What are your experiences with renting out your house or investment property?
 

What are your experiences with renting out your house or investment property?

My wife and I am in the midst of buying a house in TV, Yeah! We are not financially quite ready to retire and move in yet but wanted to buy before the house prices went up any higher. So, we plan to rent our place unfurnished for a year or more.

The question is do we have the Villages rent our place or do we try to do it ourselves. I figure that you all probably could tell us how easy or hard the process of renting out a place is.

Lastly, I don’t probably know how to properly use the site so please up front, let me profusely thank you all! The few questions I have put up in the past have been met with greatly helpful answers and offers. You have all been so kind!!!! Thank you!

So………. Do you have any comments, suggestions, words or wisdom in regards to renting an unfurnished home at TV??

I'm only speaking from my experience here, your mileage may vary.

We bought 3 years ago and rented the place out during high season ourselves.

I created a website as well as advertising on TOTV. I have had no trouble finding monthly renters during high season and picked up some stragglers in Nov/Dec/April/May.

We visited when we could when the place wasn't rented out.

About 2 years in, the wife figured out we wanted some place with a view that wasn't a villa wall, so we bought a 2nd TV home. We have been renovating that one since Feb of this year. We moved into our first home in April and have been full time TVers since.

We are keeping the first place and moving into the newer place this week.

If you want a completely hands off approach and don't care about the 20+% in management fees, hand it off to management company.

If you want to use the home throughout the year, do it yourself, you will definitely get renters Jan/Feb/Mar that will cover much of your yearly expenses. If you can pick up a few other months it becomes net positive income.

It is work though. You need the place set up to rent and be prepared to fix things that break. You should find a cleaner too. We clean, then get a cleaner to come in and get what we might miss and add some shine.

We offer a cart with our rental too.

Good luck.

So did anyone have problems getting rent paid due to the pandemic laws barring rent collection?

Just can't make myself rent my home to strangers with my personal belongings. I have 3 rentals, but they aren't my home.

We did this two years ago. Suggest using a local agent, unless you have someone around here who can help you. For example if there are any problems they have the resources to find someone to take care of the problem. In addition someone is going to need to show your house to persepctive renters. 2 years ago year round rentals were difficult. Not a lot of demand for 12 month rentals. We rented out a 3/2 and felt lucky to get $1500 a month and the renter did not pay the amenity fees. Without a mortgage we netted out $750- $850 a month. Was a good tax write off for us.

Good luck. In our case our tenant was better off than us.

Renting out a house is like buying a used car, if you don't know what you're doing, you'll get burnt.

My father had anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen rental houses while I was growing up. I was the slave who mowed the grass and took care of the yards, cleaned up and painted to prepare for the next tenant. What I learned is there are good tenants who treat the property as if it is their own and bad tenants who can cause more in damages than they pay in rent (if you can even collect the rent). There are a few in-between, OK, but not great.

It is important to qualify tenants, obtaining their credit reports and getting rental histories from past landlords. Many communities have landlord/apartment owner associations which keep databases on the histories of tenants, whether they pay on time or not, damage property and so on.

Most seasonal or week to month(s) long tenants in TV will be 50 and over, own their homes "up north" and be renting as snowbirds, to scout the place out to buy or just see if they like it. They will tend to be responsible people and gentle on wear and tear. Nonetheless if it were me I would check them out. Year to year tenants I would vet completely as I would anywhere.

This site might be of interest VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals
As a renter I would not want to move all my stuff into your home for a year. I would store it and rent for a shorter period in a furnished home. I could see renting a furnished home for a year. But then why would I want to rent for a long period of time in the villages? I would rent for short periods or buy a home. I think you will have problems.

[QUOTE=ComingfromCT;2039168]What are your experiences with renting out your house or investment property?

My wife and I am in the midst of buying a house in TV, Yeah! We are not financially quite ready to retire and move in yet but wanted to buy before the house prices went up any higher. So, we plan to rent our place unfurnished for a year or more.


From my limited experience, it will be very difficult to rent an unfurnished house. Most of the rentals are furnished. Also, you will be competing with landlords who bought several years ago - you can make money as a landlord if you bought for $150,000 to $200,000 as opposed to buying for $250,000 to $300,000.

