March 2018 Update

Well it's been a busy 6 months.  Since Hurricane Irma left town we've been working at getting all the resulting repairs completed. We now have a new roof, new garage door, some screens around the pool were replaced and some minor interior repairs are still ongoing, but luckily no disruption to vacations has occurred!

We took a week this month to head to Florida for a quick trip. As usual we did some refreshing and updating, here's a little overview!

Master bathroom said good-bye to the wallpaper border and the paint got at refresh!

 In addition to the new refrigerator added in the summer, a new microwave joined the team this trip. We also added a new knife block and toaster.

 A new area rug for relaxing in the great room with your family and friends.

 We said good-bye to one of our old umbrella strollers and said hello to this cutie!

 Visiting the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot is one of our favourite things to do. So in keeping with our theme (Mickey's Garden Villa of course), we added this beautiful poster.

As a firm believer in the little touches, we thought positive affirmations for our guests were in order.

Lots of other little things were accomplished as well: new sheets, paint touch ups, and other routine maintenance.  We hope that people continue to visit and enjoy! We look forward to welcoming returning guests and getting to know new ones.

News from Mickey's Garden Villa-Updates, Updates, Updates!

The month of October brought another trip for our family to the sunny state of Florida.  Prior to our arrival plans for upgrades and improvements to the house were already in progress.  We are always looking for ways to improve things for our guests. I truly enjoy looking for the little things that add that special something to the house.

For quite awhile we've been planning on replacing the carpets in the bedrooms of the house.  It is now done! Brand new carpeting in all the bedrooms and upstairs hallway.  We hope that everyone enjoys it as much as we did.  Along with the carpets we also got some paint touch ups completed to freshen up the house.

Another big item was removing the vertical blinds in the living room.  They did their job but it was time for them to retire. In their place we have put in drapes that not only provide privacy but we think they look nice too!

One of our fun additions is pictured below:

No Harry Potter themed bedroom would be complete without some trunks. Where else would our visiting witch and wizards like to put their things while on vacation.

Here's the list of things we accomplished for our guests on our last visit:

• Main floor Queen bedroom: new TV, new bedding, new blinds
• New carpeting in all bedrooms, upstairs hallway and stairs
• Paint touch ups throughout the house
• New drapes in the living room
• King master bedroom: new lamps, robe hooks in en suite
• Some new Disney touches in the dining room
• Queen Master bedroom: new TV, new shower curtain and rod in en suite
• Bunk Bed room: new ceiling fan, TV stand and blinds
• New nightstand in Harry Potter room
• Towel/swimsuit hooks in lanai/pool bathroom
• Alice in Wonderland room: new Alice pillow cases
• Motion/temperature sensor in upstairs hallway

Well that's it for now, we hope that all of our guests enjoy our ongoing updates. We only have 3 weeks left available in 2015 and we are looking forward to welcoming more guests in 2016. If you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you.

New at Mickey's Garden Villa-June 2015

We just spent a whirlwind 4 night stay at the house last week.  It was a lot of fun as we surprised the kids with the trip, and that made it even more enjoyable.  Even though we weren't there for very long we managed to fit in some additions to the property.

Some items may not be that glamorous, but they are essential!

• 4 New lounge chairs by the pool. They are very comfortable and they have several positions, even flat.

• Deck box for all those pool toys 
• New washing machine (the dryer will follow next month).
• New hallway light leading to the Queen master bedroom.

• The less exciting work done was changing smoke detector batteries, and pressure washing the pool deck and some minor paint touch ups. 
• We also got some new pictures of the pool and some other rooms.  We'll get these up on the website soon.

Regular visit items also included doing an inventory of our linens and putting out new ones as needed. For such a short stay we managed to accomplish quite a bit. We hope that all our guests will enjoy the new additions! 

