For everyone that asks for advice.........
September 29, 2010
How to get the most out of a Disney/Universal theme park visit
By Jayne Clark, USA TODAY
A hot-off-the-presses copy of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2011 arrived in the mail the other day, which seemed like a good excuse to ring up author Bob Sehlinger for a refresher course on how to squeeze the most out of a Disney/Universal theme park visit. With single-day admissions recently hiked to $82 at both, time really is money at these Orlando parks.
Sehlinger started the Unofficial Guide franchise back in 1985 when he told Disney honchos he was going to write a guidebook about their theme parks and they replied, "You can't do that," Sehlinger recalls.
Turns out he could. And he did.
Today, the series has six Disney-related titles, three of which are updated annually by a team of 30 or so including data collectors, dining critics, hotel inspectors and two child psychologists. He even has a patent-pending algorithm used to create touring plans that weighs variables such as ride capacity, traffic flow and mechanical reliability.
"(The plans) will absolutely save you up to four hours of waiting in queues over the day," Sehlinger declares.
This year's 800-pound gorilla of the theme park world is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park. It debuted last summer to raves and interminable lines -- up to seven hours in the first weeks after opening, Sehlinger says. (And yes, apparently it's the sort of thing a hard-core fan dressed in a Hogwarts school uniform will happily endure.)
Crowd control at the attraction has improved and the crowds aren't quite as daunting, he adds. But here's a tip for the Wizarding World bound: Wait until 3 or 4 p.m. to go. It'll still be busy, but the early throngs will have cycled through. Better yet, if the park is open late, wait until 6-ish to queue up. "Things are winding down, with cooler temperatures and a vastly smaller crowd," Sehlinger advises. "And you'll have the added benefit of being able to seeing Wizarding World with its lights. It's magical."
Some of Sehlinger's favorite tips for tackling the theme parks:
-- Plan, plan, plan.
Not only should you buy tickets in advance so you're not wasting time at the ticket window, but you should have a touring plan (this is where the Unofficial Guide comes in). "It's the best way to experience the most attractions in the least amount of time," Sehlinger says. "We can tell which families have a plan to see the park, because they're doing stuff. Without a plan, people are like chickens in a thunderstorm clucking over a map."
-- Besides having a logistical plan, you should prepare physically. Sehlinger figures the typical theme park attendee walks eight miles in a single day. "People who aren't accustomed to that or the crowds or the heat fall apart," he says.
-- Arrive at the park early to get a jump on the masses. (If you're staying at a Universal or Disney-owned lodging, take advantage of exclusive guest-only time in the parks.)
-- You can't avoid the hefty entrance fees, but you can save on lodging and food.
You'll always save money staying in a non Disney/Universal hotel. And given the economy, there are some incredible hotel deals in the Orlando area, Sehlinger says. Do a broad Internet search (he likes Kayak.com) and when you find something, call the hotel directly to ask about specials or other ways to sweeten the deal with a room upgrade, for instance. (Avoid timing your visit when there's a big convention in town, which drives up rates. You can check the schedule on the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau website.)
-- If you're driving, pack a cooler. If not, buy a Styrofoam one when you arrive. Stock it with breakfast fixings and snacks, which you can take with you to the parks to avoid dropping a bundle on expensive vendor food.
-- Another benefit of staying off-property is that you'll have access to less expensive eateries than those in the parks. (Check the brochure racks at your lodging for discount coupons.)
-- Don't try to do it all. This goes double for families with children 12 and younger. "Take a mid-day break," Sehlinger says. "Go back to the hotel for lunch, a nap and swim. In summer, with longer park hours, you can go back at night."
Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thinking of a second home?
From today's US News & World Report:
How to Find a Second Home Bargain in the US
For boomers with disposable income, now may well be a good time to buy
By EUGENE L. MEYER
September 15, 2010
In much of Florida, homes have become dramatically more affordable since 2005, attracting new buyers who couldn't have made a purchase "in the peak years," says Rei Mesa, president and CEO of Prudential Florida Realty. In Nevada, buyers are snatching up $200,000 properties that just a few years ago would have been listed at twice that price, says Bryan Drakulich, president and CEO of DoMore Real Estate in Reno.
