Question 1

Do you lend across the whole Orlando metro?

Accepted Answer

Yes, across Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Lake counties. We are a Texas-based direct lender headquartered in Bee Cave, and we fund deals in Orlando, Kissimmee, Sanford, Winter Park, Apopka, Clermont, Winter Garden, and the Davenport corridor (Davenport sits in Polk County but functions as the southwest end of the Disney short-term-rental market). Every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, and terms are subject to underwriting. See loan programs or talk to us.

Question 2

Can I count on short-term rental income anywhere in the Orlando area?

Accepted Answer

Only if you check the parcel's jurisdiction first, because the same house plan can be legal five miles from Disney and illegal inside Orlando city limits. The City of Orlando does not permit whole-home short-term rentals: an owner may register for owner-occupied home sharing and rent up to half the bedrooms, or license a unit as a Commercial Dwelling Unit for stays of 7 to 29 days, but nothing under 30 days as a whole-home rental. Unincorporated Orange County prohibits short-term rentals in single-family residential zoning outside a handful of vacation-home pockets near Disney. Osceola County is the permissive side of the map: rentals are allowed inside designated short-term-rental overlay districts and its dedicated STRPD zoning, concentrated along the W US 192 corridor, plus a county license and the state DBPR vacation rental license on top. Kissimmee allows STRs in specific zoning districts with a Business Tax Receipt. We can underwrite a long-term lease number without any of this; if your model depends on nightly rate income, confirm the current zoning for that exact parcel and talk to your attorney. See the DSCR program.

Question 3

How does insurance and the tax bill actually run for an investor in Orlando?

Accepted Answer

Cheaper than the coasts on insurance, but the tax bill can carry three layers you need to add up before you underwrite the deal. As of March 2026, average homeowners premiums including wind ran $2,650 in Lake County, $2,940 in Osceola, and $3,610 in Orange, the priciest of the four, all below coastal Pinellas at $4,063 and well below Broward or Miami-Dade. On property tax, the county property appraisers' 2025 final millage sheets put a non-homestead investor at roughly 18 to 19 mills in the City of Orlando, 17.41 in Kissimmee, and 13.85 in unincorporated Osceola, the cheapest base rate in the metro. That last number is the trap: master-planned and resort communities across Osceola, Lake, and the Davenport corridor commonly carry a Community Development District assessment collected on the same county tax bill on top of the millage, and Florida's 10% non-homestead assessment cap resets when the property changes hands, so the first full year after you buy is typically assessed at market value with no carryover from the seller's capped basis. Pull an address-level estimate from the county property appraiser rather than using a metro-wide rate, and talk to your CPA on the specifics.

Question 4

What is the Orlando market actually doing right now?

Accepted Answer

Cooled and flattened, not falling, with the softest pricing exactly where short-term rentals are legal. Median list price was $419,450 in July 2026, down 1.8% year over year and 9.8% off the June 2022 peak, on 74 median days on market and 13,771 active listings. Zillow's mid-tier home value index fell 2.7% year over year to $404,098 in June 2026, while single-family rents hit a series high of $2,491 a month, up 2.0%. That price-versus-rent split is not uniform across the metro: the Osceola and Polk short-term-rental corridor, Kissimmee, Davenport, and Poinciana, is down 4 to 5% year over year on value, while owner-heavy Winter Park and Apopka are nearly flat. Entry pricing is improving fastest in the same zip codes where the STR license actually applies.

Question 5

Why does a direct lender fit an Orlando deal better than a bank?

Accepted Answer

Because a fifth of the metro works in an industry a bank underwriting model does not know how to read, and because Florida's court-based foreclosure process rewards a lender who can move fast on the front end. Leisure and hospitality employed 305,500 people in metro Orlando in June 2026, up 3.7% year over year, roughly one job in five against a national share about half that, anchored by Walt Disney World and Universal's new Epic Universe park, which opened May 22, 2025. Tips, seasonal, and gig income from that workforce do not fit a W-2 box, which is exactly the bank-statement borrower pool we underwrite. On the other side of the deal, Florida forecloses through the circuit court, a materially longer process than a non-judicial state like our home state of Texas, which is one more reason funding speed on the way in matters more here, not less. We fund with our own capital and give a same-day term sheet. Subject to underwriting. Apply now.

Orlando Hard Money and Investor Loans

The STR map is jurisdictional, not geographic

Inland insurance is the quiet advantage

Rents at a record high while prices soften

Loan programs in Orlando

Orlando lending questions

Funding Orlando deals fast.