Ongoing Updates at Mickey's Garden Villa

As owners we strive to continually improve our property for our guest's enjoyment. This December we continued our commitment and guests will find the following changes at Mickey's Garden Villa:

1. Queen Master Bedroom: new bedding, linens, ceiling fan and window coverings.
2. Queen Guest Room: new African decor, new blackout drapes, new mattress set
3. King Master Bedroom: New faucets in the en-suite
4. Alice in Wonderland bedroom:  New comforters
5. Harry Potter Bedroom: New picture frames, curtain rod and Hogwarts crest
6. Bunk Bedroom:  our movie themeing continues with the addition of a DVD player, movie camera lamp, popcorn pillow and 2 more movie posters (Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars, episodes 4, 5, 6). We also replaced linens in this room as well.
7. Kitchen: we replaced all the pots and pans, added some miscellaneous utensils and added a double Belgium waffle iron.
8. Living area: new table and floor lamps.
9. Outside:  a security camera was installed, some minor paint touch ups, new closures on the screen doors and in October we had the pool heater replaced.
10. Luggage stands in 3 bedrooms.

The Windsor Palms Clubhouse has also undergone some improvements as well.  The gamesroom has gotten new games, carpet and paint.  The Cinema has also been refreshed.

We welcome all questions and comments. Thanks

5 Things You Should Know when Renting a Vacation Home

So after all the drama of actually purchasing our vacation home we've settled into the routine of answering inquiries, general questions and sending out rental contracts.  We've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't.  I think that from all of my pre-purchase preparation and on the job training I've learned that being a responsive owner is important and that it is important to market the house you actually have.  When we first bought the house we had guests staying in the home the day after we closed for 3 weeks solid.  These bookings had been transferred from the previous owners.  The house that they saw online was not the house that they arrived at. It needed some TLC and unfortunately were unable to remedy the situation until there was a break in bookings and then once we could actually go to the house ourselves.
After a lot of elbow grease and some important purchases we can now be proud of the home we are offering people for their vacations.  After having a good number of guests through the home and based on my obsessive research into what people liked about their vacations and what they didn't, I've got 5 things that are important for people looking to rent a home for their vacation.

1. Ask questions when inquiring about the home you are thinking of renting.  No question is silly.  Most owners will be happy to answer questions about the property or the area where it's located.
2. Please make sure you have adequate travel insurance and check to see if you are covered under you home owners insurance for any lost or stolen personal possessions.
3. When you arrive at the property or during your stay, if you notice a problem let the owner or the property manager know. For example if you think the pool isn't working right tell someone, It's easier to fix it early on, we had the pool go green when someone thought they'd wait a couple of days before telling us and then it took twice as long to fix the problem.
4. If something breaks let the owners or property managers know, accidents happen.
5. Think about what your family/party needs or wants.  Do you plan to spend all your time at the parks?, are you going to stay at the property for some down time? Do you want to have a pool to lounge around? Keep all those things in mind and pick the property that suits you best!

The most important thing to remember is to have fun!

What's New at Windsor Palms?

It has been way to long since I put up a new post and thought it was about time, so here I am.  Things are moving along well down in the land of sunshine.  Since my last update we've made a few more improvements.  We have replace the child safety fence by the pool,  the blinds going out to the pool and purchased some additional pool cues for family fun.  Not big changes but every little bit helps.
Some big changes have arrived at Windsor Palms thought.  Just this month the new Tiki Bar has opened by the pool at the clubhouse.  The sundry shop has also been enlarged and totally renovated, it looks amazing. 

 

The sundry shop has basic food items, souvenir items and even popcorn for the movies.  Right now the Tiki Bar is serving food and non-alcoholic beverages. The liquor license should be in place anytime now. Check out the menu below, pretty reasonable and some nice options for a nice snack or meal by the pool. 

 

 

 

I think that this is a great addition to the community and we can't wait to check it out on our next visit!  What do you think, is this a good addition to the resort? Would you take advantage of it if you were vacationing? Thanks for stopping by. 



What do you mean the kids go back to School next week!

I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by.  The last post I wrote I told you all about how busy we were during our 2 weeks in Florida.  What I don't want to do is leave the impression that our visit was all work and no play!  We did manage to squeeze in some fun. So without a big into a summary of our FUN!

Well I will say that Windsor Palms itself provided tons of fun for the family.  The kids wanted to try out everything. They didn't manage to do that but they did do a lot.  The resort pool was a big attraction. I would have thought with their own pool at home they wouldn't be that interested, but I was wrong.  For Sarah the big draw was other girls. She managed to make a new friend every time we went up there. Both kids had to check out the hot tub, they thought it was to hot, I thought it was amazing! 

