Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
mtnrdredux_gw

Do you/Would you rent out your beachhouse to strangers

mtnrdredux_gw
10 years ago

I think we should, DH is uneasy about it.

I've done a little research on the tax, insurance and legal issues.

The house is currently held by heirs who have rented it out for almost all of the season (save when they have used it), at $5,000 per week. We are adding a bathroom and bedroom space (although it will still sleep the same number), redoing 2 1/2 bathrooms and the kitchen, and adding a heated pool. So we should be able to rent it for more than $5000 a week ... maybe $6000?? ... in any event not insignificant, even after costs.

In addition to deducting direct expenses of renting, we will be able to deduct a share of utilities, maintenance, taxes, insurance and depreciation. So, if the house is used 12 weeks per year, and we use it for 6, then half of our expenses are deductible against the rental income.

I don't see us "summering" at the house. Though DH and I are retired, our kids are middle schoolers and they will have things to do at home and friends, etc. Plus it's not like our primary home is urban ... we want to summer at home, too.

On top of that, we are avid travellers.

So, renting would assuage my guilt over it being empty so much, and would help defray some of the costs.

On the con side, one always worries about damage to your house and contents (although, agents tell me, far less at this price point). It also reduces our flexibility about when we can go. And we have to go to the trouble of locking up personal items.

I say its worth a try, and if we have issues with it we can just not do it next year.

Comments (45)

  • joaniepoanie
    10 years ago

    I would say that if you can afford to not rent it out that would be optimal. If you do rent it, could you do it through word of mouth...friends of friends, etc...so there would be some control and vetting of who rents it. How many will it sleep? That will also determine who rents it. When my son was in college they rented a very expensive place on the outer banks in NC...but because it slept 15 or so the cost was not much per kid...it was basically a party house for a week...I hope they left the place intact...but I often wondered.

  • maire_cate
    10 years ago

    We discussed it once but DH was firmly against it and to be honest I wasn't all that keen either. The extra income would always be a nice bonus but he simply didn't want strangers in his 'home'. I'm retired and DH is working 2 to 3 days a week for a few more months and then he'll officially retire so we'll be free to go whenever we wish.

    Our getaway place is in the mountains, on 130 acres with a state designated 'Exceptional Quality' stream suitable for both rod and fly fishing and the Upper Delaware is 5 minutes away. There are ski slopes within a 30 minute drive and it's only 90 minutes from Manhattan. Our realtor has asked us several times if we'd rent to his clients but DH declines. He's also quite cautious about liability and that always pops up as one of his reasons.

    Your situation is different - this isn't your only vacation property and if you know from the outset that it might be a rental you might not feel quite as possessive about it. Since you plan to do some remodeling you can also plan ahead for special storage areas for those things you wish to lock away.

    Perhaps the tax laws have changed but my parents and my brother both had homes on lakes that they rented. At that time they were only permitted to use it for personal use for a max of 2 weeks a year. They paid their Realtor to handle all the tenant issues and for the most part everything went well.Their homes were also in a higher price category which excluded many of the 'party' renters.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    They rent it as 6BR, 2.5 baths that sleeps 11; their 6th bedroom is a maid's quarters that sleeps one.

    We are combining two BR to make a MBR suite, and then adding a BR and BA on the third floor. So we will offer it as a 6BR, 3.5 BA that sleeps 11.

    JoaniePoanie,We don't need to rent it out, we won't even have a mortgage. I just think it seems wasteful not to.
    I don't think this area would attract partiers. It's pretty quiet and has a no-noise after 10pm ordinance. In addition, it is not in downtown. They have hosted several weddings there though, as brides like to get married on the lawn with the ocean in the background. I was wondering if that is charged differently...

    MaireCate,
    Sounds like you are near Callicoon?

    As for liability, we would own it in an LLC for both estate planning purposes and because it limits our liability.

    The two weeks limit doesn't apply to what we are looking to do. We would probably use it 6 weeks and rent it 6 weeks or somesuch.

