Buying a home then renting it out

[golfski]

Hi
We are future Villagers who are enjoying all the great information on these discussion boards. We are toying with the idea of buying now and renting it out until we can make the move. Is this a viable option in TV, does anyone have an opinion or experience leasing a home out in TV? Are there management companies that handle leasing in TV?
Thanks

[handieman]

I can't touch your money but I can guide you thru the process painlessly. And after you rent and cash the rent checks, I can take care of your renters and your property like it were my own.
"Been there, done that"
Handie :joke:
See my ad in services main page
References on request

[redwitch]

There have been several threads on the pros and cons of renting your property. If you expect to make a profit, it probably won't happen. You should, however, come close to breaking even from what I understand.

There are several companies that will do the rentals, including advertising, for you. However, that pretty much guarantees you won't even come close to breaking even after paying their property management fees. By Florida law, only licensed realtors can actually negotiate rental prices for a homeowner. They are also the only ones who can physically hand the keys to the renters. (Others simply leave the keys in an accessible area and let the renters know where they are.)

To do it yourself, there are a few sites worth their annual fees for advertising your rental. The big one would be TheVillages4Rent.com.

To have someone watch your property, ensure your renters are happy is the best way to go. As Handie has mentioned, he does this. So do I (check with another_Linda for references if you're interested). There are also other companies/individuals that will do this for you.

Considering how low prices are right now, it may be well worthwhile to buy now and rent when you can or are not using it. Hope this helps you a little in your decision of whether to buy now or later.

[another Linda]

and speak of the devil ...

We bought last year and rent our place when we can't use it. Our experience has been pretty good. Our rental income does cover the ongoing cost, as Red said, but wouldn't begin to cover a mortgage. You can go with a property management group associated with a realtor that can do everything, but they take a pretty big cut. We chose to do it ourselves and use Redwitch to keep things moving along. Works out very well.

[NJblue]

This is a good topic. We are considering doing something like this as well. Does anyone have any feel for the occupancy rate for a rental? I assume that Jan-March or April would be fairly easy to rent, but what about the shoulder and summer seasons? Would net income be greater if you rented for a 1-year lease? Is there any market for long-term leases? In the case of long term leases, are they typically done unfurnished?

[another Linda]

I think the shoulder seasons are much harder to rent and the price goes down considerably. Both last year and this year I've gotten a ton of email for Jan - March, and many fewer for the other months. We've never considered a year long lease because we want to use it ourselves during March (that's why we bought!), and we come down a week at a time here and there at other times when it isn't rented. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that you'd end up clearing a little more with a year long lease because someone else would be paying for utilities, etc.

[angelbaby.47]

We are seriously thinking about doing this, as well. We were there in April and hope to return in Oct or Nov to check TV out again. So far, we are sold! Does anyway know if you rent your place out do you have to claim the rent as income?

[borjo]

Angelbaby,
When you rent less than 6 months to one indivdual you need to pay Florida transient tax of 9% in Sumter Co, not sure of the other counties. Yes, the rent is counted as income minus your expenses, the house, mortgage, furnishings, utilities etc. There are different ways of handling it over a period of years, I'd check with a tax person. It's not as easy as you'd think.
Our rental home is currently rented for over 8 months this year which is unusually good. For Jan-March there is no doubt you could have it rented 10-20 times over!
There's another thread on this state tax at

talkofthevillages.com/smf/index.php/topic,2787.0.html

[gonzy]

I've done taxes for a number of people who rent out their homes in the villages. Those who have a mortgage will nearly always show a loss, those who have no mortgage come closer to breaking even, depreciation almost always put you near the breakeven or slight loss from a tax standpoint. From a cash flow standpoint its not a bad deal especially if you are still working and have a good income. It gets a little more complicated if you use the property more than 14? days yourself as this changes it from a pure rental property to a part time situation limiting the deductions you can take. I would have to look up the exact # of days you can use it before it affects tax situation. Remember you are also responsible for paying sales tax on any rental income.

[wlou]

We bought our home in the village of Amelia and closed on Dec 27th. We started renting it out thru the villages property mgmt in Feb. It (so far) has been great! They handle everything! Yes they take 20 % but we love the fact that they call our grass guy if they dont like how the grass looks, or will call the pset guys, the A/C people. etc.. They handle cleaning, renters, deposits eveything AND as far as taxes..They do charge us when we visit ( An amt equal to what they would have received from their 20%) and that way we do not ever have to worry about the 14 day rules of owner occupation with the IRs! It is working out well. It was rented the entire month of Feb and March. Most of April and 17 days this month ( May)... Hope this has helped! We will not be in TV Full time until about 4years or so...

[Sunflower]

WE are happy to say that we had our last tenant the first week in May.. The moving van arrives June 18th. We have used TV'S Hometown Property Management for 2plus years and have been satisfied. The income covered all bills for the year but not the mortgage. We had great tax benefits. Everytime we came to our house it still felt brand new.

We would have considered not aware. interviewing other property managers but we were not aware. These forums are great sources of info.

[Lovetobike]

I rent in TV each winter for four wonderful months. Last year I placed an ad in the SUN. I got a lot of responses! I was able to rent a 3 BR new Villa for $2000 a mo. plus $100 a month for golf car.
The response tells me there is a glut of rental available at all price ranges.

[Snowbird]

We bought a house in TV in June of 2006 and have rented it thru the Villages Property Management. We also have been pleased with the condition the house is now in, just like new! With our new contract they also let us have the month of January (at 20% of course), we also visit again in June. We believe property management has more "off season" rentals because they use the units in their sales department for many short visits. As others have also stated, the rent pays the utilities, amenities fees etc, but NOT the mortgage.