Since we knew this would be a working vacation we let the kids have a little fun we might not have done otherwise.  We let them go a little crazy with the arcade games.  Christian had tons of fun racing cars and Sarah found every game that gave a prize, and she wasn't shy if the machine didn't cough up what she was owed. Off she'd run to the concierge to get what was due to her.  There was also ping pong and pool tables but we didn't get to that. 

The next big adventure was booking a movie in the theatre.  The kids poured over the selections and settled on Bolt, the regular version, not the 3D version. Neither of our kids are wild about 3D movies for some reason.  The told the concierge and he put it into the computer for the next day and later that night we looked on the TV at the community channel and there was their movie on the screen! They thought this was great.  So the next morning we headed up and they went to their movie and I headed to the gym.  I managed to squeeze in that one workout.  Not my normal routine but better than nothing at all.

We wanted to try our hands at tennis or basket ball or volley ball but time did not permit.  We saw lots of other people enjoying the amenities though and that is great to see.

I told you about our trip to LEGOLAND so I won't bore you with another recap of that adventure. We also went to Mini golf, the exact name of the one we actually went to is escaping me right now as it wasn't the one we were planning to go to.  The good thing that came out of that miss direction was that they had some baby Alligators and for a mere $3 the kids got to feed them, which was a big hit.

My cousin and his family came to stay for the last few days and it was a great distraction for the kids.  They'd never met these cousins as they live far away so it was fun for them.  And it was great that they weren't complaining about how bored they were.  We had planned to hit Disney, Magic Kingdom to be specific during our second week but we were so busy we didn't think we'd be able to do it. So as a surprise for the kids we extended our trip by a day and booked a night at the Caribbean Beach Resort. 

So we got our tickets (park hopper passes for the first time) and headed to Epcot, met up with Mickey, hung out with Figment (Sarah's favourite) and went to school with Nemo.  We then checked into our hotel, cleaned up, left the car and headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  Toby and I were so tired I think we fell asleep waiting for the bus and on the bus (to and from the parks, we were good if we were moving).  We first headed to New Fantasyland and I must say it is impressive.  We got our fast passes for Under the Sea with Ariel, which was a great ride. The animatronics are pretty impressive.  The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is an immense presence and I can't wait to see it finished. Another first was seeing the Electric Parade at Walt Disney World and seeing Wishes fireworks!  It was an action packed and very long day. 

In the morning we had some breakfast and then let the kids burn of some steam at the pool before the very long drive home.  In addition to all the above fun we also got to meet our Property Managers, John and Elizabeth and our Realtor Shaun. After talking and emailing Shaun for over a year and a half it was great to finally meet!

In the end the kids told us it wasn't the 3rd worst vacation ever, it had moved down and was now the 6th or 7th worst. Next time can only be more fun! Thanks for stopping by. I hope to update the blog with upcoming events in the area and any changes to the property.  Enjoy your long weekend!

A Visit to Legoland

I haven't posted in what feels like a long time.  We've made our way to Florida and we're hanging out at the house. We are exploring Windsor Palms so we can share with everyone everything the resort has to offer. I was talking to one of the guards at the gatehouse and he was telling me that it's rained here every day for over a month.  I checked the weather network and today it was not supposed to rain so we decided to check out LEGOLAND.

Our 7 year old is crazy about Lego, and I mean crazy. If he could he would play with Lego all the time and would own every Lego set ever made, especially Star Wars. Luckily our 10 year old daughter also likes Lego, she though is more of a collector. She has a lot of sets but her prised possession is her Lego Harry Potter sets, she has built them all and has them on display-not much playing happens with them. 

So this trip is our first since LEGOLAND opened.  We have seen coupons in the Lego Club magazine in the past for a free kids admission with an adult admission, but since the LEGOLAND discovery centre in Vaughn opened  I haven't seen any.  My brother in law sent some to us on his last trip down in the mail, but they seem to have vanished so this morning we set out on a mission to find some on our own. You can find on line savings but not as good as the one I mentioned above. We stopped at a tourist centre on the way and they also have discounts that allow you to visit a second time within the 7 days following your visit but we knew we wouldn't be able to take advantage of that. The employees at the tourist office said that they had heard of some coupons on Pepsi bottles and at McDonalds. So off we went to find a McDonalds.  Our second stop was the McDonalds within a mile of LEGOLAND itself and we got the coupons and not only did we get the buy an Adult admission get a child's admission free but it also included entrance to the water park which we wanted to do! We had some extras which we will leave at the house for others to take advantage of.

