My brain is about to explode

[DruannB]

My husband is on again off again about buying in The Villages. Now he wants to do it NOW. So, OK, we can buy a house, but I'm not ready to quit my job. Where do I even start to turn our new purchase into a rental for one to two years? Is it even worth it for that short a time? How much will it cost me to get it set up? I am feeling overwhelmed. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[sunnyatlast]

My husband is on again off again about buying in The Villages. Now he wants to do it NOW. So, OK, we can buy a house, but I'm not ready to quit my job. Where do I even start to turn our new purchase into a rental for one to two years? Is it even worth it for that short a time? How much will it cost me to get it set up? I am feeling overwhelmed. Any advice would be much appreciated.

So let him come to TV "NOW", to do the work of setting up the house, while you continue working where you are, and he can "on again, off again" go back home and be with you.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

It would cost whatever it would cost to furnish the place for yourselves for part-time use....probably $15,000 unless you buy a place already furnished/turnkey which is possible (if you like most of their decorating).

You can charge $3,000+ in Jan. thru April. If $24,000 gross revenue in 2 years is worth it to you, go for it.

You can hire a property manager to do the renting and maintenance, for about 10-15% I think, and those are recommended here.

[DruannB]

On again, off again being in The Villages would be great, except for one problem--he hates to be separated. And I guess that's not really a problem. It's better than a husband who's dying to escape my presence. He's 7 years older, so retirement is looking pretty good to him, and I don't blame him.

Does anyone have any advice on which neighborhoods might appeal more to renters, or features that are MUST HAVES in rental properties?

[njbchbum]

DruannB - Take a deep breath and let your husband pursue his 'project' of buying now, furnishing and getting the house on the rental market! It will be much easier on you! :)

You can refer him to this site which offers scads of properties for rent and he can see what type of amenities each offers with their rental: thevillages4rent.com (http://www.thevillages4rent.com/)

[DruannB]

Thanks. I will check out the site. But if I sat back and let him take charge he would think I've developed some new disease. We are a pretty solid 50/50 team. It's just we don't always start out on a project with the same enthusiasm. Once I wrap my head around this project, however, I'll be fine. I just need a LIST or a PLAN.

[redwitch]

Renting a house during high season is relatively easy. Many rent it out themselves with a caretaker to maintain the home and make sure the renters are happy. Location is somewhat of a factor, but even those properties far from the squares can rent. You can rent out for longer periods, furnished or unfurnished, but that takes a little more work.

Start by deciding what you two want. You could buy a smaller property for now with the plan to buy up when you're ready to move here permanently. You could buy your dream house now. Just decide what is right for you, take one step at a time. It really will come all together.

[lanabanana73]

We rented last fall for the month of October and my husband was really pushing to buy while we were there. I couldn't really get my head around that idea, as we have several more years to work before retirement. He got his way though, and we purchased a small designer in Tamarind Grove. I furnished entirely with stuff from TOTV's classifieds and craigslist and spent about $4,000, including rugs, kitchen stuff and art. We signed in the middle of Nov and we had it rented Jan 1st. We finally got to stay there ourselves in April and I really like my house! We plan to use it for the months of April and October each year and rent it Dec-Mar. We do not use a management company. I've found my renters right here on TOTV. We are pretty sure we can make enough during those 4 months to cover the expenses for the year. Feel free to PM me if I can help in any way. Good luck!

[DruannB]

Alanna, good advice. I feel a bit better. I imagine I will follow your suggestion and buy used while it is being rented and replace gradually, room by room. We also have bought furniture to stage previous homes we've sold, so that furniture will come in handy. I just don't want to miss the high rental season.

[DruannB]

While everyone is feeling generous with their advice, if I might pose one more question. I noticed on the rental site that most property owners only rent by the month, even in the summer. That seems to make life much easier, but does it deter potential renters? Does that matter to you?

