Part 1 – We can’t meet your standards!<\/p>\n
\u2022 You\u2019re looking for absolute top-end<\/strong> luxury. In truth, there are far nicer (and much more expensive) vacation homes to stay in nearby. Our homes are targeted at those who want a better than average experience at a price that keeps them a good value.<\/p>\n \u2022 You want to stay in a nice, clean cookie-cutter \u2018Stepford Wives\u2019<\/em> kind of neighbourhood. Our neighbourhood is a conservation<\/strong> (half the area is left in its natural state) subdivision<\/strong> run by an HOA that appreciates diversity. The houses are not all the same boring cooking-cutter selection of five plans painted in one of only three colours with grass and one allowed palm tree out front. There are no cute playgrounds, no club-houses, community pools or weight rooms, no sidewalks on every street, and every square inch is not paved or landscaped over. It has a unique natural beauty some may not appreciate.<\/p>\n \u2022 You need neighborhood security gates<\/strong> and ill-equipped and badly trained \u2018guards\u2019 (slowing you down, invading your privacy, and recording your coming and going for no good reason at all) just to make you feel safe. We don’t have those things, but our neighborhood is actually safer than those that do<\/strong><\/em>, because we have lots of residents who live here and care about the area and each other. And those annoying gates won’t slow down emergency services if you need them. Our location is a bit off the beaten path and just outside the tourist area, and safer as a result.<\/p>\n \u2022 You demand a completely urban environment where you are highly unlikely to run into wild animals and birds<\/strong>. There is always a chance of this in a conservation area like Thousand Oaks, including extremely rare encounters with alligators (never seen one ourselves) and dangerous snakes. You may wake up to find sandhill cranes on the front lawn, or see an armadillo or snapping turtle on the street, or bald eagle in flight. You could even possibly see a black bear or bobcat! You may have to wait in your car for a few minutes while a mother bird leads her brood across the street. Around here we call that a traffic jam.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 You want to go walking and exploring interesting shops and restaurants, or relying on local transportation to do the same. At our properties (like all legal vacation rentals properties in the Orlando area) a car is required to get around<\/strong> and obtain even the most basic services.<\/p>\n \u2022 You want a huge vacation rental home to stay in. Our homes are typically smaller, without a lot of wasted space built just for show. They\u2019re not the biggest, most grand homes out there\u2026 not by a long shot. They are cozy and they are comfortable. As my wife likes to say \u201cDon\u2019t think of our Vacation Rental as a small house, but rather as a gigantic amazing hotel suite<\/strong>.\u201d In that sense, they\u2019re perfect, but don\u2019t assume they\u2019re equal to what you have at home. Neither is a hotel room.<\/p>\n