The park itself was not overly crowded, I'm not sure if that's because it's a weekday or because it's been raining so much.  We weren't about to complain though, the only ride we waited more than 10 minutes for was the dragon roller coaster. It did manage to rain a couple of times but that was okay as we were already soaking wet.  The new Legends of Chima area was fun, a splash pad and a boat ride that sees you spraying others with water and getting wet yourself. The signs say you MAY get soaked, it should have said you WILL get soaked.  We didn't dry off until we after we made our way to the water park and intentionally got wet.  The ride was fun, but I would save it until right before I went to the water park or right before I was going to leave. 

LEGOLAND is definitely geared toward the 2-12 crowd with a few bigger rides to keep the older kids and adults interested.  Our kids definitely had fun and with the water park it was a full day. I think you could make  it a full day without the water park (especially in the months the water park is closed) if you took in some of the shows which we did not get to see. The water park is not big but it was a great way to cool off and what is there is great. A good wave pool and the joker soaker had lots for the younger kids and adults alike to do.   Overall we had a great time, I would only have a few comments about things to be aware of. If you've been to Disney World, this is not Disney. Often the rides loaded slowly even when the line was short and staff didn't always seem to know what they were doing. Every time it rained everything shut down, even if there was no visible lightning.  Food pricing was reasonable for a theme park, still too much for what it is though and I would recommend avoiding the fried chicken. 


There is lots of Lego merchandise (LOTS)and they do NOT accept the Lego VIP card, which is not great if you collect points or have points to redeem. The kids had their own money to spend but we told them to wait until we went to the Downtown Disney Lego Store to buy anything big because they have points saved that they can redeem. It's a good thing to be aware of.

We enjoyed our day and the kids came home tired and happy.  I would recommend it to anyone with a Lego lover in the 2-12 age range.  But keep your eyes out for coupons or specials, even with our 2 for 1 coupons it was still $200 for admission.  If you have been to LEGOLAND and have any other advise for people leave a comment and if you want to go to LEGOLAND and have a question, ask and I'll do my best to answer.  Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I'll have some more posts during this visit.  Next up are home reno updates and a stop by Magic Kingdom and New Fantasyland.

From the Longest Short Sale, to the Quickest close!

Things have finally settled down after a very crazy week.  Our involvement in a very long short sale left us disappointed and drained, but we bounced back and found an even better home!  Our closing actually happened this time. The house is still located in the amazing Windsor Palms Resort, it is 1.5 storeys, with an amazing open concept design, soaring ceilings and lots of room for everyone to spread out.  Outside we still have a large private pool with waterfall spa, and lots of space to relax!

The closing was a whirlwind experience. I don't know if we could have done it if we hadn't been prepared to close on the other house.  What was different about this closing though was that we had existing rental bookings that would carry over with the house sale. We ended up closing on Thursday, to give us a bit more time to prepare for guests arriving on Saturday.  Everything fell into place before guests arrive and by the end of the weekend we had most of our advertising in place.

With guests arriving each Saturday for the rest of the month, I've been fielding calls and emails all week.  Today we made our first booking through Home Away.  Now we have a booking for July as well.  I have to admit I was/am concerned about being able to get people into the house, when we took possession during peak season.  Getting the reservation today and having our listing live on VRBO and Dwellable, is easing my fears.

I have to admit that I am getting excited about our trip in July. I am a big kid at heart and can't wait to go to Disney and check out New Fantasyland!  There are so many things I would like to do at Disney World, but I don't know if we will be able to do it all this trip.  Our just turned 7 year old son is a Lego fanatic and LEGOLAND is a must this trip.  We will be arriving not long after the opening of the new Lego World of Chima area, this is fitting as we just had a Lego Chima birthday party for him.

Our "to do" list is still long and we have lots to do before we leave to head south. For the moment though I'm going to work on getting more sleep than I have been.  Have a great week everyone!

Decisions, Decisions

I think that the hardest part of letting go of the house was wondering what I would do with all my social media links that I had developed. This blog, Pintrest, Twitter, Facebook.  I have come to enjoy my routine of updating, sharing and adding information for vacation seekers or just friends.  Since we're not done with this whole house hunting thing I realised that this is just the next chapter and I can still do what I was doing, but I'll need to make a few adjustments. So I've removed most of my pictures of the house and left behind all things Florida and some pics of Windsor Palms Resort.

