Orlando Vacation Rentals – Why are prices so low?

The Orlando Vacation Rental Market is highly competitive, and prices have been stagnant for well over a decade. In fact, prices have not changed much since we first stayed in a vacation rental in Orlando back in 2003! When compared to just about everywhere else in the U.S. and around the world, vacation rental rates in Orlando are surprisingly low. Here’s why.

It is surprising for many to hear this, but vacation rental prices in the Orlando area are artificially depressed. One can rent a very nice Vacation Rental in the Orlando area for far below the actual cost of providing it.

To combat this, many Orlando vacation rentals are offered for ‘artificial prices’ which are not really what the guest ends up paying. (Lots of extra strange charges are tacked on that sometimes equal more than 50% of the bill!) Or they are sold without explaining in full why and how the guest will be receiving less than they should, or are expecting. Or the properties are offered by owners not concerned with hospitality, but in simply minimizing the losses they are experiencing with their Florida homes… homes which were bought with the expectation of making money but turned out to be a huge financial drain once the real costs are added up.

The truth is that the majority of Orlando area vacation rentals are being run into the ground, and at a loss, simply because it is the ‘going rate’ and their owners don’t know any better. Likewise, neither do the guests, until they visit once or twice and have a bad experience due to shopping based on price too much.

Savy travellers have figured out how to tell the difference between an owner who loves providing hospitality and a great guest experience, and one who is simply trying to hang on and minimize their losses. Savy travellers won’t take a chance on paying too little, because they understand that in doing so, they are putting their entire vacation at risk, and their own family vacation time and quality of experience are too important to them to take a chance on a low ball price.

Our guests book with us and relax immediately, because they know they will be getting the ‘real deal’ when they arrive, with a smart, committed owner with quality properties and support staff, dedicated to providing them with a great vacation rental experience.

Do our homes cost more than some others? Sure, but we charge what we do for them because that is what it costs to operate them. Guests who stay with us, ‘stay like an owner’ because they pay the same costs that we do to enjoy our Florida home.

By comparison, similar accommodation is available from Disney just 15 minutes away, for $2500 – $3000. Per NIGHT! That is not an exageration. A two or three bedroom villa, without a private pool, or parking at the door, goes for that much on Disney property, just 15 minutes away. And lots of people book them!

We provide a far superior value to that, and our guests understand and appreciate that. They don’t expect us to compete with:

• Properties run by amateur owners trying to cut a few bucks off the cost of their failed Florida dream.
• Or managers who rent out homes in their portfolio without telling the owners or ever even paying the owners anything for the use of the home!
• Or those running bait and switch operations, where the home one receives is nothing like the one advertised.
• Or others who accept low-priced bookings and then immediately go to work to get another booking for the same home and same dates, at a higher rate, only to cancel the booking on the first party due to a ‘maintenance issue’.
  Once the second booking is received, these unscrupulous owners repeat the process as many times as possible before the dates actually arrive.
• Some guests fall victim to those properties offered at rates intended to simply dupe people into booking  a great deal, only to discover too late that they’ve been scammed because no such property exists!

All of these things go on constantly in the Orlando vacation rental market, and drive prices below the cost of operating. Inexperienced owners, even well-intentioned legitimate ones, don’t understand what goes on, look at their so-called competition and set their own rates to try to compete. Many guests are only too happy to take advantage of the situation, not realizing that by doing so they are putting their own vacation at risk.

It is surprising how many guests don’t understand what is happening and expect us to join in and compete with these artificially depressed prices.

“Look at your competitor,” they’ll say. “they’re offering a perfectly fine house at a much lower price, and it’s not a bad property or a scam!” While this is true, it’s also likely that the owner doesn’t have thirty years of cumulative experience running Orlando Vacation Rentals like we do. Chances are also very good that they’re not an experienced business person who knows how to properly understand their actual, long-term costs. By staying with an owner like that, you’re just helping them run their property into the ground, and driving them away from Florida vacation home ownership. The long-term true costs of ownership may be hidden, but they always eventually catch up with everyone.

There are lots of reasons why vacation rental rates in Orlando are artificially depressed. Both savvy owners and travellers alike have figured out how to avoid the resulting chaos, and they eventually find each other. For us, that means that even with our sustainable rates, our properties are booked out as much as 88% of all nights in a year – 25% more than the average.

Our calendars aren’t filled up with low-rate bookings months in advance. Instead we get advance reservations from smart travellers, and repeat guests who have stayed with us as much as SIX times previously because they know we do things right! Any remaining gaps get filled by guests who want quality, or when we ‘rescue’ travellers who have been burnt by others at the last minute. All of this means that by the end of the year, we’ve been booked more nights than any of our low-rate competition, but you wouldn’t expect it by looking ahead at our booking calendars.

It’s funny how some people will take pity on us and think they’re doing us a favour by asking us to rent our properties at a steep discount! So that we don’t lose money!

Running our properties professionally and efficiently leaves us enough resources to re-invest and improve our properties and keep them up to date. This ensures that as our guest, you will receive good value for your money! That is always one of our top priorities!