No secret home sales; new and used are at the highest demand rate maybe ever.
From looking at the Sumter County Tax Collector's site, it appears a very large group of new home sales; especially the smaller "patio villas" are being purchased and never lived in by the owners but turned into rentals. You can see the property sale listed on the government site… and then within about a month you see the same property listed on several rental sites including Airbnb and V**O. There are several sites that offer listings on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis. (I'm happy to report I have not seen one for rent by the hour....yet
) The owners are even forming LLC's for the properties. According to the Sumter County tax collector site, one LLC has 11 properties, and 5 were just purchased. I looked at a few of the LLC's and more than one has an address not even in the United States.
Now before everybody gets their undies all bunched up and starts lecturing about "capitalism" and the American dream… I completely understand capitalism and it is perfectly legal for somebody to rent out property they own providing they comply with any government regulations. I don't have any doubt that the owners of these properties are doing just that. I also have absolutely NO concerns about renters. I have met a lot of very good friends who rent down here.
For discussion I am wondering if the old adage "too much of anything is not good" is coming into play? Are we turning the villages or… sections of the villages into business rental districts vs communities? As I said I am not against rentals. However, I think an argument could be made that a person or persons who rents a home for a week probably does not have the same level of "community pride" as somebody who actually owns and lives here in their forever home. I have to wonder if overall this is a good or bad thing........