This leads me to our next step. We've still got some momentum and have turned our sights on a few other properties. Here is the decision part of my post. We are looking at an almost identical 4 bedroom home, a five bedroom and a 6 bedroom.  Now you might be thinking WOW, 6 bedrooms. But in our minds it's just a 5 bedroom with a den and the ability to sleep a greater number of people.

We've always thought the great thing about a vacation home is that you can easily accommodate a larger family, multiple families or your extended family.  I love Disney and Universal but if you need to stay in more than one room for your trip it starts getting expensive.  I have spent lots of time reading peoples comments on other vacation homes, trying to pinpoint what the best features are and what they would change if any.  I think a lot of it comes down to having a nice, updated, clean well marketed home. I could be wrong though!

I've attached the plans for the 5 and 6 bedroom houses for you to check out. I would love to have feedback from anyone who has an opinion.  Our one thought on the 6 bedroom is to use the bedroom on the main floor with no en suite as a den. It could have a sofa bed for extra guests but also double as another TV area and a place for a computer.  So let me know what you think.

 

 

 

5 Bedroom

 

 

 

 

6 Bedroom

 

 

 

As always, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your support!



 

 

 

May 22nd Sounds Like a Good Day to Close on a House

So the 2-3 days it would take to get written approval turned into 12 days.  Our Realtor received a copy of the written approval from the second bank this past Tuesday. We only heard about it last night! I think our Realtor was more excited than we were.  We are excited, it is just that it's taken so long that it's almost surreal.  So, you might be wondering why we only got the news last night that we finally had approval.  Before giving us the news, our Realtor wanted to see the approval letter from the first bank. So with both letters in hand we got our good news!

So many things were running through our heads. First we had to pick a closing date, we have family coming to visit later in the month and we didn't want to miss their visit entirely. We have to close before June 7th.  So after some discussion we settled on May 22nd. It gives us about 2 weeks to get everything in order to close.  I am scheduled to work on the long weekend and I may need to do some scrambling to get all my work in order in time to leave, I'm not worried though.

Today, I had to get the inspection of the house organised.  First though I had to check with the Insurance company to see if it would be advantageous to us to have a wind mitigation inspection. The answer was a big no, so we won't waste our money on that one.  I gave a call to the inspector we had decided on previously. Unfortunately he is going on vacation today, until next Saturday and we need the inspection done in 7 days. So onto our second choice! All is now settled, money paid, info for the Realtor provided so the inspector can gain access to the house on Monday. We'll have our inspection report by Monday evening.  When we have that report and we make sure we're okay with any potential issues, then we can celebrate! It will be official then.

We are so ready for this to happen. So as of today our closing date is May 22 and then we will be open for business. We now have to update our web page, Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and Google+. We are excited to be close to welcoming our first guests. Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for following our journey so far. 

It's All in the Details

In the days since we got our good news we've been busy making sure we have everything we need to jump right in and start renting out the house. Of course we need our written acceptance letter and a closing date, but we don't want to be scrambling once it happens.  We have gotten some of the details ironed out. Inspectors reviewed again and now decided on, insurance company contacted for an updated quote and forms in the works. 

One of the fun things we accomplished this weekend was making Mickey's Garden Villa, it's own logo! It will make an appearance soon!  Our friendly Mickey Gnome is going to be appearing with  a slightly different look.

Aside from the details, I would have to say that excitement is building as we near the conclusion of this part of the journey.  The kids are contemplating what they want to do when we go to Florida, which room they want to sleep in, what movie they can watch at the resort theatre  and what they are going to buy when they are there.  It's quite funny to listen to them.  I have to admit I'm feeling a little bit excited too, but I don't want to say it to loud at the risk of jinxing our anticipated closing. 

I look forward to posting more updates this week! I am hoping that things will go smoothly and that there are no more road blocks from the bank. 

Good News at Last!

Finally, after 13 months of waiting we closer than ever to an end to this part of our journey! For the first time we have a (verbal) acceptance from the bank!  I am shouting woo hoo, you just can't hear me, but my husband did when I called him at work with the news.  