The housing market reflects a paradox of the Great Recession: While some baby boomers are struggling to prevent their primary residences from sliding into foreclosure, others are realizing their dream of purchasing a vacation getaway. Many people "still have a lot of money that sits on the sidelines waiting," says Michael Saunders, a Sarasota, Fla., broker active in the second home market. "I think the wait is over for them. Anywhere you look, you are going to find prices we haven't seen since 2001," largely because of foreclosures and short sales (homes sold for less than what's owed on them).
However, boomers without disposable income should steer clear of the second home market, even if they believe they can get financing, advises Christine Hrib Karpinski, author of How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner (2009). "Don't get yourself caught up in the mess millions of Americans are in right now," she cautions. "Don't over-leverage. If you are already retired or close to retirement, that's not a risk I would take."
Conversely, for the fortunate who are flush with cash, have high credit scores, and possess sufficient disposable income to make down payments of 20 or 30 percent, now may be the time to jump into the market. Sharply reduced prices and the lowest interest rates in decades have combined to create a buyer's market. Moreover, with the stock market in the doldrums, some boomers are finding that purchasing a second home can be a worthwhile long-term investment.
Island life. Marleen and Scott Karns, who live near Harrisburg, Pa., cashed in stock last December to buy a condo with relatives on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, for $310,000. This was well below the original asking price of $390,000. "It's our 'CD' in St. Croix" is how Marleen puts it.
After incurring some significant start-up costs, including interior decorating and the purchase of a flat screen TV, the Karnses now rent out the property when they are not using it themselves as a vacation home. "We feel like we've kind of landed in our dream come true," Marleen says.
What is unclear is how many couples have the ability to capitalize on the market as the Karnses have. In 2009, the typical second home buyer was 46 years old with a median household income of $87,500 (down from $99,100 in 2007), according to surveys by the National Association of Realtors. And while income has gone down, second home prices rose 12.7 percent in 2009, the NAR notes. While these factors have closed the market for some, the simultaneous increased demand for rentals of vacation and weekend properties has made these purchases more feasible for others. If you are a prospective buyer, you need to consider three key issues:
1. Can the property generate enough rental income to cover carrying costs (mortgage plus maintenance, insurance, utilities, and property taxes)?
2. Will the rates you charge, especially for the most expensive properties, attract a pool of renters that is both sufficiently large and sustainable (particularly during economic downturns)?
3. If you intend to use the second home more than you will rent it, do you have the means to carry two mortgages and to pay associated costs?
These three criteria did not deter Catherine Mettey, 50, a state transportation engineer. Mettey paid $200,000 in August 2008 for a 1928 waterfront cottage, listed for $300,000, near the Maine coastal town of Lubec. She put down 20 percent, financed the rest, and rents the cottage for $800 or more a week. "Everybody wants to rent in July and August," she says. In 2009, she received $11,600 in rental income, which covered about half of her annual costs for maintenance, insurance, mortgage payments, and property taxes.
"I didn't buy it as an income property, but as a retirement home," she explains. "I have always wanted a home on the ocean and knew that if I waited any longer, I wouldn't be able to afford it. My plan is to pay off the mortgage in 15 years-by the time I retire. Renting it just helps pay some of the expenses. Plus, having it as a business, I get to claim my losses on my taxes. Maybe my accountant would have said, 'You are crazy!' But, I love being there!"
Some boomers, who bought second homes at their peak price, now find themselves alarmingly underwater on their mortgages, which means they owe more than the property is worth. For these owners, Karpinski recommends renting to cover expenses and waiting out the market to give the properties a chance to appreciate.
New buyers, however, "can purchase a vacation home and have it break even from rental revenue . . . because the prices of properties are lower," she says. "If in 2005, you bought for $500,000 and the rental market was $1,500 a week, you'd be hard-pressed to break even." But with a property today at $300,000, "you can indeed break even. The rental rates have not gone down."