  • dedtired
    10 years ago

    I guess my first question is why would you buy a house (and all the inherent headaches) when you only plan to be there six weeks out of the year? I'd prefer to rent one and let someone else deal with the nuisance. I realize this is already a done deal and I am assuming this house is also considered an investment property as well as a vacation home. In that case, I would definitely rent it out. Why leave money on the table?

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Dedtired,

    Most people who buy second homes buy them in locations that have a clear in-season and off-season. And most people use them for only a portion of the in-season.

    High season for this property is probably about 12 weeks, my guess is we will use it half the time.

    So why do people buy second homes? Because it is a very different experience then staying in a hotel or renting someone else's home. IMHO it virtually never makes economic sense!

    When we bought our lakehouse, I had a colleague who was buying a skihouse at the same time. I asked him if he had ever calculated the pro forma after-tax cost per night of staying there. He looked at me like I had three heads; and he was an investment banker. He probably never calculated it because it's depressing!

    I don't consider this an investment property. I have no expectations about the income it will generate or future price appreciation. That said, it seems prudent to try to defray carrying costs if it's not too painful to rent!

  • ellendi
    10 years ago

    We own rental properties. From dingle family to multi family dwellings. One single family is in Florida.
    Since income is not an issue, I would look to rent for as much of the season to one person.
    If you did go the route of weekly, I would get a service to clean and prepare for next vacationer

  • luckygal
    10 years ago

    What I might consider doing is to rent it out before doing a lot of reno's or improvements to see how it works out. Since the season is coming to an end that means you wouldn't do anything until after next year tho.

    I know I would have a different feeling about a house I owned that I also rented out. I know everything in a house can be cleaned but it would still feel like a hotel and I'm a bit germ phobic about public places. Upholstery and mattresses in public places especially bother me (altho I do travel and can cope with it) so if strangers were using/sleeping on mine I would not feel the same way about them.

    Of course I'm probably in the minority and maybe even somewhat weird. I don't even let my cleaning woman *in* my bedroom and do all cleaning there myself.

  • seagrass_gw Cape Cod
    10 years ago

    We have now retired to our beach house and the work of multiple properties has been lifted from my shoulders! That said, we were fortunate not to need rental income from our beach house when it was a second home. Our friends and family did enough damage. (Although with strangers, you can keep the security deposit lol!).

    We used our second home very regularly, and kept many personal things in it as well as good quality cookware, dinnerware and table linens. Even with family & friends I put certain things away so they wouldn't be abused.

    But your situation is much different. I'm looking forward to following your decorating progress.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Ellendi,
    Goodness, yes. We have cleaning people clean our lakehouse after we leave each time, so rent it or not we would do the same here. In fact we would probably use a property manager for the whole of it. Not to mention that renters would have a right to expect an immaculate house!
    That is a really good point about longer rentals. One thing I do know is that they have had many repeat renters...

    Lucky,
    I think DH is sort of a germaphobe. I think that is his issue. IMHO, weekly cleaning and having our own bedding addresses a lot of that.
    LOL on not letting the cleaning lady in your bedroom.It took me a long while to get comfortable with having a stranger do the laundry. Three kids later, I so got over it.

  • 3katz4me
    10 years ago

    We have a lake property and don't rent it out and have no plans to do so. I'd get rid of it before I'd do that. It's my home and I don't want it "sanitized" to be suitable as a rental property. I rent a lot of VRBOs for vacation and I don't like to see anybody's personal stuff in there. Hence if I was renting my home I'd expect to remove all personal items. Just have no interest in doing that plus we use it just about every weekend during "high season" along with a couple full weeks and once or twice a month in the off season.

    If you buy a home and don't plan to use it much then I guess I might also find that hard to justify without renting it out.

  • beaglesdoitbetter1
    10 years ago

    Would never do it (and won't w/ our FL vacation house, although I think DH would like to). I like getting to the house and having everything where I left it, it would drive me crazy to have to put away clothes and stuff to leave the closets free for renters. Plus, I do NOT want strangers in my house or in my beds or my bathtubs. No thank you.

