We have one (near Tampa) , but it’s rented out long term. We pay our management team 15% of collected rent. We’ve been lucky there haven’t been too much in maintenance costs.

I’m surprised the one you posted is priced so low. I imagine the value will only go up being in that location.

Be sure you check with your tax people, look into what happens when you decide to sell a rental property. And double check about special assessments.

Good luck, it looks like a good deal.

We have two. It sounds like you are intended to do a short term rental. If so, explore the regulations of the city and the condo development thoroughly. We have used turnkey services. It is not a big deal to do remotely. You will still have to deal with an occasional decision on repairs or issues with a guest, but the overhead will be low. The biggest time will be spent when you need to replace items. When equipping out the place, don't spend too much but at the same time, don't go too cheap. The cost of repair or replacement isn't worth your time nor the expense of paying someone to replace it.

You have fewer issues the higher end you target, and by keeping the minimum rental periods higher than a couple of nights (fewer partiers).

There are hosting forums via AirBnb or on FB where you can interact with owners and learn about the local market. A local host management company can also give you good advice on the local market and what rents well. For example, how many bedrooms, which complex amenities are preferred. Make sure the property has a storage space and/or a large closet that can be used to store your personal items and spare supplies for the unit.

Just wanted to pop in and say that this is a really good idea.

Getting contractors in the best of best of times is hard as it is. Everything now will be backed up for months longer.

We were lucky to finish our Florida renovation last year.

In Florida, the best time is during the summer. In season, people take looking at their home and want things done. We are trying to now get a small courtyard enclosed and no one will even look at it. They say it’s too small a job. At some point we will stay off season to get it done.

When we bought our condo, it’s actually a single family home, we didn’t read the fine print. We rented it out for 8 years. Now that we are using it, we are learning all the oddities.

Although the one you show it perfectly fine, I would hesitate because you are not used to apartment living. Your dog barking, your son jumping, playing music, all become a big issue living close to others.

Again, you want to know the particular rules when you want to rent It out.

I would try a rental for a season to see how you will adapt.

Maybe a small house rental for the next few years could work for you as well.

We own various rentals and DH manages them all. Does the home owner still make a good profit if you are paying a manager?

Thanks guys!

We aren't really too concerned about making a profit, we would just ideally hope to break even from the renting process while we're using it. And we have a variety of reasons for wanting to own property in Florida so we'd prefer not to just rent a place.

Our current dog doesn't bark, but B is a bit of a noisy goose and it would be a LOT less space than we are used to. But since we wouldn't be in it for a long period at a time, it might be ok....

We definitely will learn the rules for renting it out. We could also consider a town house or a small single family home but we don't want to pay a fortune because it is temporary...

Short term vacation rental (STVR) rules and laws are subject to change without notice. That is what happened to us. Two weeks after we closed on our house in Cathedral City (Palm Springs adjacent), the city banned all new STVRs, and so now we can only rent for 31`+ days, although we are still allowed to rent just a room, but I would have to be here. Palm Springs was considering such a ban but decided against it because the city made too much money from the taxes it collected. PS is more of a party town, however, and CC wants to be more family oriented, and so you should pick your neighborhood carefully. If it is populated mostly with families, they may decide to ban STVRs. A condo might be easier (and safer) to rent than a house, but we did not want a condo in Palm Springs, which was all we could afford in the neighborhoods we liked there. I wanted a private pool, and I have it now, but I cannot rent it out, except long term.

I am the president of my condo complex. I do not rent my condo. I live in it full time. Check the By-Laws and House Rules before you purchase. We do not allow rentals for less than a year. There are many rules concerning noise, odors etc. that your tenants will have to follow. I am sure most will. However, be prepared for that one awful tenant.

The two places we are seriously considering, Champions Gate and Reunion, are basically rental home communities. Almost every single home/condo in the communities is rented short-term and there are partner property management companies that work with the property owners. It seems extremely unlikely that they would suddenly decide to stop allowing short-term rentals so I'm not super worried about that.

https://www.reunionrealty.com/reunion-resort-vacation-rentals/

One of the things we find attractive is these communities all have very nice amenities (water parks, golf courses) and the lot that we bought for our "real" house is 10 minutes from them. So we would hope that we would be able to rent out our unit (as part of one of the rental programs) and still be able to go over and use the lazy river, golf courses, etc. once we eventually build our real house. We will have to check if that's allowed.

