May I pick your Brains...New Owner!

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  #16  
Old 10-23-2018, 08:24 AM
valuemkt valuemkt is offline
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You have, or will shortly be, making an investment of several hundred thousand dollars. Your questions don;t revolve around whether its a wise investment for you, so let's set that aside. Now you have a piece of property that you will only use for a small portion of time every year. And I'll assume the rest of the time you will be living no where near the Villages. First thing I would do is protect it.. Insurance .. have you considered extended sinkhole and flood insurance ? You'll see a myriad of opinions. Next.. a "caretaker" for your home while it is vacant. In the Villages, most people (myself included) hire a HomeWatch service. Generally a Village resident that has set up their own business. When vacant, they visit your home every week, run the faucets, dishwasher, flush the toilets and make sure there are no burst pipes etc .. In my case, they also greet my tenants and act as a Village point of contact in case anything goes wrong while they are there. They also do the checkout review and clean the place to ready for the next tenant. The golf cart also gets a lot of differing opinions. My vote is NOT to provide one to renters. Next you need to get smart on what landscaping and pest control means here. You could drive yourself crazy by hiring different people for grass cutting, weed pulling, fertilizing, pest control, termites, shrub maintenance etc.. This blog will also give you the variety of opinions on that.. There are some very big companies.. some enterprising young locals that have their own business, and of course some shysters. Whatever you do, dont prepay for anything. I chose a smaller family owned business to do all of the above, and I pay a fixed rate monthly. Opinions on internet and TV service vary .. Do your own research. Finally, picking tenants.. If you would not give the keys to your car to anyone, why would you give the keys to your $ X00,000 house to anyone, I advertise on VH4R and a few other sites.. and screen people of interest myself. I would never let a property management company do it. Buying a second home is challenging.. Renting it adds another layer of complexity. Even if you;re already committed, don;t rush into the rental until you;ve really thought things through. Hope this helped a bit
  #17  
Old 10-23-2018, 06:53 PM
roxelle44 roxelle44 is offline
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Yes, very helpful...
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lawn, companies, elec, utility, villages, property

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