  • legomom23
    10 years ago

    We have friends who rent out their oceanfront vacation home. It sleeps 14 and rents for $10k to $12k per week, so you would assume a nice crowd.
    From vacationing with them through the years, I would say the cons are the wear and tear. Even with nice families renting it, things get broken, used, worn, more than they would if it were used less and only by the owners. They always seem to have a list of things that need replaced - wine glasses seem to go fast, dish towels, pans that get burnt, silverware left on the beach, little things, but things that bug you.
    I think it does become a little less yours when other people use it a lot. But they still love going there because it is exactly what they want in a vacation home.
    Their rental agreement says no weddings or parties, but their neighbors tell them otherwise.
    The pros are of course the money, and all the lovely thank yous in the journal from the families who had a wonderful time at their beautifully decorated house and stay there year after year.
    I would love to go the New England area in the next year or two - If you end up renting I will look you up:) I'm sure it will be stunning.

  • jb1586
    10 years ago

    We bought a condo in FL, which had renters living there for a few months, before their rental agreement ended (we honored it as part of the purchase). The income was very nice, but we really disliked the idea of other people living in our place, and couldn't wait to move their furniture, change it out, and put our new furniture in. I could not imagine renting it now, to someone who would not take the kind of care of our things, that we would expect (we are there infrequently right now, as we both work full time up north). My SIL and family had a home at the Jersey shore, that they rented for several years. They changed out a lot of the furniture when they rented, and stored it when they were there, moving their own stuff back in (don't know where they kept it). So, I suppose there are options, but of course, your home would be much larger than theirs was, to change out furniture, etc.

  • Sueb20
    10 years ago

    Nope. Can't do it. We have let friends use the house a handful of times, and it makes me just a little bit crazy to come back to the house later and find the can opener in the wrong drawer, beds stripped and not remade, etc. We have also donated a week to our kids' schools' fundraiser auctions and that was annoying too for other reasons.

    But we like to come and go all summer long, and DH in particular would lose his mind if we were home on a gorgeous summer weekend while someone else was using our beach house. Of course if I were you, I'd be able to simply go to my lake house instead ;)

    I like knowing we COULD rent our house if we had to for financial reasons, but so far, fortunately, that hasn't been the case.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Gibby, I don't think you can ever really "justify" a second home, IMHO it is clearly a luxury. As far as personal items, I would envision locking up toiletries and clothes. Personal photos are not something I would tend to have out anyway.

    Beagles, Based on our experience at our lakehouse, I am imagining that we would have the cleaning people not just clean, but prepare it for our visit and then store our stuff after we go; second home communities typically have great people who can make all of that pretty seamless, we have found. Our guy even goes over to the house and turns the heat on when we tell him we're headed up. I hear you on bathtubs and beds ... but as long as your cleaning crew is top notch, how does that differ from hotels?

    Lego mom, I think you have hit on the thing that would probably bother me most. My DH says it's just like having kids, times 10. People will put things in the wrong place, and use things hard. You need to be ready willing and able to replace things often. And not go crazy when your pillows are arranged "incorrectly". Again, cleaning staff can help, but still ... death by a thousand cuts!
    (Oh and, you are too kind.)

    I think we would really, ideally, want to go every other week. So moving furniture in and out would be whacky!
    But I do get your point for longer situations.

    SueB,
    Come to think of it, maybe I am open to this because we have had such a good experience with our lakehouse. For the 7 years we have owned it, we have donated it to charity auctions at least 2x a year, with no issues at all (of course, they OUGHT to be more gracious then a random stranger). My sister and BIL and her family use it a lot, too, without incident. I guess we've been lucky.

    My DH says, between charity things and friends and family (the new place is very convenient to his -large- family), we won't have an open weeks anyway!

    As far as not being able to go there, it would be different if we lived in say, the city. Then we would want to get away most weeks. But our primary home is so lovely in the summer, I want to spend a lot of time there, too! The lakehouse will go on the market, but it'll probably not sell until spring at best. We don't need three houses; and if we did, the third one would be a NYC pied a terre! Maybe when the kids are in college!

  • jb1586
    10 years ago

    By the way, I love that you know Calicoon! We have a small place right near there, that's been in the family for years. Love the area.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yup, I've even been to the Tractor Parade! : )

  • hhireno
    10 years ago

    I'm in our HHI place right now. We don't rent it and only let family and my BFF & family use it. We have a cleaning person in after each use.

    It does bug me that no one seems to be able to put the linens away 'correctly' aka my way. I have all the shelves labeled - king sheets, queen sheets, bath towels, beach towels, etc. - so I don't know why it's a random pile of stuff neatly folded and put back in the linen closets. I arrived to find a freshly laundered face cloth folded next to the kitchen sink, ready for dish washing. How is it not obvious that it doesn't belong in the kitchen? Why are the upstairs twin sheets mixed in with the hand towels. I don't even care that they don't fold towels the way I do, I just want the towels in groups by type.

    I wouldn't rent this place out because it is filled with my stuff and the stuff I want or need while I'm here that I don't want strangers touching or using. The only photo we have here is actually my bff's dog!

    We had a rental place in Myrtle Beach and that was totally generic, nothing of mine was in it, so it was fine for rentals. There is more wear and tear on things when rented, even when people are careful.

  • yayagal
    10 years ago

    I would certainly rent it out. We've owned multiple properties all of our married lives and rented all of them at times. The profit out weighs any negativity. In general most people are honest and try not to cause any damage, but, if they did, they confessed and paid for it . My sister rented a place on the ocean at six grand a week and we spent a few days with them. It had been rented all summer and we found nothing out of order. I figure if a couch gets damaged, I'd get a new one or slipcovers which only happened once in fifty years. We're risk takers and started life with very little and managed to parlay our finances via real estate. In my little lake house now I only have my friends and family stay and I'm always here. We spend five months here and I don't want any one here without me as we're surrounded by water on three sides and liability could be a problem plus we're seniors now and like our privacy.

  • 3katz4me
    10 years ago

    We do justify our second home based on how much we enjoy it by ourselves and with family and friends. If we didn't use it much it would be harder to "justify" it in that way. Then I might feel more inclined to "sanitize" it and rent it out so at least someone was using it. It would then feel to me like another VRBO vs. a home when I was there. However I like others might still go crazy over the way other people left it - but maybe not.

  • kitschykitch
    10 years ago

    I know there are tax considerations, but I don't know what they are. If you take in $6000 in rent, after you pay tax on it, how much do you really get?

    That is, will it be worth the trouble?

  • beaglesdoitbetter1
    10 years ago

    For me it is different from a hotel because it is MY stuff. When I go into a hotel, I do not use the bathtub ever. Even in the FL house, I was very happy that I put in a new tub so I'd know no one had ever used it but me. And when I go to hotels (nice hotels, I don't stay in bad ones) I am fanatical about checking for bed bugs. I wouldn't want to do that in my own house and you just never know what people are going to bring in.

    I just like everything just so and I don't care if there is a cleaning crew coming in (we have cleaners in FL and a fix-it guy who is there when we aren't there) - they'll never have it exactly the way I would.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Gibby,

    I was just responding to this: "If you buy a home and don't plan to use it much then I guess I might also find that hard to justify without renting it out." I suppose it's a judgment call as to whether occupying it during 50% of the season is "much" or not.

    You make an interesting point as to whether it will "feel" like home if I am renting it. Because feeling at home is kind of the point. I have to think about that...

    HHIreno, LOL on your linen closet travails. I share your pain. Who can tell a full fitted from a queen fitted until you open it? Worse yet almost all of our linens are plain white.

    Your point about the house where "nothing of mine was in it" is interesting. I mean, it was your stuff ... but maybe not selected by you?

    Yayagal, I too am optimistic about what renters will be like. I think it simply the wear and tear itself that will be the worst, more than people misbehaving. Thanks for your input.

    KitchyKich, The math is kind of interesting. If say, we rent it 6 weeks and use it 6 weeks, then we can deduct half of our expenses from the rental income (ie property tax, insurance, repairs and maintenance, 5yr depreciation of furniture appliances and carpeting, 27.5 yr depreciation of the structure) You can also deduct 50% of the mortgage interest if you were financing it.

    You can deduct 100% of expenses directly related to renting it out.

    In our case, even with out a mortgage, the costs of owning it are so high that allocating 50% of them to rental would make renting a loss.

    That means, there would be no taxes payable at all on our rental income. So, if we generated 36,000 net of direct rental costs (cleaning, prop mgmt), we could keep it all with no tax due.

    Don't you love tax accounting? Sorry you asked, LOL?

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Beagles,

    Really, no bathtubs in a hotel? Some how that looks like the cleanest surface --- non porous, smooth, shiny!

    I had a work colleague who always travelled with her own pillowcase. I kind of get that, plus it's easy to do.

    Your point about bedbugs is not farfetched. I knew a couple that bought a converted loft in DUMBO. It turns out a lot of these formerly dilapidated buildings in formerly marginalized areas still have bedbug infestations!

    When they sold the apartment, they had all their stuff fumigated. Then, they drove to a Target and threw away all their clothes and bought new. Only then did they move into a new house!

  • hhireno
    10 years ago

    All the king and queen sheets are white (and the size written on a corner with a fabric marker), I did get some solid colors for the twins (knowing I would never have to sleep on them. I only like white sheets). Sometimes I see in one of the upstairs rooms, one twin is made up with tan and the other with red. Why? In my mind both twins should match - they're twins for heavens sake. If both are made up with tan, then when they are stripped to wash then both should be remade with red. That is not how it plays out when I'm not here. Two rooms, four twins and a crazy mishmash of sheets. I just don't go upstairs and try not to think about it. (Although just today I found the colorful pillow sham from one of the upstairs twins neatly folded in the downstairs linen closet with the white sheets so I will have to go up to put it where it belongs.)

    The rental place was purchased decorated and stocked. I did pick out the color scheme from a pre-determined design board. It wasn't the type of place you could even leave a book for the next occupant. It was strictly for rental, I never particularly liked it, and only stayed there twice in 5-6 years so I never thought of it as my stuff.

    If your husband agrees, try renting it and see how it goes. You can always pull if off the market if you have an experience that doesn't go well.

  • Vertise
    10 years ago

    You don't have to be in a DUMBO for bed bugs. Apparently it is a problem even in 5 star hotels. I wonder why they would be prevalent in a poor area. Bugs will go anywhere and everywhere.

    All sorts of bugs travel along in boxes and bags, infesting other places.

    Just the mention of this makes me wish I didn't open this thread, lol. Eeeeeek! I'll be afraid to travel anywhere.

    I would keep rentals and my own homes separate. People generally like to live in their own dirt, and I would not be comfortable with someone else doing the cleaning! I totally get wanting a pristine, brand new tub/shower, bathroom even, that no one else has ever used. Full history known, lol. And I'm not really a germiphobe. Except when I read stuff online, lol.

    This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 22:47

  • jterrilynn
    10 years ago

    Well it does make sense but it would be hard for me in that I would want to put personal touches and things in that I would fret about. Still, you seem to be a very generous sort so it seems like you are going to have people there one way or another anyway so you may as well get some money.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Snookums, DUMBO is hot and DUMBO lofts aren't low end anymore, and this one was very high end. This couple were the ones who said it was particularly prevalent in old converted buildings, for some reason.

    Jterri,
    LOL, thanks for the complement as to my generosity. I try to be!

    HHIReno, your post reminds me of a post I have been meaning to write, tentatively called "Zen and the Art of Home Maintenance". Subtitled - how to stop driving myself crazy.

  • Vertise
    10 years ago

    I took it to mean converted buildings, from rehabilitated neighborhoods.

  • goldengirl327
    10 years ago

    We were always appreciative of the people who rented to us, but other than lending it to family and friends, I don't think I would feel comfortable renting my own home to strangers.

    This post was edited by goldengirl327 on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 20:03

  • graywings123
    10 years ago

    To save others the trouble:
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
    Dumbo, an acronym for District Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I would add, if you haven't heard of DUMBO, maybe think of Soho, which is not longer very Soho-like. DUMBO is the new hip spot ... but of course if i think it is hip, that means it is probably no longer hip.