Check with your insurance agent/company. There were some strict rules about rentals that might or might not apply to your situation.

We have owned two vacation rentals. Lots of good tips here. I'd just add-

1. Check and triple-check the Short Term Rental laws in the area. Like the ones you are contemplating, one of our properties is in a development where many of the homes are STRs. And since it is so well regulated, it runs really well. Despite that, there is a contingent of homeowners who are hellbent on getting rid of the STRs. This past year, they were able to enact a lot of crazy strict guidelines. For example, renters are no longer permitted to use the outdoor fire pits that every home has (these are built-in stone structures). We've already seen it affect renters, who are moving off to other lakeside communities where they won't face that restriction. In some cases, you need to be aware of HOA, village, municipal, country, and/or state laws. You need to know not just existing law -but what may be in the works. In nearly every community in the country, there are new laws being rewritten. Sometimes this is because the local hotels have lost significant business, so they push for laws that will protect them and hurt STR owners. In other cases, it is because the STRs are not well-regulated, and citizens are tired of dealing with lousy vacation rental owners who allow tenants to run roughshod over communities. In one community where we own property, there is a LARGE hotel market, unchallenged for years. They are not happy about losing millions of business each year. They launched a campaign that ultimately resulted in many changes, the most significant of which was that an STR owner cannot rent out the property for more than 90 nights per year. For some owners, that means it will no longer be a profitable business. HOA regulations are typically more stringent than the municipal ones and may limit days, limit pets (even if allowed for owners), limit the age of renters, etc. We were considering purchasing a third property in Colorado this past year, but have now decided not to. One of the things we discovered there is that some counties limit the number of licenses per year to a flat number, and don't pass on existing licenses to a buyer. So you could buy an existing vacation rental, but would then have to add your name to the waitlist for an STR permit.

2. You can buy insurance which is specifically offered for vacation rental properties. Message me and I'll be happy to pass on our agent's information.

3. Check with your property manager to find out if you can use the property at will or if they will limit you. There are IRS regulations about this too, but that is a separate issue. We got a heads up about this from friends whose management firm would not allow them to book the property for their own use for more than two weeks a year. We knew to ask about that as a result, and selected firms with whom we could happily work. Also, ask your PM about housekeeping issues. I invested in multiple sets of the kinds of sheets I like to sleep on only to discover that they use their own linens. Since I don't have these size beds at home, I can't even use these linens myself.

I’m following with interest as I sometimes wonder about buying something in FL for our limited use and mostly for rental. We have so many retired snowbird friends in FL now and if DH ever sells his business and “retires” we might want to visit for a month or two in the winter. We have two cats which severely limits the ability to rent and renting is not cheap so I ponder owning from time to time....when I’m not pondering moving to Switzerland....

Great advice. Yes, we want to make sure we can stay in the unit when we want to. And of course we need to make sure Molly is welcome! If we go forward, Bestyears, I will definitely message you for your agent's info.

We would so love to have a small condo in Florida, but with pet numbers and weight limits, our 55 and 65 pound Aussies are unwelcome at every complex I have looked at.

With the way the real estate market is going, I am very surprised that the unit in the link has been on the market for so long.

We had a condo at the NJ shore that we gut renovated and rented weekly. It was priced high enough (as I am sure yours would be) that we never really had any bad renters. It was mainly families, not 20 somethings looking to party. We did the rentals ourselves through VRBO. We had the renters sign a lease, security deposit, pay for a cleaning fee etc. We honestly never had an issue. I will say we never occupied the unit since we had a house on the island, so there was never an issue of having to put things away in an owner's closet. And the unit was easy to maintain and we had an excellent cleaning crew (a must). I don't blame you for not building right now. A lot of people rent their primary or secondary residences. Sounds like a great idea!