[Jim007]

Like many Villages' wannabes, my wife and I are caught in this economic quagmire. We don't want to buy a place in TV until we have our northern home sold. However, we are contemplating the idea of purchasing one of the pre-owned manufactured homes in the older section of TV. Then we could use it for wintering, say from November through March, and then rent it out between April and October.

The question I have is twofold. 1.) Do the homes in TV rent pretty consistently all year long, and 2.) What could one expect to rent a 2 bdrm, 2 bth manufactured home for during the months of April through October.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Jim007

[jeffy]

Go to www.thevillages4rent and look up what other owners are asking for properties in the historic side.

Properties are easy to rent in jan thru april. Other months not so easy.

jeffy

[Peazoup]

Jim007,
I bought my Villages home in the early summer hoping to rent it for the summer season until I came down permanently in the late fall. It didn't rent. In my opinion, summer rentals are scarce at best, although I must admit, I didn't advertise very aggressively. And I've heard the Villages Rental Program will not take your home unless it's for at least a year. Perhaps you should check with a real estate agent to see what the rental market will likely be next summer.
Good luck to you with the sale of your home up north. Hopefully, the early spring market will pick up.

[l2ridehd]

You might be better off to consider a patio villa if your plan is to rent. You can get new for around 140K and based on $$ invested vs rental income received, they seem to be the best value and provide the best ROI. Rental in the summer is really hard and you have to have an extremely low price and extra amenities to get any. What you may want to do is modify your plan a little, maximize your rent and still be able to use it some until your home sells. Jan, Feb and Mar are really easy to rent and even a patio villa will get $2500 a month for those 3 months. Use it yourself for Nov and Dec and again Apr and May. Those months are really nice there and yet you get the high rent months. Go to www.thevillages4rent.com and see the various type homes, the months rented and the rental income and you can make an informed decision. But from my observation a patio villa rents much better that a manufactured home. Someone else may have real data and that might not be so, but it appears that way from the rental sites. And I use them as I have a home I rent.

We used to rent out a patio villa, and I'd have to agree with l2ridehd. We rented ours about 4 years ago, when it was easier in my opinion to rent. We made our rents competitive i.e. cheaper than other rents, so it would be rented, but still were unable to rent it for June and July. Everyone has one to rent then, and they just about give them away. At the time we rented ours I think for around $2000 in February, and had to drop it to $850 or $900 in August/September in order to get it rented. Of course, The Villages has now put up the new homes for rent where the buffalo used to be; and, there are so many additional people living here than there used to be that also try to rent out their homes in the offseason, so there is much more competition than there used to be. I'd be reluctant to advise anyone to buy a rental and expect to do very well on it. If you don't spend time there yourself, you can write off a lot on taxes though.

[Villages Kahuna]

While they may be designed for short-term rather than long-term rentals, don't overlook the new competition from The Villages itself. The new houses and villas--I think there are almost 300--easy walking distance from Lake Sumter Landing are now in the final stages of being furnished. I've heard that each unit will be equipped with two new bicycles and a golf cart. They say that they're designed to fill the demand for the Lifestyle Preview program, but I've also heard that they will be available for longer-term rentals , as well. Introducing that many rental units into the market will certainly reduce demand for units owned by individuals/investors.

I'd be very careful making any assumptions about the possibility of renting other than January thru March.

[TomW]

Jim,
If you are considering buying, then renting for income, you must call the rental office and ask for their information packet. The packet provides the answers to most questions. Be aware that rentals have to be furnished and equipped to certain standards (aesthetic and safety) and that will consume much of your first year's income and perhaps a good bit of the second year's income as well. I'm referring to the rental program run by TV. There are other rental groups and businesses that have their own standards and fees.

[handieman]

Been there, done that and the above comments are well taken and I agree. With The Villages entering the rental market "full bore", i would be very caucious. I will say that the money we invested in a patio villa, was far better protected than that in my retirment funds in the stock market. Good luck
Handie

Just a quick note - it is quite costly to be in The Villages rental program. They take a considerable amount of your profits. If you do decide to go the rental route, if you have the inclination, you may wish to do it yourselves. We placed ads in the Daily Sun, as well as online, and screened potential rentors with a list of questions. We didn't allow pets or smoking and we got a security deposit, and had them sign an extensive lease with a lot of do's and don'ts in it. We had a cleaning lady come in who kept us aprised if there was any damage in that we would need to keep part of the security deposit (we never had to do that). You're generally renting to retired couples and they tend to be good tenants.

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by rekop

Just a quick note - it is quite costly to be in The Villages rental program. They take a considerable amount of your profits. If you do decide to go the rental route, if you have the inclination, you may wish to do it yourselves. We placed ads in the Daily Sun, as well as online, and screened potential rentors with a list of questions. We didn't allow pets or smoking and we got a security deposit, and had them sign an extensive lease with a lot of do's and don'ts in it. We had a cleaning lady come in who kept us aprised if there was any damage in that we would need to keep part of the security deposit (we never had to do that). You're generally renting to retired couples and they tend to be good tenants.

I was in TV Property Management for 3 years, and I believe the extra money I paid was worth every penny, and the term "quite expensive" reflects an opinion, and one I disagree with. Like you suggested, some are not inclined to do-it-yourself.
Not unlike using a contractor to build an addition on your house rather than doing it yourself, TV Property Management took care of all of the rental related work; they screened, scheduled, handled payments including security, and rented an average of 120 days a year. They booked January, February and March, and got another month thru weekly or multi-day Lifestyle Visits.
They assigned a caretaker who we spoke to regularly, and who did an outstanding job.
They provided monthly and annual statements, and included most of the rental expenses on these statements for tax purposes.
I thought they did a great job and it was worth it.
Like everything else in TV, it costs a little more but there is some perceived value that makes it worth it.
All the people who buy homes in TV could have bought elsewhere for less. Just pick up a Homes&Land Magazine and see the local outside TV prices to understand the difference.
Despite all the negativity about the builder and their programs, I think it's a class act. They do a good job with most everything they touch.

