[Daddymac]

Originally Posted by keepsake

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.

THE TAXES... The “ Hotel tax “ has been in place for Years. It’s anything less then 6 Months must be paid. And you know the saying. They always get their money.

[MsPCGenius]

Originally Posted by Larry P.

I used villagershomes4rent.com ....

If I understand the concept, this website is limited to advertising your property. What I would like to know is how you handle all the mechanics of the rental process. Do you hire a property manager?

Things that come to mind...
Background check (if any)
Collection of deposits, rent, applicable fees, contractual paperwork
Exchange of keys, gate passes
Required repairs during rental term
Review of home post-rental (to determine if security deposit is returned)
Cleaning house between rentals (and possibly during long-term rentals)

My primary home is out of State so would not want to be on-call 24/7 to a renter. Help me to understand how to make it work.....

[Worldseries27]

Originally Posted by jpvillager

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

can bedrooms be rented out separately to individuals sharing kitchen lr etc ?

[dougjb]

Never Ever Use Down Home as your property manager.

Their sweet as cherry pie personality is balanced by a complete failure of management and communication. Once they get your signature on the contract, expect absolutely NO return phone calls or emails or texts. They only thing they do is take their chunk of the rent and hand you the rest.

I had a terrible experience with this company. They were nice enough to let me out of their "service" contract. No service at all that is!!! It wound up costing me plenty.

[HandyGrandpap]

[QUOTE=CoachKandSportsguy;2160381]
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

Good post as always Coach, It appears to me that the percent of new homes turned into rentals is higher than 1%, thank you

[Bay Kid]

What do most management companies charge?

[merrymini]

When we first arrived, we looked into rental agencies. Outrageous fees. Between their fees and the tax, there would not be much left, so we rented it ourselves. Since we had had rentals for decades, it was not a problem for us and it worked out beautifully. Do not listen to all those “formulas” for renting, they are not reality, ever.

[ithos]

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

What do most management companies charge?

10 to 20%.

Summer Lake Realty charges 10%. I have used them three different times and was very satisfied. They have been in business for decades and have always found renters for me.

Summer Lake Realty – Buy/rent in The Villages area

[AZ SLIM]

Originally Posted by ithos

10 to 20%.

Summer Lake Realty charges 10%. I have used them three different times and was very satisfied. They have been in business for decades and have always found renters for me.

Summer Lake Realty – Buy/rent in The Villages area

Do they do long term renters or short term for you?
thanks

[ithos]

Originally Posted by AZ SLIM

Do they do long term renters or short term for you?
thanks

Short term for me. They probably do long term too.

[Henryfrakl]

Cannot find Landlord's of the villages on face book

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

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

I have 2 rentals and agree with almost all of this except - The Villages management is NOT a factor - have never even heard a renter mention them, they are rediculously expensive, and they only seem to rent the high season.
Also, there are less rentals than their used to be because a lot of people sold when the market was really hot. I was getting calls all the time from realtors wanting to sell my houses (one is my retirement home, the other I plan to sell when I retire and use the proceeds to not take SS until I turn 70).
Occupancy rate - I have averaged 11 months a year on both houses every year for 10 years (6 for the second one since when I bought it). So it is more like 90% but I have repeat renters October-May, and I keep my summer rates where the "summer house tire kickers" will rent from me. I much prefer the house full than empty.

The beauty of renting in TV is the Renters are all upper middle class to upper class retirees - The fix more things than they break. I have had renters change fire alarm batteries and only tell me when they check out.... Its amazing. My 10 year old house looks brand new.

HOWEVER, you are NOT going to get rich. I am currently high income, and I like the tax treatment and the fact that I don't have to worry about cap gains until I sell. I also write off all my trips to florida because I am working on the houses (yes, it IS work). I bought the first house to avoid inflation. I bought the second one to diversify my stocks and bonds - and boy has it. The appreciation has far exceeded expectations.

I have friends who have houses and 4plexes as rentals up north and I would never do that- horror story after horror story. You won't get rich doing rentals in the Villages, but you don't have to deal with crappy renters either.

Bottom line- its great if you are high income and looking to diversify, but would not count on getting rich.

Ed

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by MsPCGenius

If I understand the concept, this website is limited to advertising your property. What I would like to know is how you handle all the mechanics of the rental process. Do you hire a property manager?

Things that come to mind...
Background check (if any)
Collection of deposits, rent, applicable fees, contractual paperwork
Exchange of keys, gate passes
Required repairs during rental term
Review of home post-rental (to determine if security deposit is returned)
Cleaning house between rentals (and possibly during long-term rentals)

My primary home is out of State so would not want to be on-call 24/7 to a renter. Help me to understand how to make it work.....

Things that come to mind...
Background check (if any)
Its called the phone - interview the potential tenant. Also, get all your money at least 60 days ahead - downpayment with lease, remainder plus sec deposit 60 days before move in.
Collection of deposits, rent, applicable fees, contractual paperwork
They send a check. Deposits returned by Check, start a seperate bank account. Lease is a word document, they sign and return with down payment, you sign, scan, and return by email.
Exchange of keys, gate passes
Garage code entry, everything on the table when they get there. I send a video ahead of time with all the instructions - how everything works.
Required repairs during rental term
They call - I have a guy for everything, golf cart, sprinklers, plumber, even a garage door guy.
Review of home post-rental (to determine if security deposit is returned)
Thumbs up or down from Cleaning lady by text message
Cleaning house between rentals (and possibly during long-term rentals)
Good cleaning lady - I pay her the $150 3 or 4 days ahead of the cleaning. This is the most critical thing.

Don't make it harder than it is. Almost everything is available on line. I highly recommend Villagers homes 4 rent dot com. They are the oldest and have the most ads. They are the first place people look, but any of the Villages sites are great. Stay away from AirBnB, wrong kind of renters for our market.