First Hand Experience withShort-term/Seasonal Rentals in Florida?

[Seth Ciminillo]

Hey Bigger Pockets Fam,

My colleague and I @Garrett Gatton are looking to break into the Florida market, specifically around Naples, FL for seasonal and short term rentals. Anyone have any experience in this area? We were looking at some condos in the area, but have found that a lot of condo associations and HOAs have 30-day minimums on rental lease agreements and also only allow 3-4 turns on a unit depending on the specific rules. This excludes weekly rentals through Airbnb (or other similar sites), and leaves the option of seasonal leases or a one-year lease option.

The goal for this investment would be a way for us to break into out-of-state investing, invest in an appreciating market, and essentially use it as a house-hack for a vacation spot.

For those in this area, would we be better off looking for a single family home or a small multi (2-4 units) so that way we have more freedom in how we want to structure our leases and have the ability to do weekly rentals?

Any thoughts or suggestions for us? Thanks!

[Account Closed]

I'm in Lee County and have a 30 day minimum with a maximum number of rentals allowed per year enforced by my particular HOA. Some areas like Sanibel and Naples have stricter rules at the island or city level. Make sure you know what you're getting into to avoid the headaches of vacation rental un-friendly jurisdictions. Hoping others with experience in Naples will chime in.

https://www.naplesnews.com/sto...

[Jonathan Greene]

You are getting great advice here and all of the markets in Florida will need to be vetted like this to do Airbnb. Remember that HOAs in Florida are some of the strictest and most psychotically run (as if it was a mayorship) so the transient nature of Airbnb really hits against what full-time residents want. Sarasota has options under the 30-day minimum I think, but I haven't done it there in a while.

[Robert Alpizar]

Hi Seth.

I'm a Real Estate Broker and Property manager here in Naples... if you're looking for condos, then weekly rentals will not be an option... (with the exception of 1 or 2 condo subdivisions that I know of... one being in Marco Island nearby.) Within the city weekly rentals are not allowed, that's not to say that some owners do not do them. It mostly becomes an issue when you have tenants that are loud and the neighbors call the police. A lot of our clients find success in leasing seasonally at a much higher rate (2-3X the off season or annual rate). And during the off season we help them find tenants that are looking for short term in the sense of 3-6 months (maybe in between homes waiting for a home to be built, or just moved into town and want to rent while they find a home to buy, etc.).

For Single Family Homes that are near areas that appeal to short term renters, I'd look in Naples Park and the Bayshore Arts District that is closer to Downtown and the Pier.

I think it's also important to give some thought to if you will manage the weekly or AirBNB style rentals yourself... because I do not manage those types of properties nor do I know anyone in town that does (Not to say you can't find someone on your own but I imagine the fees will be quite high).

Message me if you have any further questions or thoughts... happy to help.

[Stetson Miller]

@Seth Ciminillo As already mentioned above, aside from the HOA restrictions, the City of Naples has also completely banned rentals for less than 30 days. This only applies to properties within the city limits, but that really takes a big chunk out of the would-be high demand rental areas. Although people do operate the STR's illegally within the city limits, the city has been recently discussing the best ways to enforce their current guidelines against those, as noted in many recent city council meetings. That being said, it's only a matter of time before the city decides on how to enforce this and really cracks down on these rentals

With this in mind, I would recommend taking a closer look at other cities a bit further North such as Bonita Springs or Cape Coral, both of which have established STR markets and great current inventory. Appreciation is comparable in both of these places, and both are still great vacation destinations with much to offer in terms of restaurants, shopping, and beaches

[Seth Ciminillo]

@Stetson Miller @Robert Alpizar @Jonathan Greene

Thank-you guys so much for your responses! Invaluable information as I move forward in this research! 

[Peter Davis]

@Seth Ciminillo

There are a number of good property management companies that manage short term rentals here in SW Florida. Some will charge as much as 20% of gross rents to handle everything, soup to nuts. But with some you can pay less and do the a la carte approach if you're willing to do some of the work yourself such as the marketing and booking using VRBO or Airbnb, for example, and have the PM handle the "boots on the ground" stuff like cleaning, maintenance, check-in's/out's, etc. 

[Seth Ciminillo]

@Peter Davis
That is good to know! Any of these property management companies that you can recommend? The ones that I have found don’t really work with short term rentals, but will do seasonal rentals/long-term leases. 

[Peter Davis]

@Seth Ciminillo

Sure thing, I'll PM you with one that I often refer to clients. Not sure if I'm allowed to share it in a thread.