Adv a Vacation Home? (by Rich [PA]) Oct 28, 2020 11:51 PM
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Rich [PA]) Oct 29, 2020 8:45 AM
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Still Learning [NH]) Oct 29, 2020 8:54 AM
Adv a Vacation Home? (by OKHMBLDR [OK]) Oct 29, 2020 10:48 AM
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Oct 29, 2020 11:36 AM
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Shark [MI]) Nov 1, 2020 2:01 PM
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Rich [PA]) Posted on: Oct 28, 2020 11:51 PM Message:
It took longer than planned - been thinking about it for 15+ years - but I will finally be purchasing a vacation / 2nd home just off Anna Maria Island (Perico Isl)) in Florida next month.
My short term plan is to rent the place seasonally (winters, summers) and get some use out of it by using the IRS allowable 14 personal days and some additional weeks to do maintenance, repairs and upgrades when not rented. Since I reside in Pittsburgh, I will need to find some locals to assist with time sensitive repairs and cleanings.
The place is a single family home within an HOA. The HOA requires rentals to be a minimum of one month, which I am comfortable with. I will be mortgage-free on this property so I will not have to sweat maximizing gross rental income.
Getting to my question: I was a bit shocked by the cost, both to the property owner and the renters, to advertise on the popular vacation websites (e.g., VRBO, Airbnb), Approx 20% of the gross rental amount! As a result, I posted ads on Zumper and Craigslist / Sarasota, which cost me nothing. Unfortunately, these platforms are better suited for annual rental situations so I'm not confident that they will be very effective. For those landlords with remote vacation rentals, do you have a strategy to find good renters and avoid the high cost of vacation rental advertising?
--108.39.xxx.xxx |
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Rich [PA]) Posted on: Oct 29, 2020 8:45 AM Message:
Also interested in how folks collect rental payments for seasonal rentals. --108.39.xxx.xxx |
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Still Learning [NH]) Posted on: Oct 29, 2020 8:54 AM Message:
My husband uses VRBO. About a year ago it changed and the cost/fees became much more. I think some owners eat those costs, some push them to the renters and others split them. Click on some listings and at the bottom see what fees are added: cleaning, pet, damage insurance. Also note, cancellation policies with Covid became very loose so the market is a little off at least in ski towns. If you find an owner with lots of rentals and great reviews, call them and ask about the process. Someone might be willing to share their cleaning person name and experiences with you. My mother in law uses a real estate office to do the rentals since they are longer term. I’m not sure if VRBO or a rental office is better suited for “longer term” rentals. If the fees are comparable it might be worth it to have an office deal with everything vs you coordinating check in/check out/cleaning/trouble shooting problems. Good luck and enjoy! --73.17.xx.xxx |
Adv a Vacation Home? (by OKHMBLDR [OK]) Posted on: Oct 29, 2020 10:48 AM Message:
I had eight condos in Branson (sold all two years ago and retired). I began using VRBO before they started adding the additional fees. When they sold to Expedia they started adding an 8-10% fee to the booking. Pissed me off at first, but then I noticed that the renters didn't seem to care, paid the extra and booked the condo.
I also did a Craigslist add in 10 markets within driving distance of Branson. I used it to drive the guests to VRBO, but I also made it clear that they could book directly with me and save 10%. About 10% of the bookings were thru me, but 90% still came thru VRBO.
I was fortunate to locate a really good cleaning crew and an excellent handy man. They were great at handling all the problems.
If I were to do another vacation rental I think I would just use a management company and let them handle everything.
In Branson most of our rentals were 2-7 days. I wouldn't know how to approach a 30 day rental.
You will have a learning curve, but you will figure it out.
Enjoy the beach! --174.67.xx.xxx |
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: Oct 29, 2020 11:36 AM Message:
Vacation rental that long might be difficult for you.
Ever consider Corp Housing by Owner instead? --24.101.xxx.xx |
Adv a Vacation Home? (by Shark [MI]) Posted on: Nov 1, 2020 2:01 PM Message:
We purchased a vacation home in Florida several years ago, thanks in large part to the financial resources of my rental property business in Michigan.
Ours is a single family home, not in an HOA, but there are local regulations on rentals. I think it's no more than four rentals of less than a month per year, but it's not enforced at this point. Renting responsibly so that the neighbors don't complain goes hand in hand in not raising red flags.
I use VRBO, used to be really happy with them when it was just an advertising site. Once acquired by Expedia they became a booking site. I don't enjoy working with them, but I do pick up enough bookings to justify the $500 per year fee. I do not allow the automatic booking as I like to establish a little communication before accepting a guest. Once you approve the booking VRBO provides their email and phone and at that point I communicate through my own email account and with text, bypassing VRBO. This is our second home, nicely furnished, and I don't just want anyone there. I do minimum one week stays and often have repeat business from year to year. I structured my rents so that the guest ends up paying the VRBO booking fees, and as stated above guests don't seem to mind paying those. At the end of their stay I send the guest a thank you and encourage them to book through me directly if they want to return, and charge a little less than on the booking site. In that case I prepare a contract, collect a $1000 reservation/damage deposit and collect the rent payment at least 1-2 months in advance, especially for in season bookings. I have a no refund cancellation policy. However, during Covid I returned all payments and deposits at 100% upon request, deeming that future business was more important than being stubborn about my policies. I've already had those customers request future bookings. I do want to get the house listed on AirBnb sometime as I understand that their market saturation is much larger than VRBO.
You must register the rental with the State of Florida department of revenue and collect the state and county taxes. This is another step and a pain, but the penalty for not doing it is very steep....I've heard horror stories about fines..25-50K. I'm in Pinellas County. The fee is 6% for the county and 7% for the state. You have to file monthly with the state even if you had no bookings. The county is quarterly. Tax is collected on rent and cleaning. On any bookings through VRBO they take care of collecting and paying the 13% taxes (supposedly--I hope Florida monitors them!).
We found a wonderful family cleaning service. They are fantastic. We keep our own bedding and linens, some specialty kitchen items, and other personal things locked in an "owners closet". Installed keyless locks hooked to Nexia so that guests have a keyless experience and I don't have to worry about keys being lost or floating around.
We love having our vacation home, and although it was a bit of a learning curve to set up, feel that it's been worth it. Not to mention more than a 100% appreciation in the house since 2012....I just can't get away from real estate investing, I guess!! Good luck with your dream! --68.37.xx.xx |
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