Renting your home info
 

We are not snowbirds but like to go back to Denver for a few months per year. My husband is worried about renting our home here. Can anyone speak to if they have had problems with adult renters? We also have a pool . I’m curious what a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with golf cart and pool would typically rent for. Thanks in advance.

There are other threads on this topic. Do a search. The goft cart will be a potential liability, as well as the pool. You may need to pay sales taxes to Florida. Renters can bring a dog if they claim that it is a service animal. They may also bring children to use the pool. Do you have a landlord policy? Some things to consider. Unless you need the money, it may not be a good idea.

If you don't have someone local managing your property on your behalf (like - an actual property management company, not just some guy who lives down the street), you could run into all kinds of problems, and you won't even know you have them until it's too late and the damage is done.

You'll have to pay for a property manager but you can just incorporate that into the rental fee. They can vet the potential tenants, do credit checks if you want (costs extra AFAIK), handle deposits and tourism taxes (short-term rentals get taxed, and you have to make sure the county/state gets its money). This also ensures that potential tenants know that -you- are a reliable landlord. Anyone who would let me spend a month in their personal home while they're not there, who doesn't make sure I'm not going to gut the place before I skip out of town, is not someone whose house I'd want to live in.

and don't forget squatters ....like bed bugs , very hard to get rid of.

and your personal stuff would need locked up somewhere unless your letting them wear your cabana wear and get beer stains on them while dancing at the square, etc. It sounds from your post your more interested in having someone at the house than making money? If so, there are many posts on long term house vacancy (shutting off the water, pool maintenance, etc.)

This is one place you might list your home and you might be able to see what others charge
VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals
I would vote with your husban and not rent.
You will need to have the property inspected when each tenant leaves and also have the place cleaned.
If you had a neighbor that would help then I could see renting.

Ditto.

Plus.................do you want strangers doing strange things in your bed??

Depends, what sort of things

Nope nope nope.
 

We thought the same, Until we tried it. Never again, we found most of the people that would rent for a few months will not clean or take care of even the simplest things like dishes or vacuuming .
And forget about taking care of the house or the golf cart or the pool. You will be amazed at how someone can trash a home in that short of time. we found that short term renters only want to party have no responsibilities pay the money and then walk away. never again. And we rented to a retired priest. we thought you can’t get much safer than that boy were we wrong,
if you do not need the money and you value your home, don’t do it

What extra insurance will you have to pay when renting your home? How much liability with pool and golf cart.
I would never do it and we were snowbirds for 2 years.

Another option for you is to Self Manage your home and save yourself up to 20% in property management fees.
High season is easy to rent and that is where you can save big bucks on commissions fees that you would be paying to a property manager. Put that money back into your pocket! :$:

You can hire a homewatch company to oversee your home. They do everything except vet your tenants, the leases, and collect payments. Take a look at Homewatch by Mike and Molly http://mikeandmollyhomeservices.com/ Using a homewatch service is your boots on the ground if you live afar. They are there if anything goes wrong.

Then advertise your home yourself on a site like Rent From A Villager www.rentfromavillager.com It is easier than you think.

Do your research and good luck! :thumbup:

If one leaves for months one is what T V calls a snowbird.

My brother uses a management company to rent his home. No str as they beat the heck out of a home over time or possibly all at one time. The management company takes a % each month but handle EVERYTHING right down to "problems" ie: non-payers, toilet running, everything. My brother says "Guido" (ya know from the movies) will take care of "it". No worries for my brother on finding and managing all details.

With a pool and golf cart there is extra liability on one's part. Those items could really hurt an owner. My brother has neither. Rents his home up by SL for $5k a month. % started at 10 last I knew of. Could be 15 to 20 in this great economy.

Which months would you be renting? This is a huge factor on the hassle/dollars tradeoff analysis.

That's funny lol and your not kidding...

A friend had bed bugs get into their house... cost $$$$ THOUSANDS to get rid of those little visitors!!! Terrible and gross as all get out.

What months you are gone will determine how much you can rent it for. High season you can get what ever you want but the summer months you will get much less. I rented mine when I first bought it because I was away in NH taking care of my mom. Most of the people were very nice and if you make them pay a good security deposit I found they will make sure they leave your house as they found it to ensure they will get their deposit back. I do not have a pool and I refused to let them use my golf cart because of the liability. They can easily rent one. For two months in my opinion it’s not worth the hassle. There are lots of people who can watch your home while you are gone for a fee.

I have never had any problems come out of renting my home out for a few months a year. The rent is depending on the month Jan.-April You will not have any problem finding someone. Look on villagershomes4rent.com to get a idea of how much. Probably 5k per month.

Be very careful about any tech devices you may have like Ring cameras, other recording devices etc. in any rental unit. They can be a criminal invasion of the renters privacy.

Rented Out for 3,000
 

We rented out our 2,000 square foot designer in Dabney for 3,000 a month, but it doesn’t have a pool yet. They have been permitted to use the cart and I think our Umbrella covers everything. But again, this is way out of the way of most villages, this is in Dabney.

If you are in a desirable neighborhood, I would think you could get a thousand more a month with a pool.

Snowbirds have permanent resident elsewhere and fly to FL to avoid the snow. FL residents who leave FL during hot summer months are just on vacation…. I call them sunfish 😀

We found that the months you want to leave are the months you won’t find renters. Jan-Mar can rent for up to $7000 a month, Jun—Aug <$1000 if you are lucky to find someone.

