[Toymeister]

You can look up the neighbors in the tax rolls and check ownership; the address where the owners live is posted. If the address is not the property address or if it is in a different state this gives you an idea that the owners are seasonal or rental property owners. This is not an absolute check as they can have the mail forwarded but it gives you an excellent 'flavor' of the area.

All of the taxing authorities website (one for each county) are linked from V-H-4-R dot com (remove dashes) go to verify home ownership on the left.

Sumter county's web site has satellite views of the neighborhoods and its fairly easy to use.

Once you see which homes are seasonal you can size them up visually in person. Although it is not scientific and there is not a 1:1 correlation the seasonal homes have a certain 'look'. That is not intended as derogatory but it is true if you don't live in a home most of the year you can't maintain certain landscaping or to a particular level. Usually the landscapers do not maintain the property with the same TLC an owner would. I may ruffle some feathers with that statement and I am sure someone will comment, check it for yourself and report back.

My wife and I play a game as we walk new areas to 'spot the rental'. Although I can't tell you how many I don't recognize those that we agree are seasonal or rental we are correct over 70% of the time. There is also a way to find if the home is a rental, again it's not 100% but it does make our game more interesting.

I maybe alone on this one but I think a certain degree of seasonal/rentals is good for the neighborhood: less traffic, quieter.