Saunders, the Florida broker, says many sophisticated boomers are searching not for home equity but for "lifestyle equity." They care more about their environment than rising property values. Saunders promotes the Sarasota area as the "Culture Coast," offering opera, theater, lectures, and other amenities.
That "absolutely compelling lifestyle" is what attracted Vic and Sandy Motto. The couple's primary residence is in California's Napa Valley, which Vic says is suffering from a "very depressed" real estate market. In contrast, Sarasota offers "good values" and "mortgage interest rates which are at an all-time low." The Mottos-he's 71, she's 62-paid $1.085 million in April for a 2005 contemporary with a 47-foot swimming pool that was listed at $1.23 million. When prices plummeted during the recent downturn, "all the bells went off," explains Vic, a wine industry investment banker. "We said, 'This is it. Let's jump on a plane and do something about it.' "
In Arizona, second homes are available at fire-sale prices, having plunged as much as 70 percent from their highs in some areas. Foreclosures and short sales have driven prices down, says Phoenix-area agent Debora Nichols. Most of her clients are out-of-staters and Canadians, who are able to obtain lines of credit. "They feel they need to buy now when prices are so low" so "they'll have something to retire in," she says.
For many prospective second home owners, "the difficult part is financing," says Tom Kelly, coauthor of How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment (2004). "Lenders are even tougher with second homes than with primary residences." In some instances, Kelly says, when a buyer cannot obtain traditional financing, the seller may be willing to hold the mortgage, acting in effect as a banker. "Go in there and ask what's possible," he advises.
Saunders still sees real estate as a good long-term investment. Those who dream of a second home should consider this, Saunders says: "If you look at return on investment from 2000 to 2009, even though real estate has lost a lot of that [price] run-up we saw, it was still a better investment than the Dow, Standard & Poor's, and NASDAQ" stock indexes.
How to Find a Second Home Bargain in the US
For boomers with disposable income, now may well be a good time to buy
By EUGENE L. MEYER
September 15, 2010
In much of Florida, homes have become dramatically more affordable since 2005, attracting new buyers who couldn't have made a purchase "in the peak years," says Rei Mesa, president and CEO of Prudential Florida Realty. In Nevada, buyers are snatching up $200,000 properties that just a few years ago would have been listed at twice that price, says Bryan Drakulich, president and CEO of DoMore Real Estate in Reno.
The housing market reflects a paradox of the Great Recession: While some baby boomers are struggling to prevent their primary residences from sliding into foreclosure, others are realizing their dream of purchasing a vacation getaway. Many people "still have a lot of money that sits on the sidelines waiting," says Michael Saunders, a Sarasota, Fla., broker active in the second home market. "I think the wait is over for them. Anywhere you look, you are going to find prices we haven't seen since 2001," largely because of foreclosures and short sales (homes sold for less than what's owed on them).
However, boomers without disposable income should steer clear of the second home market, even if they believe they can get financing, advises Christine Hrib Karpinski, author of How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner (2009). "Don't get yourself caught up in the mess millions of Americans are in right now," she cautions. "Don't over-leverage. If you are already retired or close to retirement, that's not a risk I would take."
Conversely, for the fortunate who are flush with cash, have high credit scores, and possess sufficient disposable income to make down payments of 20 or 30 percent, now may be the time to jump into the market. Sharply reduced prices and the lowest interest rates in decades have combined to create a buyer's market. Moreover, with the stock market in the doldrums, some boomers are finding that purchasing a second home can be a worthwhile long-term investment.
Island life. Marleen and Scott Karns, who live near Harrisburg, Pa., cashed in stock last December to buy a condo with relatives on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, for $310,000. This was well below the original asking price of $390,000. "It's our 'CD' in St. Croix" is how Marleen puts it.
After incurring some significant start-up costs, including interior decorating and the purchase of a flat screen TV, the Karnses now rent out the property when they are not using it themselves as a vacation home. "We feel like we've kind of landed in our dream come true," Marleen says.
