Renting out places in the Villages
 

This is intended for people who rent out or have rented out their places in the Villages. I understand that some people with places in the Villages may not live there full time. I would appreciate it if you could provide some insights concerning renting out your places in the Villages. Any insights are welcome, but some specific topics are of interest, as follow: Is there constant demand for rentals in the Village? Is it hard to keep a place rented for the majority of the time that you want to rent it? Does demand exceed supply? Is there a source of information that tracks this? How long are typical rentals? Days, weeks, months, years? Is there anything about this to look out for? If I am breaking some unwritten code by asking these questions, please feel free to make witty comments. Thanks.:wave:

Check out **** (villages rentals by owner) for a start.

A goldwingnut advertiser has faq and listings on its website. See his YouTube videos for the name.

Peak demand is the winter months. Don’t count on homeowners insurance to cover renters.

Be sure to check ...
I am under the impression that in 2022 and on, the county tax collector wants you to collect a tax if you rent for six months or less. Used to be 30 days. If you do lease for 184 days or more you are exempt from dealing with the local or county people.

Also be forewarned your homestead status could change. If you are permanent Florida residents in this one home, this could explode down the road.

There is a very active, and useful, FB group of Villages homeowners who rent their properties. They have answers to all your questions. They are a very friendly group. The group is Landlords of the Villages

Sine 2007 it was never 30 days, what year was that?

Need to consider your objective. If looking for some rental $ to cover time when your gone, no big deal. If your seeking as an investment it is not a given, other than perhaps your not carrying a loan on the property, or the loan is minimal. If seeking to rent and cover negative flow with appreciation, this may not be the best time. Some folks who purchased at the height with new homes can testify to such, including closing cost and such.

The gold standard of rentals is to get a one percent monthly return on market value of the property.
Considering costs and vacancy rates your RoI runs in the neighborhood of 8 - 10% before considering appreciation.

The problem is one percent is not achievable in TV. Three quarters of that, or less, is more likely for an average investor.

OP, is that enough to peak your interest?

Consider target renters profile:
over 55, fairly well off, thinking about retirement,
seasonal wanting to get away from cold/winter, one month average, 2 months special, 3-4 months rare
can do this with remote work, doesn't have kids (not a young person or family destination)

or future villagers wanting to rent to either figure out where to live
waiting for their house to be built (want to be nearby)
short term 4-6 months max type renter

or relatives of villagers wanting to visit who don't stay long
holiday timings 1-3 weeks max Thanksgiving / Christmas only . .

Competition:
Marketing brand name of The villages rentals when buying from the developer (owned by developer)
Lifestyle visits, with golf cart
More houses being built/sold (1% turned into rentals)
Houses with closer amenities, golf cart, shorter cart drive to town squares, number of golf courses within cart driving distance < 30 minutes

average cost of a standard house, annualized:
$18-$22 K, including taxes, insurances, bond, all utilities, amenity fee, deed required landscaping maintenance, on premise liability, excluding financing costs, depending upon size and age of rental.

Occupancy rate = 30% to 70%
Break even monthly rate for 4 months ~ $5,000
January -> April high season one renter, if you can get one
Off season =$1,000->$2,000 monthly rates

Just some ball park costs and you can get the rental rates from searching for rentals yourself


YMMV

That would be Rent From A Villager | Home Rentals in The Villages Florida | Advertise Your Village Rental RFAV is a site for all owner managed rentals.

Rent From A Villager is the company that Advertises on Gold Wingnuts Videos.

Join Landlords of the Villages on Facebook. A lot of landlords that are happy to assist.

I bought a 2nd home in TVs but I love my 1st home, great neighborhood, memories, etc. I would prefer to find a good year round tenant for my 1st home. Is there a good management company around and what would they charge?

Many of the landlords are owners who intend to use the home for themselves someday but aren't ready to spend significant time in the Villages yet. As such, the pure profit isn't as large of an objective as offsetting the costs until they're ready to use. Occupancy rate can be high and of course the prime season Jan-March can get $5k/mo while offseason (Jun-Sept) would be a third of that. I'd say a good rental over the course of a year (rented monthly) is $30 to $34k/yr. Those renting shorter terms can have higher prices but more work and some periods of non-occupancy. Others will only do long-term rentals at a lower rate (often unfurnished). Go to the different rental sites to get an idea of the going rate in the area you're looking for (making sure to look at all seasons, not just prime). Be aware some are looking at this as a business and are charging high rates and willing to have some months unoccupied while others are just looking to offset costs temporarily until they're ready to move to the Villages and may have lower rates.

I have found all months rented for over 2 years. I believe most rentals are either monthly or shorter periods with monthly being quite common.

Looking at the OP, it sounds like you may be interested in renting out when you are not using it yourself. Assuming you will be using it seasonally (during the high times) and wanting to rent out May through September, I'd suggest that you would not be getting much return and perhaps only enough to offset some of your costs. However, if you are using it only for shoulder months and it may be available to rent in January through March, you could nearly write your own price for those 3 months and get a renter.

I used villagershomes4rent.com before I retired and was very happy with the results. I was able to get top dollar for Jan-March and was usually able to also rent April and November. A few years I even had renters in the summer months; those were usually couples looking to buy property in The Villages. Renting the three months in the winter pretty much covered my mortgage costs for the whole year, the rest was gravy. Hope this helps you.