[wendyquat]

Though we personally rented by the month by renting the months of May and December 2010 while deciding if TV is right for us, I think it might be a bit more difficult to find renters by the month during the summer months. Many people are like you and still working and might not be able to rent for an entire month. Many don't care to spend that much time here in the heat of the summer! Having lived here four years there have been several times we've needed to rent by the week when our children or friends were visiting. On the positive side of that you can charge more by the week than by the month. We've just rented a week for $700 for our son and his family. That homeowner has the entire month rented by the week. That's approximately $2800 for the month where she could probably have rented the entire month of July for only $2000 or even less. One thing property owners seem pretty firm on are damage deposits and cleaning fees. i am only pointing out from one side. Others may share a different view.

[queasy27]

Druann, have you considered looking for a furnished house that's already being used as a rental? The Villages home search (http://www.thevillages.com/homes/poh.asp) has an icon that shows which are furnished.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I'm selling my two bedroom 1-1/2 bath with a garage and golf cart garage if you're interested.

[gap2415]

While everyone is feeling generous with their advice, if I might pose one more question. I noticed on the rental site that most property owners only rent by the month, even in the summer. That seems to make life much easier, but does it deter potential renters? Does that matter to you?

You may want to check out the regulations. I think renting for short periods is a vacation rental while long term, you come under the landlord act. Perhaps others have more insight into this.

[cmj1210]

My husband is on again off again about buying in The Villages. Now he wants to do it NOW. So, OK, we can buy a house, but I'm not ready to quit my job. Where do I even start to turn our new purchase into a rental for one to two years? Is it even worth it for that short a time? How much will it cost me to get it set up? I am feeling overwhelmed. Any advice would be much appreciated.


We purchased with the same timeframe. We purchased furnished so we didn't have to worry about the furniture. We only rent Jan-March to offset some of the expenses & less wear & tear on the house. We talked to The Villages Homewatch (didn't hire them) & they supplied us with a list of items that would be required. We fulfilled most of the list. Renting Jan-March is relatively easy. The other months are a bit tougher. Good Luck on whatever you decide.

[Waverunner]

Rental will also depend on how long you plan to have it be a rental or how much personal use you would like. We bought initially thinking we were five years away from retirement and rented our new house out unfurnished on an annual basis.

We bought the house, took lots of photographs of it empty and measured the windows for blinds. We advertised it for rent three weeks before we settled on it, and had it rented within a week of posting the advertisement. (This was the beginning of Dec.) Our tenants asked us for a washer and dryer (which we ordered from Home Depot on-line) and for window blinds, which we also ordered on-line with contractor installation.

We settled on the house and had about five days to get the installations done on the blinds and washer and dryer before the tenant took occupancy. We also decided that we would have the garage floor sealed before the tenants moved in and managed to get that done ahead of their arrival, while the garage was new and empty. (We consider the garage floor seal one of the smartest things we did for timing and our future use.)

We rented the house and then spent a great deal of time figuring out financially and otherwise how we could speed up our own timing and be the next occupants of the property. And, long story short, we made it happen.

We liked renting the house out unfurnished and there were plenty of people who were interested. (Our ad was up for a year and although it was posted that it was already rented, we were getting inquiries for future tenancy.) You don't get the high season rents, but then you have the peace of mind of having it rented all year and the money becomes a wash with the steady 12 month rents.

We bought a new house. In hindsight, the only other thing we should have done was to make certain all our warranty items were identified quickly. Some things have to be reported within 30 days of settlement and some within 12 months of settlement. We had a professional inspection done at 11.5 months, which identified more items than we would have found (to be repaired, replaced, repainted, etc.) but little items like scratches on the tub or on a mirror or on granite were not submitted within the first 30 days, so they were not fixed by The Villages Warranty.

Get the home you want, the lot you want and the location you want while you can. The rest will fall in to place.

[DruannB]

Thank you all for your help. It really does make it seem doable.

[DruannB]

We are now thinking that we will buy an unfurnished house and rent it only long term--like a year at a time--for two years until we can retire. Can anyone tell me, if it's long-term, what is the tenant responsible for? Must we pay for their trash pickup, electricity, gas, telephone, lawn care, and cable or do they pay for some of these? We need this information to decide on rental amount. We don't need to break even, but we can't take a huge loss. So forewarned is forearmed.

[perrjojo]

Thanks. I will check out the site. But if I sat back and let him take charge he would think I've developed some new disease. We are a pretty solid 50/50 team. It's just we don't always start out on a project with the same enthusiasm. Once I wrap my head around this project, however, I'll be fine. I just need a LIST or a PLAN.