    : )

  • lynninnewmexico
    10 years ago

    I can certainly understand your reservations with renting your beach house, but as someone who much prefers to stay in vacation rentals instead of a hotel whenever possible, I would be very disappointed if that rental market dried up. We're rented beach front homes and condos everywhere from St.Thomas's Peterborg Estates to Michigan, Sedona, Galveston Island, etc., etc. But, although we always treat them gently, cleaning up and never damaging anything, I've always wondered if they've had nightmare renters and if they are more common than the good renters like us. I guess that's why I've always hesitated to sign up for one of those home exchange vacations (LOL!).
    Lynn

  • jterrilynn
    10 years ago

    We love vacation rentals too when we have travel meet-ups with my husbandâÂÂs family. Between me and my sister in-law I think we are perfect renters because we leave the place spotless. They did all give me a hard time on the Positano rental though because they were all waiting impatiently outside to leave while I cleaned the bathroom tubâ¦wouldnâÂÂt want people talking about me after I left thinking me unclean lol.

  • bonnieann925
    10 years ago

    In May we bought a house on Cape Cod and we quickly/easily rented it out for 7 weeks during the summer. It all worked out fine because we used a highly reputable realtor with a large rental division. We had weekly cleaners, a gardener and a lawn service, as well as trash pick-up. Our tenents were all excellent and we expect to develop robust repeat business from many of them. The feedback from the realtor was all good!

    We both still work so it just isn't feasible for us to spend the entire summer on the Cape. We have zero plans on retiring there, but like the idea of having our own home, after years of renting during the summer. We take two weeks in the summer for us/our family.

    This week we had friends visiting from out of state and they spent the weekend at our home here near Boston, then are spending the week in our Cape house. Our family and friends always get preferential treatment and we block out weeks for that purpose.

    In fact our very first large group of "users" (they offered to rent!) was our youngest DD (25) and 14 of her closest friends. The house was immaculate after they left! Many of her friend's parents have second homes, so the group travels with air mattresses and sleeping bags. It's now our turn for payback!

    We have an owner's closet and a walk-up (locked) attic in which to store our personal things. We can walk out of here with an overnight bag and be at the Cape in 1:45-no hassles at all. We keep the house well stocked with all our essentials. Now we go whenever we want to because the rental season is essentially over, but we can still bike ride, go antiquing and dine out. It's a wonderful getaway!

    If it's this easy every year we will continue to rent, using the same service providers. If we have a problem or retire, we will rethink our plans. Right now, it's all good and we're glad we bought when we did. It's a very good market!

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks, BonnieAnn, for your insight. It's funny, the whole time we were shopping for a beachhouse, everyone would trot out the rental histories. I found it interesting that, even in the worst years of the housing market, vacation rentals were still really healthy. But our response was always "no no no we would not want to rent it". But I think it is worth a try.

    DH is still skeptical. I have a friend who says, that means, if you do rent, and anything happens, DH will say "aha, see!". LOL

  • bestyears
    10 years ago

    I'm one of those 'leave it spotless' renters too. I think as long as you use an agency, you'll have a certain amount of built in protection. I haven't read through all the posts here, so forgive me if this is redundant, but the biggest sacrifice I see for you is that you may have to lock up some of your things. Typically in places we've rented, there is a locked closet where these things are kept. So if you're going to rent it, use it, rent it, use it, rent it....... over a summer, you won't be able to just walk away each time. You'll have to take the time to lock up anything that you feel needs protecting. Just a thought....

  • hhireno
    10 years ago

    As I mentioned above, I'm here at our beach place with friends, including my BFF and her husband. Since we won't take money from them for using the place in the summer, they do things like buy a gas grill, new bedding, and he fixes things (my husband is not handy).

    A few years ago, the husband put pavers in front of the shed so the gas grill and bikes could be rolled out easily. That manual labor project was done in July, temperature in the high 90s, high humidity, by an accountant who isn't used to manual labor, let alone in those conditions. He's a nut.

