Quote:
Originally Posted by mulligan
The biggest mistake this developer has made is not restricting against rentals in any form in the deed restrictions. Renters do NOTHING to enhance the value real or perceived of the real estate in the villages.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
I agree for the most part. But some people would not be able to carry the expense without renting.
I am not crazy about renters, although there are many wonderful people who rent here. I just think that it is a slippery slope.
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The developer have their hands in a lot of businesses, but their primary business is selling homes and they do it very well. To sell homes, they need to have a wide possible pool of potential buyers. Many Villages residents own multiple homes and live in one home and purchase others as investments and rent the others. Other investors just buy homes to rent with the hope of income to cover expenses and price appreciation. While some homeowners can not afford their Villages home unless they rent it out when they are not using it. If rentals were eliminated, a huge pool of potential home buyers would be eliminated. As also noted in this thread, many potential home buyers come here for several years as renters and fall in love with the Villages before finally buying their Villages home. I have no problem with homeowners renting their homes, especially when the rentals are for a minimum of a month or more. The problem I have is with short-term transient rentals (AIRBNB) by homeowners who are living in their homes. These people are effectively running a bed and breakfast business out of their homes, with none of the regulations that real bed and breakfast operators are burdened with. This violates two deed restrictions. First, homes are to be used as single family residential, which does not include renting out a room in your home while living in it. Second, one can not run a home business. When you live in your home and rent out a room (where the income needs to be reported as taxable income), you are running a home business.
The major problem with this (besides what the unfortunate neighbors have to live with), is that it is a difficult deed restriction to enforce. External deed restrictions, like a bunch of pink flamingos or white crosses on the front lawn, are easy to identify and notify the homeowner that they are violating. Internal deed restriction violations occurring inside of a home are much more difficult to identify, verify, and enforce. It requires knocking on doors and getting cooperation from the homeowner and having them admit that they are in violation. So enforcement of internal deed restrictions is the big problem with eliminating AIRBNB operators that are clearly in violation of deed restrictions.