I can relate to this. My husband always told me, "this is what I think." My reply was always, " I don't care what you think, tell me what you KNOW". I need to KNOW the plan. BTW, you will love it here.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

We are now thinking that we will buy an unfurnished house and rent it only long term--like a year at a time--for two years until we can retire. Can anyone tell me, if it's long-term, what is the tenant responsible for? Must we pay for their trash pickup, electricity, gas, telephone, lawn care, and cable or do they pay for some of these? We need this information to decide on rental amount. We don't need to break even, but we can't take a huge loss. So forewarned is forearmed.


You can set it up any way you want. These items can be included in the rent or you can have the renter pay for them separate of the rent.

[CassieInVa]

I believe a long-term renter or tenant usually pays their own cable, phone, internet, electric and or gas bills. The landlord normally will pay the amenities fee which also includes the water, sewer and trash. There are always exceptions, of course.

[Barefoot]

We are now thinking that we will buy an unfurnished house and rent it only long term--like a year at a time--for two years until we can retire. Can anyone tell me, if it's long-term, what is the tenant responsible for? Must we pay for their trash pickup, electricity, gas, telephone, lawn care, and cable or do they pay for some of these? We need this information to decide on rental amount. We don't need to break even, but we can't take a huge loss. So forewarned is forearmed.
We rented only once, unfurnished, to long-term renters. They hooked up cable TV, internet, gas, and electric, in their name.
We paid taxes, lawn care, pest control, and the amenity bill which includes water and garbage.

[Waverunner]

We had our tenants secure their own electric, cable, internet utilities, (and add gas if applicable).

The water, sewer, irrigation, trash, and amenity fee bill is bundled together monthly. We wanted the tenants to pay for their own water, etc. so we negotiated the tenant to pay this bill directly. Please note that you as the owner will have to monitor this bill to make sure it is paid, as if it is not paid, it is ALWAYS the homeowner's responsibility. (Some homeowners take the responsibility for this bill themselves and build it into the rent, or reimburse for the irrigation costs, or include water to a certain level and then bill the tenants for any overages. We didn't want to add any complexity into the mix and had the tenants just pay the bill outright.) Also know that this bill runs way behind and not exactly on true month dates. You may need to legally return a tenant's security deposit before you even know if they have paid the bills through the end of the usage period, so you may want to get an idea of what these costs are and decide how to best recoup them from the tenant.

We paid for lawn maintenance (cutting, weeding, pest control), pool maintenance, termite inspection/prevention, and interior/exterior pest control. We also asked our tenant to carry their own renters insurance for their liability as tenants as well as to cover their personal property.

We offer three bits of advice.

1. If you rent for a period of six months or less, you will owe a short term rental tax to the county you live in.

2. If you buy a new home, it can take a lot of irrigation water to get your lawn into good condition and takes good steady watering to maintain it. (We found that there was under watering in the beginning of our lease which led to some large water bills toward the end of the first year, just to get it green again.)

3. We caution you that many people come to The Villages with the intent of renting long term so they can get a feel for the place, sell their other home, they thought they should rent before they buy, and so forth. Many renters, who never thought they would buy right away, like The Villages so much that they go ahead and buy a house AFTER entering a lease. They then want to get out of the lease, some offering to help find replacement tenants, some with realistic and unrealistic expectations. We suggest that you understand this can and does happen and to build the scenario into your lease with a large penalty that is understood from the beginning. In case the lease ends before six months, make sure to include the percentage for short term rental tax as part of the penalty.

Other TV landlords may have some additional advice here. We hope they will chime in.

[DruannB]

Waverunner, that is very useful information. We do high-end rentals here in Ohio and we are currently dealing with a tenant who moved out early and thought he would just skip out on the rent. He also trashed the house, to the point that an entire bedroom has to be redone and a bathroom gutted. Our lease makes it clear he can't skip out and we will be taking him to court. But it happens way too often. Fortunately, this is the first time we've experienced it. But I've never seen this amount of damage after 7 months. And the house was so beautiful. Tomorrow we start gutting the bathroom. Boy, am I looking forward to that!