What is unclear is how many couples have the ability to capitalize on the market as the Karnses have. In 2009, the typical second home buyer was 46 years old with a median household income of $87,500 (down from $99,100 in 2007), according to surveys by the National Association of Realtors. And while income has gone down, second home prices rose 12.7 percent in 2009, the NAR notes. While these factors have closed the market for some, the simultaneous increased demand for rentals of vacation and weekend properties has made these purchases more feasible for others. If you are a prospective buyer, you need to consider three key issues:
1. Can the property generate enough rental income to cover carrying costs (mortgage plus maintenance, insurance, utilities, and property taxes)?
2. Will the rates you charge, especially for the most expensive properties, attract a pool of renters that is both sufficiently large and sustainable (particularly during economic downturns)?
3. If you intend to use the second home more than you will rent it, do you have the means to carry two mortgages and to pay associated costs?
These three criteria did not deter Catherine Mettey, 50, a state transportation engineer. Mettey paid $200,000 in August 2008 for a 1928 waterfront cottage, listed for $300,000, near the Maine coastal town of Lubec. She put down 20 percent, financed the rest, and rents the cottage for $800 or more a week. "Everybody wants to rent in July and August," she says. In 2009, she received $11,600 in rental income, which covered about half of her annual costs for maintenance, insurance, mortgage payments, and property taxes.
"I didn't buy it as an income property, but as a retirement home," she explains. "I have always wanted a home on the ocean and knew that if I waited any longer, I wouldn't be able to afford it. My plan is to pay off the mortgage in 15 years-by the time I retire. Renting it just helps pay some of the expenses. Plus, having it as a business, I get to claim my losses on my taxes. Maybe my accountant would have said, 'You are crazy!' But, I love being there!"
Some boomers, who bought second homes at their peak price, now find themselves alarmingly underwater on their mortgages, which means they owe more than the property is worth. For these owners, Karpinski recommends renting to cover expenses and waiting out the market to give the properties a chance to appreciate.
New buyers, however, "can purchase a vacation home and have it break even from rental revenue . . . because the prices of properties are lower," she says. "If in 2005, you bought for $500,000 and the rental market was $1,500 a week, you'd be hard-pressed to break even." But with a property today at $300,000, "you can indeed break even. The rental rates have not gone down."
Saunders, the Florida broker, says many sophisticated boomers are searching not for home equity but for "lifestyle equity." They care more about their environment than rising property values. Saunders promotes the Sarasota area as the "Culture Coast," offering opera, theater, lectures, and other amenities.
That "absolutely compelling lifestyle" is what attracted Vic and Sandy Motto. The couple's primary residence is in California's Napa Valley, which Vic says is suffering from a "very depressed" real estate market. In contrast, Sarasota offers "good values" and "mortgage interest rates which are at an all-time low." The Mottos-he's 71, she's 62-paid $1.085 million in April for a 2005 contemporary with a 47-foot swimming pool that was listed at $1.23 million. When prices plummeted during the recent downturn, "all the bells went off," explains Vic, a wine industry investment banker. "We said, 'This is it. Let's jump on a plane and do something about it.' "
In Arizona, second homes are available at fire-sale prices, having plunged as much as 70 percent from their highs in some areas. Foreclosures and short sales have driven prices down, says Phoenix-area agent Debora Nichols. Most of her clients are out-of-staters and Canadians, who are able to obtain lines of credit. "They feel they need to buy now when prices are so low" so "they'll have something to retire in," she says.
For many prospective second home owners, "the difficult part is financing," says Tom Kelly, coauthor of How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment (2004). "Lenders are even tougher with second homes than with primary residences." In some instances, Kelly says, when a buyer cannot obtain traditional financing, the seller may be willing to hold the mortgage, acting in effect as a banker. "Go in there and ask what's possible," he advises.
Saunders still sees real estate as a good long-term investment. Those who dream of a second home should consider this, Saunders says: "If you look at return on investment from 2000 to 2009, even though real estate has lost a lot of that [price] run-up we saw, it was still a better investment than the Dow, Standard & Poor's, and NASDAQ" stock indexes.
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