We did rent our home Jan - Apr and made enough money to pay the annual expenses but the other months like Oct - Dec, which is very nice weather in FL and cheaper things like golf is when we were here. You will have to pay sales tax to FL if you rent for <6 months. Insurance will be higher and don’t not tell them. Something happens and they may not cover the loss. You personal stuff needs to be packed up and locked away. Even things like toilet paper and paper towels, 2-3 in the baths and in the kitchen and the rest locked up.

I would never rent out my home again, I would consider having a 2nd property nearby where I can meet the tenants, check up on them occasionally during the months they are there and would never have an AirBNB and be my own manager.

Personal opinion only. I value my home and neighbors too much to rent. If you decide, I wish you the best.

Don't ever use Down Home management. They will wind up getting less rent than you ask for. They will rarely if ever be responsive to your emails, phone messages or texts. For me, they wound up costing me hundreds of dollars and still would not check the timing on the sprinklers...for months. They failed to submit reports in accordance with their agreement.

But, they were very good at pulling their commission out of the reduced rent they finally got from the tenants.

It was an incredibly bad experience. If you want more info, please pm me.

We would Never Do It.
Pool would make your house Party Central. 'Nuff said.

But- Your Husband is right 100%

OP, you do realize that the money you make on rent is taxable income.

Is your house in an LLC?

The liability with the pool is not worth it.

If you’re going back in the summer months there’s not a lot of interest from renters during those months, and the amount of rent you’d get is pretty insignificant vs the in season rates. I wouldn’t do it unless you really need the cash due to increased liability and the hassle of it.

Actually a person who owns property in TV and leaves for a couple months in the summer are called Sunbirds. They fly away from the humidity and hot sun and go north. A snowbird is just the opposite. They fly south to get away from cold and snow.

We usually go north to get away for a couple of months in the hot summer. We get a “house-watch” but never rent our home to anyone. We let our kids and grandkids use it on as needed basis while they vacation. No problems.

When we decided to build a pool we also decided to never rent the home. No one sleeps in our bed, swims in our pool, or drives our golf carts. Plus, whenever we feel like it, we can jump in our car or grab a flight and go to our other home for as long as we please. Plus, we spend the four prime rental months at our Villages home, so the benefits of renting would be minimal at best.

Check out villagerhomes4rent.com These are typically owner managed properties. As a renter, I use this site. You can check out the rates for different homes, location and by the month. I see a lot of good advice from experienced owners on here. Good Luck!

We are from the UK and visit TV during March and Oct-Dec every year. We rent our home out twice, Jan-Feb and Apr-May. Then empty in June - Sept. These two rentals cover our annual expenses. We just then cruise around the Caribbean during Jan/Feb just to escape the UK weather. We are so lucky!!

I call ourselves Hybrids. Grandchildren at Maryland, NYC, Poconos, Hawaii and Augusta Georgia soon. Just went for a week to watch my Grandson’s Fall Baseball practice.

Unless you have one heck of a special umbrella policy, it definitely does not cover renting out your home or covering the rental of your golf cart. You are opening yourself to a devastating liability. Check your insurance and verify it covers the rental of your house and golf cart (hint: it doesn't) and ask yourself if the taxed income you are receiving is worth the risk.

If you are a renter, these are the kind of folks you want to rent from. No idea of what their insurance covers and if injured they have a lot of personal exposure.

I agree. There have been other threads on this topic. Lawyers have said that there is no effective way for a property owner to cover their liability for an accident caused by a renter using a golf cart. The personal liability coverage in your auto or homeowner's policy may extend to a non-paying friend or relative, but not to a renter with a lease, regardless of how the lease is worded.

Even if you put your house into an LLC, you limit your losses, but can you afford to lose your house?

If you don't need the money, I would just close up the home for that time period. We went north each summer for 20 + years, for about four months and had no problems. We turned off all water, emptied the fridge and freezer inside but let the garage refrig/freezer on, turned off the electrical to all appliances and the water heater, disconnected the garage door operator, turned on the fans, set the thermostat to 78 F, took in all outside items that could become missiles during a hurricane, made sure the sprinklers were operating correctly, set a lamp on a timer, stopped the paper, forwarded the mail, and had a neighbor look in occasionally. We disconnected the battery on the golf cart, but did nothing else. Never had a battery or startup problem when we returned.

Peak periods such as Jan. Feb, Mar, April that demand a peak season price always brings respectable customers. However don’t trust the summer season customers who come to take advantage of lower rates. They have less respect for personal property

Do you have any data to support that assumption? I would highly doubt that the renters during the peak season are always respectable customers. I think that the peak season would attract more multiple families who will put more wear on the house. But, I definitely don't agree that there is any noticeable difference in respectability between summer and winter renters. Some renters will respect your property and some won't.

Actually, rent price often seems to make a difference - not always. But I noticed too not only in TV but in my very large city up north. When I asked my city neighbor who always manages to get excellent renters for his condos, what was his secret? How did he select his tenants? He said to me,”I charge high rent.” (He also keeps his place immaculate.)

I would point out that the rent in The Villages is seasonal, higher in the winter and lower in the summer. It is also very competitive. If a landlord charges a high rent, they probably will have trouble getting tenants. Are you saying that winter renters are better renters than summer renters? If so, I don't agree.

Don’t know in TV - my TV neighbors rent to the same old couples in the winter for years at a time. They themselves stay in their houses in the summer.