[Russ_Boston]

Help me understand this from a financial point of view.

It seems, to me, that the only benefit of buying and renting (since the rental income only covers ongoing costs and not the home price) would be to lock in a lower price for the home than it would be down the road. Or maybe to lock in a certain neighborhood instead of one of the newer ones yet to be built.

BUT

As those that bought in 2006 can probably attest, there is no quarantee that you can buy for less now than later. With 100,000 population and approx. 60,000 homes it stands to reason that there will always be resales on the market regardless of the allure of TV.

I've toyed with the idea of buying now since the prices have dropped (approx. 18% from their highs in my tracking of homes I'm interested in) but if you factor in either the mortgage cost, or the cost of money if you are paying cash, then i don't really see the need to rush.

[TomW]

Let me just throw this out there and hopefully someone can vouch for it or refute it, --- my general sense of pricing is that the prices of new housing won't go much lower, however, I don't think they are going up anytime soon either. Thus we have a 'U' shaped bottom rather than a 'V' shaped bottom. I fully realize no one can accurately call a bottom (or top) so these thoughts are just based on watching the prices over the last several months and adding that info to comments from you all and others. I'm guessing this general situation will continue for at least 6 months and perhaps as long as 18. I know these are wide points but it is a thoughtful guess rather than something calculated.

As to the buy-rent scenario, which will likely be our situation too, I figure we have at least a few more months in which to select and purchase a property. A significant change in the interest rates could affect the timing as well.

[Russ_Boston]

I like the time window that you've painted. I'm noticing that first time homes are starting to move rather quickly here in MA. That is the first sign that the trend will be up since we need new comers to allow the first home buyers to move to their second home etc. etc.

TV may be a little different since most people moving here are on at least the second tier of home ownership if not the third or higher. It might take a year or more to move the food chain up far enough to allow them to sell their 'northern' home.

[samhass]

Not sure about the glut you speak of. I have had almost 300 inquiries on my Mallory rental for the 2009 season. Callers are telling me that many of the homes a booked already.
Maybe they are referring to higher end properties. I'm not sure.







I rent in TV each winter for four wonderful months. Last year I placed an ad in the SUN. I got a lot of responses! I was able to rent a 3 BR new Villa for $2000 a mo. plus $100 a month for golf car.
The response tells me there is a glut of rental available at all price ranges.

[l2ridehd]

There are many other things to consider when trying to pick the right time to buy. I agree that we are at or close to the bottom of the price curve. It may go a % or 2 lower, but not much more then that. Also we are probably close to the bottom of the interest rate curve. Other things to consider, would you use the home if you bought now? Would you rent it any? What would the cost difference be if you wait? I worked mine out using a possible purchase of a 250K home. With 20% down you end up with a monthly cost for mortgage, taxes, mowing, water, electric, TV fees, and everything else I could identify of about $2,000 a month. I think I may actually come in just slightly under that, but it could also be a little more with a higher bond. So if I use it for 1 month a year and I rent it for 4 months a year, the net cost to me will be somewhere around 12K a year, even a little less if I consider the added tax deductions.

Do you believe homes in TV will appreciate 5% a year for the next 36 months? Do you believe interest rates will increase in the next 12 to 24 months? If your answer to these two questions is yes, than now is probably a good time to buy. You could wait for 6 to 12 months and may do a little better, but I think the odds are you will do a little worse.

In either case right now the selection is great, owners are willing to deal, and you can pretty much cut your own deal. Once prices start to move up even the slightest amount that will change. So as you have guessed by now, I bought a couple months ago. I think it is very unlikely I will lose anything and I have a lot more potential to gain value.

[tomlargay]

We purchased a new house over a year ago. We have had TV's Property Management handle the renting and have been very satisfied. They have it in the sales preview program so it has been rented most of the time, including some summer weeks in 2007.

I am a CPA so the tax situation was easy. But as stated above, if you are planning on renting you should consult a tax professional before and after you decide to buy/rent. In our situation the cost of ownership is about $1,500 a month. The cash flow for a year is close to the break-even point, but do not expect to make a hugh profit. It can if handled correctly be a good tax shelter. :bigthumbsup:

We are soon to be out of the rental prgram as we convert to being full time. If we had to do it over again, we would use Property Management again. It is very difficult to be a landlord from 2,000 miles away.

TL

[wlou]

I agree! I also think that the folks debating about when to buy, etc. need to think along the lines of ..Is TV the place I want to retire? If so, buying then renting now does make sense. We will not be FT for at least 3 yrs like stated but enjoy the fact that we got the house,price and village we wanted. Of course, ANYONE who bought in 2006 wishes they had waited for price reasons, but no one I have spoken with regrets buying. It is a personal decicion and it does make good sense tax wise.... Good luck, it is a hard decision! My opinion, and you know what they say bout them!) is keep looking until you see the house you just love, then buy. You cant go wrong...It took us 2 1/2 years of looking to buy....

[handieman]

We rented our villa part time while we worked our jobs up North. Used our villa the maximum number of times the IRS would let us before they strike some of the deductions. We bought right and furnished it as if it were ours to live in. The tax benefits were wonderful plus the rent absorbed some of the upfront costs. We had wonderful tenants and now that we are ready to move in ourselves, I have a list of callers wanting to rent mine or any home I suggest. I now assist others in the rental process and I can say there is no glut of nice rentals and no end of potential renters. The two go hand in hand. Don't be afraid to follow your dream. The Villages is a win-win situation for everyone
Come join us, there are nearly 70,000 smiling faces in TV now
Handie :joke: