Are rental #'s really this crazy?
 

I don't pay any attention to the rental market in The Villages, but this popped up on Facebook today and out of curiosity, I looked.

Rent From A Villager | Rental Homes in The Villages Florida | Advertise Your Village Rental


1500 sq. ft. 3 bedroom/2 baths. I guess it comes with a golf cart. Near the Shallow Creek Golf course and apparently 15 minutes from Sawgrass ... like Sawgrass is a huge draw.

$7000/month for January or February?

Are people really paying that kind of money for rentals in the middle of nowhere?

Checking other 1500sqft 3BR/2BA units on that site shows that no, people generally aren't paying that much (though some are close).

Back in 2021 the off-season rates were about $3K/month and in-season were about $4.5K/month.

Pool houses rent for those rates, and are rarely vacant. But a standard designer seems over priced, no matter where it’s located. Its does list its rented for March.

Then again one can rent a home in Golden Oaks at Disney with 11 bedrooms for $35,000 a month. And has some months rented this high season

I guess so ... Says March is rented. We'll all drive ourselves nuts trying to understand how people spend their money ... likely the March tenant has lots of it. I've seen listings way higher than that for Designer homes not amazingly nicer. Sometimes I wonder if some owners just put their house up for rent for a super premium price and, if someone rents it, then pack up and leave clicking their heels. Good for both sides of the deal!!

I've noticed the same thing, it's weird that south of 44 they seem much higher rent and more occupied than the ones up north. I see a few in the historic and North of 466 that are 2000 a month during the high season. We rented in each area over the past few years, when we were trying to decide on an area to buy, and they all seemed about the same. I think the highest we paid was in the preserve area on Moyer loop.

It's hard to tell what people are thinking.

I certainly could be wrong, but from the wording of the post on Facebook, I suspect the "rented for March", means the owner is using it for that month.

The most popular month for rentals, as the owner if I could really get $7,000 for March would rent a different house for myself and still make a large profit on that house.We know couple of pool homes that rent in the summer for $$$$, and travel to their northern home.

Last time we rented one our homes not as long term was 2015, rent was $4,500 month. Really haven’t kept up on rentals since all our homes were all long term.

Don't kid yourselves!

Posted requests for rent are rarely the rent paid.

People in the Villages think that everyone pays this much money for a rental. For several years, up to a couple of years ago, I was able to rent a beautiful, well appointed 3 bedroom designer home for the month of December for $1500...including a golf cart! After that, I had to pay $1600.

Some landlords I contacted after than turned up their noses at being offered 1500 for December. As it turned out, their rental unit stayed vacant for the month of December. I guess they just liked tossing 1500 away instead of banking it.

By the way, a landlord knows a good tenent when they see one. A renter who does not have any pets, does not smoke, does not have gobs of family members or friends visiting and who would be a steady continuous caring tenant for years to come.

Most landlords realize December is a dead month. They simply cannot give away their rental.

So some will be willing to take in a good tenant so that they can increase their rental income for the year.

If any of you landlords out there want to have a regular, steady, dependable tenant for December, let me know!

If I wanted to convince potential renters that the price was fair, I would say that someone paid already that amount. How would anyone verify it.

Since I read all the responses and they seem to have no idea, I will give you the lay of the land. I have 2 designer home rentals and have been a landlord since 2014. Luckily, I got them before the higher home prices and higher interest rates because being a landlord in TV just does not make financial sense with the current situation.
High Season rents are running about $5800-$6000 for Jan-March, $4500 for April. Off Season depends on the month but ranges from about $1800 in summer to $3500 in Nov. You absolutely have to charge those rents in the high season or you can't make it work. $7000 is a bit gready, but there is such a shortage in high season someone might pay it. At $6000 a month for 2025, I had Jan-April rented on January 14 of 2024. A year ahead. So the supply and the demand support it.

Just to run the house for a year costs over $20K with insurance, upkeep, and taxes, not to mention a new roof every 15 years, golf cart maintenance, etc. That is not counting the actual mortgage some carry and some return on investment. To be honest, when you do the math, you only make money at all when you sell, and I figure thats about 5% a year.

My houses are between LSL and Brownwood, which helps rent the off season, but I would not call Sawgrass "the middle of nowhere".

Those are the facts.
Ed

When you break it down it really is not that bad the way most people rent here. 3 bedrooms which means the house will have at least 6 people in there all armed with guest passes (at least) that can use almost all the amenities for free. I don't know where else you can go in Florida for a month for about 2400 per couple and have access to all the amenities like there are here for 80 dollars a day per couple during the high season. In the meantime, owners who reside here or come down for the winter wait for use of amenities, restaurants etc.

This is a very insightful and detailed look at things. Thank you for sharing.

Unfortunately there is nothing in the Deed Restrictions to keep people from buying a house and turning it into a hotel/motel by the night, or week. Hopefully you don’t buy or live next to the motel and have strangers in and out all the time intruding on your lifestyle and peace during your retirement years. Sadly it’s happening.

For 20+ years before Covid Lockdown, my wife and I spent our winters in TV.
Prices were reasonable, and to our mind a bargain.
Post Covid the world went mad, rentals doubled and more, car rental quadrupled, transatlantic flight costs doubled, making TV no longer a bargain in our eyes.
Miss the place terribly still, but refuse to pay those prices.
Not a problem for landlords however, every thing still seems to be booked for the high season.

The house one over from me is a rental and I’ve never in 3 years seen one person. I only know they’re the by the trash in the driveway. Once one of them did tell my other neighbor my sprinkler head was broken.