If you underwrite a Reunion Resort home the same way you would a typical short-term rental, you can miss the details that drive real performance. In Reunion, the difference between a solid investment and a disappointing one often comes down to amenity access, fee structure, bedroom count, and how the home competes in a very crowded market. If you are looking at Reunion as an income property, this guide will help you think more like an investor and less like a casual buyer. Let’s dive in.
Why Reunion needs a different model
Reunion Resort is not just another vacation-rental community in Central Florida. According to Reunion Resort’s official FAQ, the community includes vacation homes ranging from 3 to 15 bedrooms, a 5-acre water park, 8 pools, tennis, pickleball, mini golf, seven restaurants, a complimentary on-resort shuttle, and three signature golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, and Jack Nicklaus.
Location also plays a major role in demand. Reunion says Walt Disney World is 6 miles away, and the resort offers scheduled shuttle service to Disney’s Transportation and Ticket Center. That makes Reunion highly relevant for both family-travel demand and golf-oriented stays, which can support year-round booking potential.
At the same time, you should not assume that every Reunion property performs the same way just because it shares the resort name. The exact home, its access level, and its cost stack matter more than many buyers first realize.
Start with the market, not the dream
A smart underwriting process begins with the broader short-term rental market. On AirDNA’s Kissimmee market page, the area shows 40,167 listings, 55% occupancy, $277.8 ADR, annual revenue of $32.6K, and RevPAR of $149.1 over the last year.
Those numbers tell you something important right away. This is a large, active, and competitive market. AirDNA also shows that 42% of listings have 5 or more bedrooms, 63% are available 271 to 365 nights per year, and 3-night minimum stays are the most common.
For Reunion investors, that means you should avoid building your numbers around a few holiday weeks or unusually strong peak-season rates. The better approach is to assume real competition, especially in the larger-home segment, and test how the property performs under normal occupancy conditions.
Underwrite revenue with true comps
The first line in your model is still simple: gross room revenue = ADR × occupied nights. The challenge is choosing realistic ADR and occupancy assumptions for the exact property you are considering.
Live listing snapshots in and around Reunion show how wide the pricing range can be. Current examples cited in the research include a 3-bedroom Reunion condo at $140 per night, another 3-bedroom condo at $151 per night, and a 5-bedroom Reunion home at $418 per night, based on current listing examples. That spread alone shows why broad averages are not enough.
You also need to compare homes that actually compete with each other. A condo and a large pool home are not substitutes. A golf-oriented property may command stronger asking rates, but the research suggests treating that as directional unless you have matched comps with the same bedroom count, dates, views, and fee structure.
Amenity access changes the math
One of the most important Reunion underwriting details is amenity access. According to Reunion Resort’s FAQ, guests who book directly through Reunion or through approved preferred partners receive full amenity access, while third-party bookings may have limited access.
That is a major issue for investors because amenity access can influence both pricing power and conversion. Two homes with similar square footage may perform very differently if one offers clearer access to the water park, pools, and other resort features through the booking channel, while the other does not.
This is why you should underwrite by property address and access category, not just by the words “Reunion Resort.” If your comps do not share the same access profile, your revenue assumptions may be off before you even get to expenses.
Know the full cost stack
Revenue gets attention, but expenses often decide whether a deal works. In Reunion, your cost stack can be more layered than buyers expect.
At a minimum, your worksheet should include transient-rental taxes, HOA or condo dues, utilities, insurance, cleaning, maintenance, furnishing updates, and reserves. You should also account for any booking-channel commissions or management fees, because those can materially reduce net income.
Tax compliance is part of the underwriting, not an afterthought. Osceola County’s short-term rental page says owners should verify zoning, obtain a DBPR vacation rental license, and register a Local Business Tax Receipt. The research also notes that Florida transient rentals are subject to state sales tax and discretionary surtax, while Osceola County levies a 6% tourist development tax, bringing the typical transient-rental tax burden to 13.5% before OTA or management fees.
Factor in Reunion-specific fees
Reunion has some charges that investors should model carefully. According to the resort’s official FAQ, a daily resort fee of $40 plus tax is charged to nightly room rates, parking is $20 plus tax per day per unit, and private-home pool heat is available for a daily fee on most homes.
In practice, that means you need to understand what is passed through to guests, what affects booking conversion, and what may still create friction in your pricing strategy. A home can look strong on headline ADR but become less competitive if total guest cost rises too much once fees are added.
Pool heat matters too, especially in a market where many guests expect private outdoor amenities. If your subject property relies on a heated pool to stay competitive in cooler periods, that operating cost should be baked into your scenarios.