I'd advise anyone thinking of renting to speak with TV property management to understand their take on the current rental market. They will discuss how many days you can expect to get income, and what the terms of their contracts are. They did require you to make the house available during the high season (Jan, Feb & Mar). I'd seriously doubt there is a large rental opportunity in the off season, and if I recall correctly, if you spend 3 months in the house you will be unable to take advantage of the tax breaks that come with having a rental property (I think there is a limit to your staying in the property of 2 weeks per year)

[ijusluvit]

Hey Steve,

Since you're disagreeing, I'll disagree with you. Professional property management is a good idea, especially if you are a distance away while renting. We were in the TV program for one year and I fired them. Despite their thoroughness, they are completely inflexible. They charge 5% more for their service, they have very tight rules about when you can use your own home, they won't let you have certain equipment on site because their caretakers don't want to be responsible for it. (a gas grill for goodness sake!!!). And, despite telling us our place was highly desirable, it was vacant in a couple of the high season months.
Two years ago I found a private manager, one of many out there now, who is FABULOUS. His motto: It's the owner's home, the owner makes the rules. He only manages twenty or so properties, but until this winter he has rented our place every month we wanted him to do so. (We didn't rent in October and we had our first cancellation this January.)

Yes, TV does things well, but it is very difficult to be their partner. I'm pretty sure one reason they built Creekside Landing was so they would have to deal with fewer frustrated partners.

[SteveFromNY]

Ijustluvit -well you're not exactly disagreeing with me. My basic argument was whether to Do It Yourself or hire a manager. Whether it be TV property management or another, the intent would be the same - let someone local do the work, right?

I wasn't as concerned with the rules, as most of them made sense to me and I agreed with them. As I recall, the rules didn't want you to supply a golf cart (probably to bolster their cart rentals and to avoid them getting them fixed if the tenants didn't take care of them), and I really didn't want to worry about it either. As far as gas grills, I'd also rather not have someone leaving smoke stains on the ceiling of my lanai because their steak flared up too much.

I was able to use the house any time I wanted except the high season. But even one January they didn't have a rental for the first week, and I asked to use it. They said no, because I was not allowed to during high season. I spoke to the manager and they said it was OK since it wasn't rented. So they were flexible for me. I only needed to give 30 days notice to break the contract (not during high season though).

I'd still want to speak with them even if just to test the waters. How anxious they are to get your house in their program, and how much they indicated you could expect to rent, would be a good barometer of the current rental market and an indicator of how Creekside has affected it.

But everyone has different experiences, and I am glad your property manager worked out well for you.

And again, we are probably more in agreement than disagreement since we did both choose to go the property manager route.

Have a good one!

[Jim007]

Thank you all, for all of your input. With the information you have shared, my wife and I will be in a much better position to make such a decision.

Thank you again.

Originally Posted by SteveFromNY

I was in TV Property Management for 3 years, and I believe the extra money I paid was worth every penny, and the term "quite expensive" reflects an opinion, and one I disagree with. Like you suggested, some are not inclined to do-it-yourself.
Not unlike using a contractor to build an addition on your house rather than doing it yourself, TV Property Management took care of all of the rental related work; they screened, scheduled, handled payments including security, and rented an average of 120 days a year. They booked January, February and March, and got another month thru weekly or multi-day Lifestyle Visits.
They assigned a caretaker who we spoke to regularly, and who did an outstanding job.
They provided monthly and annual statements, and included most of the rental expenses on these statements for tax purposes.
I thought they did a great job and it was worth it.
Like everything else in TV, it costs a little more but there is some perceived value that makes it worth it.
All the people who buy homes in TV could have bought elsewhere for less. Just pick up a Homes&Land Magazine and see the local outside TV prices to understand the difference.
Despite all the negativity about the builder and their programs, I think it's a class act. They do a good job with most everything they touch.

I'd advise anyone thinking of renting to speak with TV property management to understand their take on the current rental market. They will discuss how many days you can expect to get income, and what the terms of their contracts are. They did require you to make the house available during the high season (Jan, Feb & Mar). I'd seriously doubt there is a large rental opportunity in the off season, and if I recall correctly, if you spend 3 months in the house you will be unable to take advantage of the tax breaks that come with having a rental property (I think there is a limit to your staying in the property of 2 weeks per year)

I don't disagree with you - I'm sure The Villages does a great job. However, the point of my post was, if someone wants to make a little more money and do it themselves, its not that difficult. Anyone can rent their place in the high season for three months. Its a no brainer, and that three months is pretty much all The Villages would guarantee. We managed our property ourselves, and with careful pricing and good advertising we were able to rent it 10 months a year, plus get the tax breaks. I realize many people would not want to be bothered with that type of commitment, but it is do-able if one is so inclined.

[KayakerNC]

Originally Posted by SteveFromNY

**snip**I'd advise anyone thinking of renting to speak with TV property management to understand their take on the current rental market. They will discuss how many days you can expect to get income, and what the terms of their contracts are. They did require you to make the house available during the high season (Jan, Feb & Mar). I'd seriously doubt there is a large rental opportunity in the off season, and if I recall correctly, if you spend 3 months in the house you will be unable to take advantage of the tax breaks that come with having a rental property (I think there is a limit to your staying in the property of 2 weeks per year)

I've asked Property Management to send me the information package on the rental program. Could you give us an overview (the short down-and-dirty version) of the "Tax Breaks" that would come to a rental property owner?
Thanks