Seems like the need is in shorter term rentals in furnished houses.

Rental
 

A neighbor furnished their rental with nice items picked up at Thrift Stores. That may be an option for you & make the home a more attractive rental.

As a landlord in the Villages for the last two years and up north for the last 20 years, I will say the two markets are considerably different. The is actually a Facebook group for Landlords of the Villages which might be of some help.

It is definitely a workable idea for a lot of folks .

We also thought that renting a place unfurnished seemed strange but supposedly there is more demand than supply in this renting arena (unfurnished house rentals) in the Villages. The rentals are 6 months to one year (long term).

My question was more to other Villagers who are renting their properties by themselves. What have your experiences been like. What are your thoughts/suggestions/wisdom from your experience?

Has most will point out oh, you need to furnish your home, but it can be done in expensively since there is so much furniture at the thrift stores for 75% off or more. Don't forget to include pots and pans dishes some towels as well and of course you need to buy some beds they don't have to be expensive but you have to figure several thousand dollars upfront lamps TVs etcetera

Reply
 

I am interested in renting for a year I am retiring in 3 weeks I think I will like the villages and am planning a first time visit soon My wife and I keep things meticulous 585 968 2210 we are in our low 70s

We are snowbirds & only here a few months of the year. I rent our villa out via a website, send contracts to renters & so far no issues. I only rent monthly or more & I get photo ID from then & a decent security deposit. Hope this helps.

Our entire life together we have owned 7 houses. We have always bought from thrift stores, estate sales, or garage sales, we never buy new as far as furniture goes or anything like that for our home. It is a waste of time and and furniture goes up over a 1000%. Always by I from a private owner or thrift stores et cetera.. It's just stupid to buy new , and I would say that about most anything. Except underwear maybe. L. Lol

Ohiobuckeye
 

As long as you’re renting it & not renting it out part of the yr. because you can’t live in it part of the yr. Renting gets a little confusing so I would suggest to go & ask a realtor or go to TV Head Office. I would let TV rent it because if there’s any damages TV will make sure it’s taken care of. I think if you want to live there as a resident or as a snow bird you’ll have to get a 2nd house! I don’t think you can stay in your rental house.

[That law applied only to Section 8 renters & other Federal Government subsidized rents.

.. unfurnished ... ??
 

..
Unfurnished will be a deal killer for the snowbird market ..

We have a home that we rent out long term, unfurnished. There is great demand. Our home has never been unoccupied, and when it becomes available we have many interested prospective tenants. We manage it ourselves, it is very doable. PM me and I’ll be happy to share more information.

We've used White Pelican Home Services for the last couple of years. Steve and his team have done an outstanding job managing our property. I highly recommend them.
Their ph# is (352) 388-3738.

Renting house
 

My husband and I rented a CYV for 3 months when we first arrived. The house was beyond dirty and required us to clean it before moving in. If you hire a house cleaner, do make sure you have someone checking their work periodically because they may not have cleaned well or not to your satisfaction. Suggest the same for mowing, fertilizing etc.
When we were moving to our new home, I mentioned the house cleaning issue to the owner and she was very upset and fired the service. Apparently, it was the first time she used this service. She had a neighbor washing linen and making beds up before the renter moved in. Again, there's a number of things that may go wrong or be incomplete for a new renter.
Prospective renters who come to the Villages expect a good return on their rental fee and the appearance of the property is paramount for repeat business.

Renting unfurnished
 

We were in the same boat. We used a local realtor and rented out our unfurnished home for over a year and had a great experience. The Realtor really helped.

Have had 3 rental properties since 2010, in TV. All unfurnished, long term one year. Most tenets stay for multiple years.
Average interest each year for potential tenants is over 20 per year. Managed ourself, sometimes long distance, with a reliable home watch.

Unfurnished long term, is very much in demand. No furniture to buy, tenets pay for their cable, electric, and gas.

Nope. With short term rentals you have them pay you upfront. It is normally 50% due 45 days after booking and the other 50% 30-45 days before they move in. All of my renters have been awesome too; I've never had an issue with a renter leaving on the agreed upon date.