HOA dues can reshape returns
HOA costs in Reunion are not minor. Based on the 2025 HOA summary, monthly dues range roughly from $449 to $1,000 for single-family homes, $426 to $678 for townhomes, and about $568 to $1,584.71 for condo categories, with The Terraces billed quarterly at $1,842.00.
Those dues may include useful items such as cable, internet, landscaping, irrigation, and pest control. For condos, water and sewer may also be included. Even so, the amount of the dues can significantly affect cash flow, especially when you compare a condo to a single-family home or compare one neighborhood within Reunion to another.
This is one reason investor underwriting should always be property-specific. The monthly carrying cost may differ enough to change your target purchase price or your acceptable financing structure.
Build three clear scenarios
A Reunion deal should not live or die by a single spreadsheet assumption. The best practice is to model at least three cases: base, down-market, and strong-season.
Your base case should reflect realistic occupancy and ADR expectations based on matched comps. Your down-market case should assume softer occupancy, more pricing pressure, or higher operating drag. Your strong-season case can capture upside, but it should still remain grounded in actual market behavior.
The research strongly supports this approach because Kissimmee is a large, year-round, supply-heavy market. Scenario testing helps you see whether a property still works when the market does not cooperate perfectly.
Match comps the right way
When you compare potential revenue, match homes by the features guests actually shop for. That includes:
- Bedroom count
- Home type, such as condo, townhome, or single-family
- View type, including golf orientation when relevant
- Pool and pool-heat availability
- Parking setup
- Amenity-access bucket based on booking channel
This step sounds basic, but it is where many spreadsheets go wrong. If you mix a golf-view home with a non-golf-view unit, or a home with stronger amenity access with one that has limited access, your ADR assumptions can become inflated very quickly.
A simple Reunion underwriting framework
If you want a clean way to pressure-test a deal, use this order of operations:
- Estimate gross room revenue using ADR and occupied nights.
- Verify the booking channel and likely amenity-access profile.
- Subtract transient-rental taxes that must be collected and remitted.
- Subtract OTA, marketing, or management costs.
- Add fixed carrying costs such as HOA dues, insurance, and utilities.
- Add variable costs such as cleaning, maintenance, pool heat, and reserves.
- Review net operating performance under base, down-market, and strong-season assumptions.
This framework keeps your analysis focused on what actually affects returns. It also helps you compare properties more consistently when several Reunion opportunities are on the table.
Due diligence before you write an offer
Before moving forward on a specific property, verify the details that can change the investment story. A practical checklist from the research includes:
- Verify the exact neighborhood and monthly HOA or CDD burden
- Confirm whether the home is direct-bookable, preferred-partner eligible, or third-party only
- Match the home to true comps by bedroom count, view, pool heat, and parking
- Build projections around market occupancy, not just peak-season ADR
This kind of diligence is especially important in Reunion because the community is operationally nuanced. Two attractive listings can look similar in photos but underwrite very differently once you compare fees, access, and carrying costs.
The investor takeaway
Reunion can offer a compelling vacation-rental story, but only if you underwrite with discipline. The combination of resort amenities, proximity to Disney, family travel demand, and golf appeal creates opportunity. Still, the market is competitive, and the cost stack is too important to gloss over.
If you are considering a Reunion purchase, think beyond the listing photos and projected top-line revenue. Focus on matched comps, access category, realistic occupancy, and the true all-in expense picture. That is how you evaluate a Reunion Resort home like an investor.
If you want help sourcing and evaluating a Reunion opportunity with a more data-driven lens, Andrea Alonso can help you compare options, pressure-test the numbers, and move forward with a clear strategy.
FAQs
What makes underwriting a Reunion Resort home different from a typical vacation rental?
- Reunion properties can vary significantly based on amenity access, HOA structure, home type, and guest fee exposure, so you need more than a basic ADR estimate to judge performance.
How should you estimate income for a Reunion Resort investment property?
- Start with ADR multiplied by occupied nights, then use matched comps with similar bedroom count, view, booking-channel access, and amenities instead of relying on broad market averages alone.
What taxes apply to short-term rentals in Reunion, Florida?
- Based on the research provided, transient rentals in Osceola County typically face a combined 13.5% tax burden before OTA or management fees.
Why does amenity access matter when buying a Reunion vacation home?
- Reunion states that full amenity access depends on booking directly through Reunion or approved preferred partners, so access can influence both guest demand and pricing power.
What expenses should you include in a Reunion Resort underwriting model?
- Your model should include taxes, HOA or condo dues, insurance, utilities, cleaning, maintenance, furnishings, reserves, pool heat, parking considerations, and any OTA or management costs.
Are large homes in Reunion automatically better investments?
- Not necessarily, because AirDNA data for Kissimmee shows strong supply in the 5-plus-bedroom segment, which means larger homes may face heavier competition than buyers expect.
