Inspecting The Villa

You have survived a long journey and finally arrived at your vacation villa! All you want to do is unload your luggage, relax, and begin your vacation. But wait! There are some essential tasks that must be done before bringing one bag of luggage into the villa. You have to perform an inspection!

Many Villa rental agreements state that you must report any problems to the management company within 24 hours, otherwise, you become responsible for those problems. For example, suppose a window is broken and you didn't report it. The assumption will become that you broke that window and now you have to pay for it!

There are many things to look at, the most common are: broken floor tiles, broken blinds, broken refrigerator shelves, broken patio furniture, and carpet stains. While those are the most common, you have to do a thorough inspection.

When I do an inspection, I create a video record of the villa. I walk through the villa with camera in hand and document anything broken, scratched, dented, and in poor shape. While I record, my wife walks behind me and makes a list of all the problems we find.

When done, we email the list to the owner and/or management company. We identify
the items that we are reporting simply for awareness, and we highlight anything that we want repaired immediately. In one villa, we arrived and the villa cleaning hadn't been completed. We called the management company and they apologized and sent someone over immediately. We went to dinner and when we returned, the Villa was in top shape. In another villa, the fire extinguisher was empty. We couldn't tell where it had been used, regardless, this is important information for the owner to know.

Once your vacation is done and it is time to leave? You should perform one more inspection. Again, I use a video camera and go through the villa to make a recording of how we are leaving the rental. I don't want any confusion about any damage that my family might have done.

Performing these inspections and doing proper documentation is the only way to protect yourself and your security deposit.

To see an example of our most recent villa inspection, click here: https://youtu.be/Yr-xzaRTdnw

Sixteen Questions To Ask Before Renting A Villa

I recommend contacting a villa in three stages.

• Stage One - Initial contact to check on availability, rates, prices, etc.
• Stage Two - Follow-up with more questions that will help make your decision.
• Stage Three - Once you are fairly certain which villa you are interested in, talk to the owner on the phone to get any remaining questions answered. A phone conversation will allow you to pick up concerns about the owner that could be difficult to see in an email or an advertisement.

There are many questions to ask before renting a villa. If you have a baby, does the villa have a high chair, play pen, and is the house baby proof? How is the kitchen stocked? What games are in the game room? And more. You should look carefully at every picture and ask questions about anything uncertain. Pay attention to the floors, especially if they are carpeted. And realize the pictures are probably several years old, so, anything you see is probably more warn than showed.

Most Villa owners will not give you the address until after a commitment has been made, but you should be able to get a general idea on the area so you can use google maps to look at the neighborhood. Once you get the address, look it up on Zillow to make sure the information recorded matches what you have been told. Look on Zillow for any concerns about taxes being paid, foreclosure, or ownership. Do other searches on the internet and ask whatever questions concern you.

The following are the top sixteen questions I like to ask before I rent a villa before I sign the agreement:

1. What is the price? Are there discounts for long stays, seasonal discounts, or any flexibility in the price?

2. What is included in that price? You might find a charge for pool heat, which is important in winter, but not in the summer.

3. What are the additional costs? There could be additional optional costs for things such as using the grill or for not doing proper cleaning before leaving.

4. How do I get the key to the villa? Sometimes you need to go to an office and pick up the key. Usually, the key is in a lock box at the front door and you'll get the lock box combination shortly before your stay.

5. Who do I contact in the event of a problem? You should expect to find minor problems when you arrive, and that those problems will be quickly taken care of.

6. What are the pest control practices? Is it done by a professional company? How often? What if pests are detected during my stay? In one place I stayed, the management company did the pest control by ineffectively distributing poison and traps around the villa.

7. What forms of payment are accepted? Make sure you pay through a credit card so you an have recourse if there are problems.

8. What are the cancellation policies?

9. What is the layout of the villa? Sometime it is difficult to tell how the villa is laid out by only looking at the pictures. If you have children, you will want to understand how the bedrooms are distributed. Kitchen layout is often important. And if you plan to use the dinning room table to eat at? Many villas have the dinning room as part of the living room.

10. Free Internet? Does this include wifi?

11. What are the temperature limitations of the air conditioning and heating? Most of the Villa air conditioners are undersized and will struggle to maintain 75 degrees during the summer. In the Florida humidity, you may find 75 degrees is barely tolerable. If the Villa limits what you an set the air conditioning to, and you exceed that, the air conditioner can freeze up or become damaged and you will be charged for the repair. Make sure you understand the Villa's rules.