Rentals - find dependent house cleaners
 

Hi - those of you who have rentals and do the renting yourself who is your cleaning service or how do you go about finding a cleaning service?
MF

Becoming a landlord is not for the faint of heart. Being a landlord several hundred or thousand miles away is even more challenging. Someone mentioned the facebook site Landlords of the Villages.. Perusing that site, you will find many questions from first time landlords.. Before you ink your new home contract, make sure you have clearly laid out your objectives and understand potential rent income, fixed and variable expenses..set asides for unplanned maintenance items (equivalent to an emergency fund)..not to mention an enforceable lease contract, who will be your local contact should (when) things go wrong etc.. It's clear that many on the FB site have bought first .. then start trying to figure the above .. and more .. out. Managing rental properties from property to tenant selection can be very rewarding or your worse nightmare.. Realize also, that your choice of a home that you are going to spend your golden years in may not be the prime property that potential tenants are looking for.. Best of luck to you

Include an ironclad clause regarding smoking.

Smoking is forbidden. That includes:

Interior of home
Exterior of home
Lanai
Garage
Personal vehicle on or off property

Attach a damage rider that's significant to cover a thorough professional cleaning.

Read through it, have a lawyer initial it, read it aloud to the renter, have them sign date and initial it.

Seriously, a smoker thinks that if they smoke off property, they dont carry that stench into YOUR home.

They do, and they will.

Absolutely not. Do not deal with this company. If you have any doubt just research Steve Stiffler

Don’t listen to the people who tell you that you need to furnish the house. Long term unfurnished is a slam dunk in TV. Just make sure you get an adequate security deposit and subscribe to a background check service

With a long term unfurnished rental I see the renter pays electricity, gas and internet/cable. Who pays the amenity fees that include water? Also, would the landlord pay for yard maintenance? What about pest control?

We had our share of bad renters from lying on the app about the number of people staying to another one using our home to grow Marijuana...you can imagine the damage that caused...and the cost.
All fixed and still rent, but very cautious about who it is...as best we can and we have mounted an outdoor camera.
We really enjoy being down there for the winter months, but we will never be full time..too hot. So I guess we stick with it a while -then sell.

Long term unfurnished, landlord pays amenity, water/sewer, lawn care, and pest control.

Renter pays, electric, gas if available, internet/cable, renters insurance, and fee for resident ID.

Since 2010, Our 3 long term unfurnished rentals, had no less than 20-40 applications, per year. Never had an issue with renter, money, and upkeep of home.
We rented on our own, from a thousand miles away. Had a great home watch person, to keep tabs on everything, and get a problem solved in 24 hours, if needed.

It depends what you want. If you want short term (weekly/monthly); then you should furnish it.
This allows you to use the property when you want.

If you want long term (year); then probably don’t furnish it.

We rented our cottage unfurnished long term for 10 years. Each year we spent a day emailing at least 20 people we had a new tenet. Long term unfurnished is hard to come by and easy to rent.

Those who have negative comments must have zero experience with long term unfurnished. No cash out lay for anything, renter in place for a year, and in our experience, some renewed, more than once.

Just sold the home, nothing had to be replaced including flooring. Best thing we ever did as a rental

yeah, I'm with you. I could rent to a friend, or a friend of a friend if vouched for.
We have a home on a lake in NY, and a place here in TV, both for our personal use.
I have considered the option of spending a month or two in a place like Tuscany, or Australia, and offsetting the cost by renting one of our places out, depending upon the season.
I would only do it via a friend or a friend of a friend, and would happily knock a significant amount off the rental to have someone I trust.

If you use a management company, avoid Down Home. They are not responsive to phone calls, emails or any other sort of communication. While they are quite good at taking their substantial cut of the rent, they fall short in doing repairs, properly vetting tenants or in adjusting things such as the sprinkler system. Their negligence caused me thousands of dollars.

My tenant is leaving April 24, furnished 2/2 Ruby for rent long term
 

We advertize on this website in: Real Estate, Houses for Rent. Our item:

Availible May 1st. long-term-2-bd-2-bath-between-cr466-cr466a Perfect location: ST. James

Check us out!

PS, You will love The Villages!

:welcome:

We had a long term rental(2018-2020) and we paid amenity fees, water, lawn service and pest control and were told that this was the usual.

If you are a landlord would not agree to electric since you have 0 control over the cost.