We just need to be a little more patient (believe it or not) while we wait for the bank to complete a quality review followed by receipt of an acceptance letter. All this should happen in the next 4 to 5 days...I am not holding my breath just yet since this whole process has been full of bumps and twists.

At this point I had myself believing that the bank was going to come back with another increase in price. I didn't know what to believe. Now we've got to get it together and arrange an inspection and some minor banking issues and we should be good to go....hopefully.

I look forward to writing more frequent posts on this crazy process.  If anyone is looking to buy a house that is a short sale and you have questions don't hesitate. Although if you've been following our journey you might think twice. But we've seen some short sales that have moved quickly so it is possible to have a faster outcome than we've had.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

So You Thought We'd End Up with more than One House, eh?

Several people expressed some concern that we were going to end up with multiple houses. No worries, we fully expected the sellers to counter offer on both houses and at that point we could walk away if we wanted.  If either offer had been accepted we could still walk away on inspection.  With a short sale offer in limbo with the banks for over a year what did we have to lose?

In the end, we had 1  offer pending and 2 on the table.  As of this evening we have 1  (still) pending offer and that is it.  Offer number one from Friday was a big NO from the outset. The sellers need their asking price or they would be forced to apply for a short sale.  As for the second offer, we have not heard back from them (as of this moment, 7:34pm) and response was required by today. Not a big deal really as we didn't like the second house as much as the one we've been waiting for all this time.

So where do we go from here?  Well, we wait some more. Speculation is that we will hear back from the bank this week. Our short sale extension expires this week (this is just a monthly extension of the original offer). We are hoping that we hear this week, it would be nice to have some conclusion to this deal. 

On a separate note, I checked in with House Hunters today to see if they found a family for the special episode they were doing. Unfortunately for us, they did find another family. Sniff, the kids were disappointed. But as a consolation they said to let them know when we have a closing date as we may be able to participate in a regular episode.  If we never get to be on the show at least we got to experience the audition process.

So keep your fingers crossed and maybe, just maybe I'll have something exciting to write about later this week.

Silent.....but Deadly?

Time is moving too quickly and the bank too slowly. It's been so quiet that I'm begining to think it's not a good sign. I actually e-mailed our Realtor's assistant just to remind her that we are still here and waiting. Obviously the bank doesn't want the money badly enough to make a decision. What I find puzzling is that the bank told us what price they wanted, we've accommodated this and yet they are still taking their time. 

They are certainly messing up any plans we have. Why we keep making any is beyond me.  The seller has the house rented for the whole month of March, so if we're going to take possession of the house we'd like to do it before these people arrive in order to make sure we're happy with the accommodations we're providing.

Just after the Holidays I was telling you how friends of ours took a second look at the house for us while they were in Florida.  Things looked great for the most part, and it is really clean, but there are definitely some things we would like to provide to make everyone's vacation as comfortable as possible.  One thing that was missing in the kitchen was large bowls. I mean how do you make a salad without a bowl. 

Hopefully we'll hear something this week and it will put my concerns to rest that the silence we've been dealing with isn't a bad sign. To keep myself occupied, later this week I will review my pictures and post a poll on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/MickeysGardenVilla) to let all of you help me make our house a great place to vacation. Until then, have a great week!

We're Officially Overdue!

A friend said a funny thing to me the other day. She said she though that us waiting for this house is like a pregnancy. "Hasn't it been about 9 months?".  She was right, Thursday marked 9 months from the time we had the original offer accepted. I don't feel particularly optimistic about it ever ending at this point.  Don't get me wrong, I want it to end but I just can't see it. That's just me feeling sorry for myself, just for a moment, now back to business!

I've decided that I won't wait for updates anymore. When we went through this with the seller's first lawyer I would patiently wait for someone (anyone) to update us. Passive no more I diligently e-mail on Friday if I haven't heard anything by lunchtime.  Yesterday was no exception, I got to brief e-mails stating that

1. The file was up to date and the lawyer was waiting to hear from the bank and...
2. At some point yesterday the bank decided it didn't like 2 files being separate and wanted the    lawyer to combine them and resubmit. This was done and we are back to waiting.