12. Does the Villa have a security system? Depending on the location of the villa, vacation villas can be great targets for break-ins. A security system could deter a thief and keep your possessions safe while you are out.

13. What is the policy for others to gain entry to the villa while we are renting it? Who else has keys? Often, the key for the villa is in a lock box outside the front door. If someone needs to do maintenance (perhaps the exterminator needs to spray) the maintenance company will provide them the lock box combination so they
can gain access to the house. If you are inside the house with the front door's bolt locked, that shouldn't be a problem. However, if you are gone for the day, the management company or others may come into the house. Very often, vacation villas are listed for sale or long term rentals and real estate agents will bring people through the villa on a tour when you aren't there. You want to make sure you understand the policies so you can protect your valuables.

14. How often is the pool cleaned?

15. What are the check-in and check-out times?

16. When will my security deposit be returned? For one villa we rented, it took 8 months.


There are many other questions you should consider depending on your particular situation. But I find this list to be the most useful and what I usually use.

Where is the best location for a villa?

If you are searching for an off priority condo, pool house, or villa near Disney? You are probably using a site such as VRBO or Home Away. A quick search will show thousands of choices located all over the region in towns you have probably never heard of. How can you tell what a good location is? I am going to give you advice based on my experience.

What I have provided is a map of the west side of Kissimmee, just past Celebration. You'll notice I4 is to the east, and Rt. 27 is to the west. Rt. 192 connects I4 to Rt 27. I have circled the area below Rt. 192. This is the area, in my opinion, you should be looking.

This area was built to be a vacation rental area, so, you aren't going to find someone who converted an old house and is trying to rent it out. The neighborhoods are filled with vacation rentals. If you stay east of Rt 429, you can be from driveway to walking into Animal Kingdom in about 15 minutes (a little longer if you are west of Rt. 429).

This area used to be a giant orange grove. Then, one day, a farmer who is very rich now, started a vacation home business. He would allow people, mostly in the UK, to build a vacation home by picking items out of a catalog. They would pick from standard home configurations, decide how they wanted it laid out, the pool, what kind of furniture, etc. Once the house was built, the construction company would fly the owners to the US to see their vacation home. That is the way thousands of these homes were built during the real estate boom of the 2000's. And they sit, waiting for you to come rent it.

This area has thousands of properties in countless configurations and prices. For the most part, they are all privately owned, and the owners pay a management company to look after the property. The owners may only have one property or several. The management company will look after dozens, if not hundreds of properties. Since the owners are usually out of state, or, out of country, the management company handles everything from check in to check out, cleaning, repairs, and maintenance. Not all the properties are good and not all the houses are in good shape, so, buyer be ware. Do a really good job following up and checking on the owner. My recommendation isn't a recommendation on the owners or conditions of the property, it is a recommendation on the location.

Rt. 192, or just north on Rt 27,  is filled with every store and restaurant you can imagine. Target, Walmart, Publix, Walgreens, and CVS to name a few. And I can't think of a restaurant chain that isn't here.

There you have it. Happy house hunting!

34 Days at Disney

Is thirty-four days at Disney during the heat of the summer too much? Heck no! We have spent the summer in Disney in 2011, 2013, 2014, and now this year, 2015. It is hot, but it is the only time when my kids aren't in school and we can go for a long stay.

I like the long stay because I like to explore what life would be like to live at Disney. What happens when you have to get up every morning and go to work? Pay bills? Get the groceries? Deal with the garbage and the exterminators and the pool guy and the repair man? I have spent a lot of time in this blog exploring this concept as I prepare for my move to Disney in a few years.We have come to realize that living at Disney does not mean non-stop princess and castles.

I would move to Florida tomorrow. Luckily, the rest of my family is a little more rational than I am. My daughter is finishing up college. My oldest son has two more years of high school. My youngest son will be entering the middle school in the fall. My wife has a job that she loves, works with people she likes, and has several close friends in our town. And my elderly parents live in an attached in-law house that I built for them twelve years ago.

We can't move to Disney right now, but at least we can spend the summers there. We explore the neighborhoods and towns surrounding the Disney area, talk with real-estate agents, and gain an understanding of a Disney life as a local.

