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A dream home in Florida provides holidays for all the family

It took 14 years for Duncan and Pamela Kennett-Wise to realize their dream of owning a home in Florida – but, thanks to the Superior Group, they can now relax in the Orlando sunshine twice a year and enjoy their very own place in the sun.

"This house really is a dream come true for us," says Duncan. "We just love having it. It's not an investment as such – it's really a holiday home for us, our family and friends."

The Kennett-Wises always knew that they wanted to spend more time in America. Having made many trips to all parts of the US, they decided on Florida because of the climate, the golfing facilities and the relaxed way of life. And, as Duncan says, "When I come to buy a house, I want to know that all the legal papers will be in a language that I can understand."

"We first came across Superior at an overseas property show 12 years ago, when owning a dream home overseas was just that – a dream," recalls Duncan. "We've kept in touch since then, and when we were in a position to afford what we wanted, we contacted Superior and organized an inspection trip in February 2003."

"The Superior staff looked after us really well. We had free accommodation in one of Superior's villas, and we went to see 5 or 5 developments including Highlands Reserve and Regal Palms resort. We decided that, although golf was important, we didn't want to be on an exclusively golf-oriented complex, and that we wanted a villa rather than a townhouse. When we saw the plot of land at Calabay Park, we knew instantly that was the one for us, even though at that stage it was just a patch of soil with all the utility pipes sticking out of the ground!

We could envisage the lovely 4-bedroom villa with swimming pool that would eventually be there, and paid the deposit then and there."

The developer estimated that the house would be ready in October, so the Kennett-Wises organized their finances and made arrangements to travel back and take possession of the property then. In the event, the house was actually finished ahead of schedule in September, but it proved impossible to change the travel plans, so Superior's representative actually took the house over in the interim and looked after it until Duncan and Pamela were able to come over. Superior still provide management services and take care of the villa while the Kennett-Wises are not in residence.

"I'm semi-retired and Pamela is still working," says Duncan, "So we go out to the villa twice a year for 2 weeks in March and October when the weather is warm and ideal for golfing. Once I'm fully retired next year, we'll be there for 6 to 8 weeks at a time. Our family and friends use it for holidays too, and when we're not there it's rented out. We take bookings ourselves, and Superior also market it. Between us, we've generated 26 weeks of bookings for this year, and we did 42 weeks last year. That means the house is pretty much paying for itself. We're not looking to make a fortune from renting it out – it's not that kind of investment. Basically we want to enjoy it while we can, spend more and more time out here and then, when we can't travel out here any more, sell it and realize our profit."

Until then, this long-awaited dream home in Calabay Park provides everyone with a well-earned holiday in the Florida sun.