    Last night as we're preparing to leave for dinner, he's outside (already dressed for dinner) washing the pavers off with a bleach solution because he thought they looked a bit moldy. Guess what splashed on his clothes? He's in his 50s so you'd think he would know better. We gave him a sharpie fabric marker to color in the spots and told him to get in the car we had other people to meet for dinner.

    The pavers do look great. Heaven knows what he'll decide he wants to fiddle with today, in his newly demoted "work" pants.

  • gsciencechick
    10 years ago

    This is all been very interesting to me since my family rented a lake house when they were here for my birthday. The house is owned by a local family who uses it and rents it out, so we are thinking of the same. Why not?

    Found an "affordable" lakefront house but it needs a complete remodel. It's probably still overpriced even with the amount of work it needs. It was built in 1980 and has not seen a renovation since then. The kitchen has "saloon" double doors. Yikes. But I could see something like an Ikea kitchen in there. We have not gone to see it yet.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Bestyears, yes, I agree. One of the things we like best about the lakehouse is never having to pack a thing when we go. I think we can maintain that in a rental, by being strategic about storage. We will be doing some reno so will keep that in mind.

    HHIreno, aww, that is sweet. We have had only good experiences with people we loan it to and charity donations. My favorite was the artist friend who took a photo of our mantle, with various objects and things from nature on it, and then had it made into a jigsaw puzzle. Other friends got us playing cards with a photo of the house. It's really nice to be able to give friends and relatives an essentially free vacation.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Gscience,
    Where? We have a lakehouse we will be selling. And it doesn't need anything!

    This post was edited by mtnrdredux on Thu, Sep 26, 13 at 9:56

  • eandhl
    10 years ago

    I am with your DH. As a germaphobe I know you can sanitize but bed bugs would scare me into not renting.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, DH agrees Eandhl.

    But I have been an avid international traveller since I was a kid. Even know, we probably travel, in toto, 5 weeks a year or more. When I was in banking, I travelled about a third of the time. And I have never had or heard of anyone who had, bedbugs.

    So that one seems a bit silly.

    Anyway, there is no one right answer of course! DH wants to rent only to people we know ... yet I would not want to take money from people we knew. I just cannot imagine doing that...

  • TxMarti
    10 years ago

    I'm a germaphobe too and would never rent out my house, even if I only visited it once or twice a year. The cost of getting rid of bed bugs wouldn't be worth whatever it brought in.

    Yet, when we vacation we prefer to rent a home or condo over a hotel. Last week we rented a condo in a resort town and I swear the people who rented or time-shared the condo over us had a party with a herd of cattle. I can imagine the damage they were doing. We had to take the glass out of the ceiling fan because the fan was shaking so bad.

    One year a group of us rented a big house in the mountains. It was owned by a friend of one of my friends (I'll call her Sue), very nice, and full of their personal items. Sue spilled wine on the carpet and put a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher and when someone said something about it, Sue just laughed it off. So don't count on your friends taking care of your stuff. I've found that my friends only take care of their own stuff.

  • tinam61
    10 years ago

    Another who prefers renting condos, houses, etc. rather than a motel. We've had great luck and wonderful owners to rent from.
    Just this year we rented a cottage that had been in the owner's family for many years. It was FILLED with antiques and lots of family items. Gourmet kitchen with many nice items. That was the one where I LOVED the sheets LOL. I could not imagine having all that stuff out - both expensive and sentimental, but apparently they don't have a problem. We've rented for years in Seabrook Island from a couple who live in NJ. And next month we rented a cottage in the mountains of Alabama which is a stone cottage - again filled with antiques, etc. I know we take care of things - but I'm sure there are people who don't and walk off with things.

    All the places we have stayed, except one in Cashiers, NC, had cleaning services. The couple in NJ keep in touch with us and I am often their "spy" on the cleaning services at that condo. LOL

    About bedbugs - you can get them anywhere and everywhere. You can even get them in old pieces of furniture. And the fanciest of hotels. It has nothing to do with cleanliness. If you travel anywhere, you are at risk. Many people bring them home in their luggage. NEVER put your luggage on the floor.

    tina

Sponsored
EA Home Design
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars69 Reviews
Loudoun County's Trusted Kitchen & Bath Designers | Best of Houzz