would anticipate that rate rising this year as we now have ironed out some of the 'wrinkles'. The villa letting has been so successful that we have recently completed on another 5 bed villa which we are starting to let out on a similar basis. As with the first villa, we would hope to cover most of our costs, including the mortgage, by letting out to holiday visitors from both North America and the U.K.

It must be said that to succeed in the Florida market, it's not a case of buying anything and sitting back to watch it happen. A certain amount of work is needed initially to start to bring in your own bookings and choose the right villa that will attract visitors. Allied with this of course, it is important to deal with a Realtor who is looking for the right sort of property to suit you and not a 'cog in a wheel' of a large company that is just looking for sales at any cost. The property investment is also a medium to long term return that does not give immediate return, but does provide a consistent return in this heavily tourist trafficked area.

On our next trips to Florida, we are hoping to explore the viability of building a new home on our lot at Reunion in the not too distant future - mind you, we had better not spend too long looking at property this time otherwise the children will riot!

Tim Fleming.
September 2005
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