Years of fun-packed holidays are what attracts most Brits to owning a Disney vacation home. Just ask this British couple, who couldn’t be happier after recently bagging their own house in central Florida…

Veterans of Orlando and its theme parks, last September David and Susan Moffew got the keys to their very own Disney home thirty years after their first holiday there.

The couple, who live in Bury St Edmunds, have bought in the popular Kissimmee area, less than 10 minutes’ drive from Disney World. With three adult sons and two grandchildren, their five-bedroom detached property is ideal for family holidays, while longer term they are looking forward to three-month stints there once David retires, likely to be at the end of 2019. In the meantime, the property is available for holiday rentals throughout the year.

It was back in April 2018 that the Moffews made the decision to buy in Florida and begin contacting estate agents – or realtors – there. They decided to go with The Orlando Agency, who helped them lay the groundwork for a viewing trip, which included setting them up with a mortgage broker and getting an agreement in principle.

“Then in July we headed to Florida to look at properties we’d selected with the help of our realtor Garry Walmsley,” said David, who works in IT project management. “To benefit from rentals, we wanted to be in a short-term rental zone within 15-20 minutes of the theme parks and close to Route 192 with all its amenities. At the same time, we didn’t want to be completely overlooked and feel surrounded by other properties. Sure enough, Garry found us the right property and by the end of our week, he’d helped us negotiate and agree a purchase price of $333,000 with the British vendors.”

Before flying home, the couple’s realtor helped put in place everything necessary for a successful purchase. This included introducing them to an accountant and rental agency, opening a bank account, and progressing their mortgage application and US tax paperwork. By September they were able to ‘close’, or complete,  the deal successfully. They paid a $133,000 deposit to secure their mortgage, which has a 30-year term and comes with a rate of 5.6 per cent fixed for the first five years. No income verification or reserve funds were required to get the mortgage.

“Buying in the USA is different to in the UK, so I’d strongly recommend having someone like Garry advising you throughout the process,” continued David. “We went out as new homeowners for the first time at the end of October, when we spent three weeks getting the property ready for rentals. We’re using a rental agency called Vacasa to handle everything. They had bookings secured from November through till January in no time, and anticipate occupancy levels of 60-65 per cent throughout the year. This should cover our mortgage and running costs.”

Only five years old, the Moffews’ villa-style home is in excellent condition, has its own pool with BBQ and covered lanai area, and came fully furnished. On a small ungated community of mixed residential and vacation owners, it looks onto natural, swampland at the back, giving them that sense of privacy they wanted.

The Orlando Agency will be at the Your Overseas Home show in Chester in June. For more information about visiting, click here.