 Although there was in the end nothing really to update at least the lawyers are communicating what's going on every week.  We will continue to keep ourselves busy.  And this is not a problem, we've got a back patio to finish (which all this rain in Southern Ontario is not helping), Halloween to be ready for and after that we have 17 days to get ready for Santa's arrival (at The Toronto Santa Claus Parade of course). So even though we are busy, this process is never far from my mind. I could use a vacation right about now, even if it is a working one!

Have a great weekend everyone!

So you're Renting a Vacation Home, Now what?

I've been struggling to decide what I would write about next.  I started this blog to chronicle our journey into the world of vacation home ownership, but what I didn't know at the time was that there would be so much waiting involve.  How boring would it be if I blogged weekly about how we're still waiting (which we are and my regular Friday update confirmed this). So today I thought I'd let everyone know what their options are for groceries when staying at a vacation home, at the Windsor Palms Resort specifically.

Even prior to jumping into this crazy process I was aware of Garden Grocer (www.gardengrocer.com). They do deliveries to the theme park hotels, private homes and vacation homes in the Kissimmee/Orlando area.  I know people personally that have used their service and have been very pleased with it.  When you visit their website you will need to set up an account, they have many payment options which will make most people happy. They have plenty of items to select from and even label organic, gluten free and kosher items. You can select your delivery date and time. It would be great to arrive at your vacation home and have your groceries arrive just after you. It certainly would make your first day or two less hectic. I will be posting a link to their website on the blog and the website so you can go directly there at anytime.

If you, like me look forward to the stroll through an American grocery store to check out all the different stuff then there are plenty of options nearby Windsor Palms. All within 10-15 minutes from the house. There is a Grocery store, a 24 hr Walgreens and numerous restaurants within 2 miles (3.2km ).  You can also head to a Super Target which is 3.8 miles (6km ), 10 minutes away, Walmart Supercentre 10.2 miles (16km) or the Publix Supermarket which is 4 miles (6.5km) away.

It is great that the Resort is so close to so many places.  Since it is self-catering only minimal supplies of toilet paper and soap will be provided by the management company. If we had to drive really far (us included) it wouldn't be quite as much fun.  Getting settled in and being able to enjoy a simple meal (BBQ anyone) by the pool sounds like a great way to start a vacation, I can't wait to do it myself.

Have a great weekend Everyone!

And the Waiting Continues!

So today brings the end of another work week for a lot of us. Thank goodness for weekends.  Our vacation home journey continues to move along.  We received another update this week.  The extension of the short sale will go through, giving us another 30 days to wait on the bank. I guess in reality it is more like 60, if you count the 30 days after the extension.  At this point the process seems straight forward enough, but that's only because I've asked enough questions and gotten great answers from our Realtor (Shaun Reed PA, Keller Williams). 

So what's the update you're wondering? Well this is how I understand it.  The seller has basically said that she expects the offer to go through, if we're willing to wait. There is some negotiating that the seller and the bank will have to do in order to settle what is still owed on the home.  And of course we are willing to wait. Windsor Palms Resort is a great community. The house is the model we wanted and why would we walk away from a south facing pool with no neighbours to the rear!

What I think now is that while the whole short sale process is lengthy in time commitment, it will pay when the outcome is what we wanted. I'm still holding out for a closing that gets me to Star Wars weekends but I would put any money on it.  So my plans may need to change a little.  What should we do with the kids that they haven't done on other trips. So many options....

Perhaps we'll spend a day at a Disney water park, Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. Or we could do the Pirates and pals cruise to see the fireworks. Oh what to do! We could even skip Disney this trip (ah on second thought, I don't think I could do that) and check out some other non-theme park activities. Maybe the beach, zip lining, check out the everglades...the options seem endless. I'll get to work on it and update my planning as I find different options.

Have a great weekend everyone!

So What will you find at Windsor Palms?

Two months have passed since our offer has been accepted on the vacation home.  We are patiently waiting to hear the final word from the banks.  The offer has made it past bank number one and now we wait for the final word from the second bank.  Hopefully we will hear in the next few weeks!

While we are waiting I thought I tell you all a little about the community where the house is located.  The house will be located in the resort community of Windsor Palms (formerly Wyndham Palms). It is a gated community, the gate is manned 24 hours a day. There is only one entrance and this is definitely a plus on the security side of things.  Before arriving at the house you will be drive by the 7500 sq ft. clubhouse.

