| Cheap Florida Villas - The End? | | Print | |
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The downturn in the real estate market is beginning to bite in the vacation homes market but not in the way you might expect! Many owners left the marketing of their homes to their management companies who, in turn, rented them to holiday companies at 'commercial rates'. After expenses, owners might get $40-$50 per night for maybe 20 weeks a year. With that, they have to pay a mortgage, utilities, property taxes etc. The net result is that with rising property taxes and energy costs, the owner has been subsidising the property to the tune of up to $30 000 per year in some cases! Many of these owners cannot sustain losses on such a scale and have simply mailed the keys back to the bank! So there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of homes that have effectively been withdrawn from the market. The result is that there is less availability, particularly of good vacation rental homes. The reason I say good, is that one of the side-effects of renting a home through a management company at wholesale rates is that there is really insufficient income to maintain the home to a good standard. They get high traffic and soon become scruffy. So how does this affect the renter? Simply this. If you find a rental that is 'cheap' be prepared for a surprise. Its pretty likely that the home won't be in very good condition. Unfortunately many people tend to think that price is a good measure of value and therefore cheapest is best. What we really seek is best value for money and while budgets are tight, we'll always be tempted to cut corners! This is not always the best answer if you truly want the vacation of a lifetime! |