Short Term Rental Crackdown

[Chuck Masters]

One of my strategies is short term rentals in central Florida. I am looking to purchase my second property in the Clermont FL area soon. The first property is rented out to my daughter and some friends who all work at Disney World. While searching for this property I looked at a house that was a short term rental and I liked the idea so I started researching this market. One day when I get out of the 9-5 job I wish to be a snow bird so having rentals in Maryland and Florida is part of my plan. Anyways last night I came across an article where some counties in central Florida are cracking down on short term rentals in certain neighborhoods because of complaints from the full time residents in their communities. What do others know about this crackdown and is this something to be worried about.

[Keith Courtney]

Chuck -

I have heard very little about a crackdown.  I am certain that Osceola, Lake and Polk counties are not going to change their zoning laws outlawing short term rentals.  They are too valuable for the counties from a tax revenue standpoint.  The new and the established vacation home communities are not going to change their covenants and restrictions to stop short term rentals either - it would devastate sales and income for the homeowners or developers, and they are the ones controlling the HOAs.

You might be hearing about complaints from full time residents in areas where some owners are short term renting their homes in residential areas where the HOAs don't allow them.

Hope this helps.

Keith

[Chuck Masters]

Thanks @Keith Courtney. I will go back and see if I can find the articles I was reading, but I do remember Polk county being mentioned. But I see from your tag line you are in the Brokerage/Vacation Home business so you should know. Do you sell vacation properties to investors and non investors ?

[Keith Courtney]

Yes I do.  I sent you a colleague request.  Feel free to contact me.  I will try to help you in any way that I can.

[John Thedford]

Florida passed laws stopping towns from banning vacation rentals. A HOA or condo assn could have that in place, but new laws being passed by city governments stopping vacation rentals won't happen unless the legislature goes back and amends the law they now have on the books. Laws on the books prior to the state law are still in place in certain areas banning vacation rentals.

[Brian Baker]

We live in Clermont, we own a couple of short-term rentals in Central Florida, and the investors association (the largest non-profit REIA in the nation, CFRI) we belong to has many investors owning the same.  Our association keeps on top of legislative activities and "crackdowns" involving real estate investments, and we have not heard of anything out of the ordinary other than short-term rental taxes having to paid, the usual squatter warnings, etc.

Good luck and happy investing!

[Jeff B.]

Hopefully FL is different than Calif, as many municipalities are defining STR as anything less than 30 days, and start stack all kinds of issues due to traffic & noise in residential areas, lots of business losses to Tax paying motels and the city reacts with such as license fees, business registration and even out right prohibition.

Cities can change zoning regs quickly and do not need State legislation to do so.

[John Thedford]

Here is an interesting piece of info: not only can municipalities no longer deny an owner the right to do vacation rentals, but offering vacation rentals ONLY does not require a RE license! So, you can start a property management company, ONLY handle vacation rentals, charges fees, and never have a license. Make sure your properties fall under the the definition of "vacation rentals".