Inside the clubhouse you will find a convenience store(with domino's pizza and Starbucks coffee), games room, fitness centre and a 58 seat movie theatre.  Outside you'll find even more to do. There is an Olympic sized swimming pool that is heated in the colder months, a hot tub and toddler pool.  If you are feeling energetic you can make use of the lit tennis or basketball courts. There is also a beach volleyball court.  A kids playground and BBQ area are also available.  You'll find walking trails in the community as well.

Our vacation home is located within easy walking distance to the clubhouse ( it is at the end of the street which is 8 house away). This is one of the many reasons we picked this particular house.  If you are a golfer the Mystic Dunes golf course is just a short walk or drive away(guests get preferential fees). There are a large number of other golf courses withing easy driving distance that are also great. Shopping and restaurants are close-by.  If you are heading to Disney we are only about 4km away, one of the closest communities to the parks.  All of the other theme parks are about 20-25 minutes away and you can be at the beach in 90 minutes (Atlantic or Gulf side).

As for what the house itself offers here's it is... 

The house is a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house.  Outside you will find your own private pool with attached waterfall spa.  There are no rear neighbours and privacy hedging between houses.  The backyard is south facing so you will enjoy sun all day long. There is also a covered lanai and the entire area is screened in, so no pesky mosquitoes! There will be no need to pack beach towels we will provide those for you.  Inside the house you will find a fully equipped kitchen with seating for at least 7. You'll find seating for an additional 6 in the dining room.  Off the kitchen there is full sized laundry. No need to go home with dirty laundry and no cleaning kids dirty clothes in the hotel sink or bathtub!  In the living room you'll have access to TV, movies, computer and Internet access.

The first Master bedroom has a king sized bed with walk in closet and full en-suite. The en suite has a jacuzzi tub and separate shower, double sinks and a separate water closet that also opens out the the lanai so no one has to walk through the house to use the facilities.   The second master bedroom also has a king sized bed and it's own en-suite. The bathroom as a walk in shower, toilet and sink. The additional two bedrooms share a full bathroom (tub/shower, toilet and sink). One of the bedrooms will have 2 twin beds and the other will have have twin beds or bunk beds (we still haven't decided!)  The garage has been converted to a games room for your enjoyment. 

Whew!  The resort and the house have a lot to offer.  Windsor Palms is considered one of the best resort communities in the Disney area.  We hope that the offer will be accepted soon and we can start welcoming people to this great vacation getaway!  There is a you tube link at the bottom of the blog and the Official Windsor Palms is one of the videos displayed. Take a look if you are interested. Thanks again for reading, please leave any questions or comments.

Windsor Palms on Dwellable

Money, Money, Money...

Another week begins and here in Southern Ontario it is 23 degrees and sunny. Normal daytime highs are 5 degrees, and tomorrow it is supposed to be warmer!

All the nice weather has me thinking about my planning for Florida again.  Although I have most things planned for or decided, some of the final things we need to work on is the forms that everyone will need to fill out when they book the house for their vacation. While it's necessary and tedious it's not hard.  What we will need to be sure of when the house is ready is how money will exchange hands.  While all our Canadian visitors will have the option of e-mail money transfer, anyone outside of the country will have to pay differently.

I've been looking at Pay Pal and it seems like the simplest way for people to pay and they can do so with Visa, Amex or MasterCard.  The only downside is the ~3% charge to do so. I am wondering would you be willing to pay an extra 3% in order to use a credit card to pay for your vacation accommodations?
Another option of course is wire transfers, but I think that would be a more costly option. 

The second item I'd like some feedback on is the security deposit. This is a standard item that people pay when renting a vacation home. It is to cover for any damages. I've seen various homes list the return time of the deposit differently. The most common time frames appear to be return within 14 or 28 days. Which would you prefer!

My final question is this. When putting a deposit down on a vacation home would you prefer a set rate per week or a percentage?

While we have our preferences for these things, it would be great to have feed back from everyone.

Our fingers are crossed that the bank is speedy and we will hear their answer within the month. After that the house will close at the most, 30 days after their decision. Then we'll be open for business. Thanks everyone for the support and feedback so far. The blog, twitter(@mickeygrdnvilla) and our facebook page(facebook.com/MickeysGardenVilla) have made the journey pass more quickly and made it a lot more fun!

So please answer the poll questions here on the right hand side of the page or on our facebook page.