My work is flexible and allows me to work from home. During the summer, home is Disney. My wife works at a school and has summers off. While my daughter and parents don't travel with us, my sons do - and they are off for the summer too.

A 34 day stay at Disney is expensive, but probably not as expensive as you might think. Besides, we have learned some tricks on how to make a long stay affordable.  I half considered not going to Florida this year, and instead socking the vacation money into our retirement account. I quickly changed my mind because kids are only young for a very short period of time. I want them growing up and remembering these fantastic family vacations to Disney.

We head back to Disney in six short weeks. The list of work we need to do to get ready is impressive. It is a marathon, for sure. So, tune back often to read about the 2015 Trip Reports!

The Secret Back Way Into Disney

Many people stay at Villas in Kissimmee near the West Gate Resort and around Formosa Gardens. I am often asked about the "secret" back way to Disney. It really isn't much of a secret. And I am asked so many times, I have decided to just write a post about it.

This back way can shave 15 minutes off your trip into the park as you bypass the busy highway. It is considered secret, or, hidden because it involves taking a non-descript dirt road.

The trick is to reach the corner of Formosa Gardens Blvd and Funie Steed Road. To the North West is the old Splendid China theme park, now abandoned. To the east is a dirt road. You want to take the dirt road (trust me).

You'll pass by the West Gate resort and come to an intersection. If you turn right at the intersection, you'll turn into the West Gate Resort entrance. Instead, turn left and head toward Rt. 192.

When you get to Rt.192 - go straight across onto Sherberth road. As you drive up Sherberth, you'll see the casting buildings on the right and Disney employee apartments on the left. You'll go around a big curve and arrive at a new intersection.

Take a left at this intersection and you'll go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Instead, take a right onto Osceola Parkway and it'll take you to the parks. Animal Kingdom is just moments away. Hollywood Studios is just a little further beyond. And access to everything else is moments away.

UPDATE: Watch a 2.5 minute dashcam movie that shows how to go from Davenport to the Magic Kingdom using the secret back way: https://youtu.be/i1eadgd-kII

Now that you know the secret? Don't tell anyone you heard about it from me!  :-)

Planning The Drive Home

Leaving Florida is often difficult so we like to plan some adventures to look forward to during the drive home. The vacation doesn't end when we leave Florida. Instead, the second part of the vacation is just getting started!

We are fans of the Duck Dynasty shows (even though we haven't watched very many episodes since Season 3) so we decided to visit West Monroe Louisiana on our way home. What I didn't realize is that relatively speaking, West Monroe Lousiana is almost in Texas! That is a long ways out of our way. In fact, we are expecting it to take 14 hours to drive from Orlando!

We have our journey mapped out along with several hotel candidates. We have also planned out our day in West Montoe so that we can visit many of the businesses we have seen in the show.

When we leave West Montoe, we will be headed to Chaptet 3 of our vacation: Gettysburg. After arriving at our favorite Days Inn in Gettysburg, we'll enjoy dinner at Tomy's Pizza and then do a ghost tour. The next morning, I will get up early and walk Pickett's charge. Afterwards, we'll head home.

The journey home should be a lot of fun and one thing to look forward to.

Summer 2015 Villa Reserved!

This year's villa selection was more difficult than previous trips. The Villa we planned to use in Indian Creek was booked. Worse, all the Villas in Indian Creek that we would want were booked too!

We had to search the broader area. We looked throughout Kissimmee, Four Corners, and Davenport area. We went as far out at Sandy Ridge looking at Villas.

We looked at a hundred villas through online services, and carefully examined a thousand pictures. We scrutinized every detail, scoring the villas based on things important to us.

We then took the highest scoring villas and emailed the owners to confirm pricing and availability. That narrowed the field of choices.

We then called the remaining four villa owners to talk about their Villas: how is the pest control done, tell us about the management company, how are deposit arranged, and any other questions we had.

We printed off details about the two remaining villas, laid out the information on the dinning room table, and made a pro and con list.

Last summer I was thrilled to find a four bedroom pool house villa for five weeks for around $97 per night. This year we found a five bedroom pool house in Four Corners for five weeks for $108 per night.

I am disappointed about the price increase. However, the price increase is my fault because I waited too long before looking for a villa. This year's villa is larger than last year's, but is perhaps ten minutes further away from Disney.

It is very exciting to be able to cross this important task off our list!