Will your real estate admit the following...?
 

...That is will your real estate agent tell you if the block you are considering is populated by AirBnb or Renters? My concern is I could wind up on a block that empties out in the summer and neighbors going north for the summer. Is that a legitimate concern? I don't see it mentioned very much in this forum. Thanks! Marvin

What makes you think your real estate agent would know if the neighbors are renting their property out on air bnb? Anyone can rent their property at any time. Just because a neighbor is living in the house when you move in, doesn't mean they don't leave for 4 months and rent their place out during that time.

Snowbirds are a thing in Florida, it's no different here in The Villages. You'll find vacancies in every neighborhood during the summer months. You'll also find rentals occupied during the summer months. There are even people who aren't snowbirds - but rather, part-time residents. They only come every couple of months, stay a week or two, and rent their home out to tenants short-term the rest of the time.

And then, you might have a neighborhood that's all owner-occupied, you move in, everything looks great, and all of a sudden 3 people on your block decide they want to travel and rent their place out for a few months.

It's a crapshoot, just like it is in most of the more densely populated suburban neighborhoods around the country.

spJust by reading your demeanor, your general level of knowledge and inquiry, etc.your real estate agent will be able to tell you EXACTLY what he/she thinks you WANT to hear. Have no fear of that. Want to know if there has been ANY sink hole activity near the home you're considering ? No worries, of course not, that would have to be revealed right ? Worried about AB& B, high percentage of rentals, of course not, not near the home you are considering. Are there NON compliance issues against the property.... perhaps it does not have the correct amount of grass, or too much stone/gravel, perhaps those beautiful trees that attracted you are actually out of compliance, planted too close to this or that, not to worry, just ask your agent.

So, you’re not here in the villages yet? You don’t want the quiet empty houses next to you 9 months a year? It’s Florida? Look at the thread about the next door pot smokers then decide, LOL.

Absolutely true, every word. 15, even 10 years ago, very rare, not all but many part time residents and rental investors existed far more in the villa areas, but that is definitely not the situation now.. Crap shoot for sure ! Our area of all full time owner occupied, owner designed, full time resident homes turned into AB&B land in less than two years after many years of friendly neighbors, driveway get togethers, knowing everyone's name, regular gold groups, and..... in a two year period, deaths, decisions to move nearer to family/adult children, yearning you experience a different retirement area before age or medical condition made that impractical, the stunning rise in cost of what was once one of the most affordable retirement areas in Florida, maybe in the south, and ...... many many many more reasons.

I don’t mind when snowbirds leave, traffic goes way down and. Neighborhood quieter.

Oral representations are meaningless. Circumstances change frequently here. In my opinion a block with higher priced homes will see less rental activity. Not much you can do

No - your realtor can not know if the street is full rental units or not.

If it’s a new build, you can not know.
If it’s an existing street, hang out around the street and ask. If someone asked me about my neighborhood, i would love to talk with them.

Considering there are 810 homes available in AirBNB for July 1 in the Villages area and there are over 80,000 homes here currently, wouldn't seem like a big problem. And if you're interested in a specific area, just go to AirBNB, zoom in on that area and you'll have an answer.

How does 810 on ABnB compare to all of rental sites used for TV? Our first visit in 2007 there were approximately 546 homes to rent in our criteria 2/2, for 3-5 days. TV was much smaller then, plus developer was renting homes owned by residents at that time for LSV. Not a group of homes in a village owned by the developer that you see today. We didn’t get a LSV house developer owned until 2010 at CSL.

Several years ago, the house next door was up for sale, a very nice couple stopped by our house to ask questions about the area etc., we found out a couple of days later they made an offer, and it was accepted, and we ended up with some very nice neighbors. My point if you find a suitable house stop by one or more neighbors and ask some questions.

Years ago I rented for a couple of weeks and the street I was on had a lot of short term rentals like me and I agree I would prefer a street with more year round occupants.

OP, the real estate agent doesn't have access to any of the information you mentioned that you couldn't access on your own. So, in my opinion, an agent doesn't need to provide you with any information of that type. Also, unless you are paying the agent as a buyer's agent, you don't have an agent. The agent is working for the seller.

This was a concern of ours as well. Avoiding Patio Villa neighborhoods will help quite a bit, as many investors will buy those to use as rental properties.

Once you've narrowed down your potential home choices to "the one", run the addresses for the homes on either side of it/behind it/across the street from it through the big 3 rental sites (Airbnb, ****, and VillagersHomes4Rent), and see if they are listed. Obviously you can check other sites, as well as include more homes in the search (all of the homes on a particular street, etc.), but this approach worked out perfectly for us.

Short Term Rentals Are a PROBLEM
 

The short term rentals are a major problem in the Villages, it would be a real crapshoot at best to buy without talking to neighbors. No one wants a revolving door as neighbors. You will have to do your homework for a good buy.