[shaw8700@outlook.com]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Actually, I'd love to see houses sitting on the market for 6+ months. It's what all the dopes who are confused about why we buy homes, deserve.

In another life, some years back, I was a housing policy advisor to a Governor and have some strong opinions on the subject. That doesn't make me right, it only means that I've been forced to think about the subject from a different perspective than most. I probably have stronger opinions on the subject than most, but that's just the way it goes, you can disagree.

Homes are just that, "homes". The purpose of homes, is shelter for people and families. Nothing more, nothing less.

We [the age demographic in TV] are the first generation in American history, who have expected to "inherit wealth", primarily derived from home appreciation of our parents. Prior to our generation, home appreciation was barely a blip on the radar.

We have now become a nation, whose market for shelter (homes) is driven by the notion that homes are a method to accumulate wealth. That is an "amateur investor" driven fallacy. Home appreciation in most cases, generates Monopoly money. It only becomes real money, when someone is able to actualize that money by making a major change in their life [moving, typically].

If every home in your chosen neighborhood appreciated 50% over-night, what did you gain? NOTHING if you want to continue to live in your neighborhood. You may be able to actualize some of that appreciation, but you have to change your life to do it (move).

Now we have folks coming on here and pontificating about how STR's are raising home values and should continue. Amateur hour.

Yep, STR's can help drive home prices higher, but again ... you need to do something affirmative to actualize that money. There are only (2) ways to actualize your accumulated "Monopoly money". You can move to a new neighborhood that's cheaper (hasn't been infected by the inflation caused by STR's) or .... stay where you are and live in a neighborhood that's turned into a commercial district, Your choice.

(The other option is to die and leave your appreciation to your children, who may or may not be able to actualize it.)

It seems to me, that people in their 60's and 70's should have seen enough of life by now, to realize living in a neighborhood they love, is more important than their home "appreciating" 10% per year. We should all be smart enough by now to realize, a "home" is shelter, not an investment.

Allowing professional investors and speculators to drive home prices in your neighborhood, is self-defeating if you want to live there. Allowing amateurs to do it, is even dumber.

As for the poster who said that STR's are no different than single-family homes and don't stress an infra-structure ... you need to wake up and smell the coffee.

STR's at a minimum, increase occupancy rates of "seasonal homes" that are now used year around. A 12 year old can see that.

STR's are invariably occupied (by definition) folks who are temporary and want to get maximum value for their rental money. Utilize amenities/events/conveniences to the max. Squeeze as much "vacation" into their vacation as they can. Who wouldn't?

Take a 6 month vacation home and rent it out for the 6 months you're not using it, nearly doubles the strain on an infrastructure ... simple, basic, 6th grade math.

STR's contribute nothing towards the purpose of what homes are intended for ... shelter.

STR's provide investment opportunities, for amateurs in most cases. For a price, folks get a temporary base of operations, to take part in the extraneous benefits of a location. Pools, restaurants, golf courses, tennis courts, walking paths, weather, etc. Sounds suspiciously like a hotel to me.

We're all sort of doing that in The Villages, but at least the folks who bought homes as year around or seasonal shelters, have made a significant investment. Allowing those investments to be de-valued by investors who now want to be in the hotel business on the cheap, is lunacy.

At a minimum, the new amendments to Florida legislation will allow the state to collect taxes due and increase the financial burden the amateur hotel owners will have to absorb.

I hear what you are saying. What you don’t realize is it keeps people from buying a house. I will go there and rent an STR until my house sells, something you are trying to prevent.