All Forum Posts by: Cindy Cheng

Hey Cindy! Short term rentals are allowed in Newburgh NY. There is currently no regulations on STR such as permitting needed as I have seen in other states. There is an organization that is pushing for no short term rentals be allowed in Newburgh as they feel it is taking away from affordable housing. Property owners are opposing this group as the extra income STR provide help with the expenses of owning these older homes. The facts are short term rentals are bringing revenue into Newburgh. Neighbors in my experience do not mind short term rentals because owners take time to make sure the impact on residents is minimal. So for example installing noise detectors to ensure people aren't throwing parties or being disruptive. I do think a tax or some sort of permitting for short term rentals will come about in the next few years. Feel free to message me if you would like chat for more info. Hope this is helpful.

Here's an example of the "towns" within Ulster county in NY ..If carved up like other states, there would just be Ulster County and a few incorporated cities/ real towns (here it would be Saugerties, Kingston, New Paltz, and Ellenville). The rest would just be county land, and as long as the county is STR-friendly (which many are around the US as long as there isn't a huge city within them) it would be relatively safer to invest outside of city/ real town limits (especially if the county is poor and dependent on occupancy/ "hotel" taxes). But NY State carves up its counties into larger "towns", and gives them a lot of power to regulate STRs themselves despite some of these areas being extremely rural. It seems like small difference, but in reality these larger NY "towns" are on average more likely to limit/ ban STRs than entire counties in other states. I think of them sort of like really big HOAs.

To get a sense of what regulation looks like at a local level as it's being crafted, you can watch videos of the town of Shandaken designing STR regulations online (they put them on Youtube I believe). You'll see them weigh the pros and cons of various limitations, many of which have huge impacts on the value of investments people have already made in that town (i.e., whether STR permits which they grant to existing operators who were there before regs went into affect will be transferrable to new owners of the property .... HUGE impact on your exit options as an investor).

All of this said, there are some "towns" in NY state that have historically been dependent on tourism and are very unlikely to limit/ ban STRs. Hunter, Windham, and Jewett come to mind (but home values there make getting a decent ROI on your STR investment difficult). And then there is always investing somewhere else and getting "grandfathered in" ... which could be a lucrative investment if thought through appropriately (and if the town doesn't outright ban STRs in the future, including existing operators)

Just go direct to the source and call town halls. But keep in mind the most important questions to ask isn't "are STR's allowed?" .. it's "is there any talk of limiting or banning STRs in the future?"

Unfortunately the way NY is carved up into “towns” .. which aren’t really what you would consider a town … more like a county within the real county. … raises the regulatory risk significantly. In many other states the counties couldn’t care less and you just have to avoid city limits. But NY state just isn’t carved up that way 

Thanks for the pointers Sean!

Hey Jenelle!
I currently own a STR here in the city of Newburgh, which has been a lucrative and successful venture. We owner occupy one unit of our duplex and STR the smaller unit. We opened up our doors at the height of COVID in February 2020. Our average occupancy is 18 days per month and there is currently no limit on occupancy days. Open to answering more questions you may have specific to Newburgh.

@Cindy Cheng

ask a realtor to pull comps

comps are all that matter