South Florida Swamped by Abandoned Airbnb Properties – Why Is The State’s Short-Term Rental Boom Doomed

[The Colorado Kid]

Is this good or bad for timeshares?

From the article:
According to real estate expert Michael Bordenaro, the availability of Airbnb listings in Broward County, Florida, surged by a staggering 71% between 2019 and 2023. Yet, despite the proliferation of listings, only 30% of them received bookings in the last 12 months.

MSN

 

[bnoble]

A lot of warm weather places saw a huge boom during the everyone-worked-remotely phase of the pandemic. As is common, lots of people reacted to the bubble and bought at or near the peak.

This folks probably bought NVIDIA yesterday.

 

[montygz]

I prefer to stay in resorts when on vacation.

Airbnbs have their place, but to me it's apples and oranges.

I'm sure a lot of people jumped into Airbnbs thinking they would be easy, passive income without considering the downsides.

As for how it will impact the vacation market, removing inventory of places to stay should make it more expensive to book reservations, but it really depends on demand for a destination.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

A lot of warm weather places saw a huge boom during the everyone-worked-remotely phase of the pandemic. As is common, lots of people reacted to the bubble and bought at or near the peak.

This folks probably bought NVIDIA yesterday.

100 percent this. I’m sure a lot of people who were WFH during the pandemic were doing long term airbnb rentals in the nice Florida climate (during the winter anyway).

 

[pedro47]

All Airbnb are not created equal.. The are some Airbnb photos that not accurate. Plus, the increase in airfare to Florida have not help. Also some other ------factors.

 

[TheHappyWanderer]

Is this good or bad for timeshares?

From the article:
According to real estate expert Michael Bordenaro, the availability of Airbnb listings in Broward County, Florida, surged by a staggering 71% between 2019 and 2023. Yet, despite the proliferation of listings, only 30% of them received bookings in the last 12 months.

I'm wondering what a normal % of listings that receive bookings in any 12 month period is, I mean for the sake of comparison. The article doesn't say.

 

[dioxide45]

I'm wondering what a normal % of listings that receive bookings in any 12 month period is, I mean for the sake of comparison. The article doesn't say.

I watched a YouTube video the other day where they shared some statistics. For Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) analysis seemed to indicate that on average of the 18,000 short term rental homes, they were only rented on average of around 60 nights a year. Of those 18,000 only about 6,000 were actually booked one night or more. That meant that over 12,000+ were not rented at all during the year. The YouTuber seemed to hypothesize that perhaps people were simply buying them for a tax write off. As long as they listed it on Airbnb they could potentially write off all the related costs against their other income. I don't know how that makes sense, but it could push them down a tax bracket. It seems that too many people thought Airbnb would be an easy passive income and it isn't really. That is also 18,000 homes that are out of inventory as residential homes.

Here's the video. The stats I am referring to start at 5:10.

 

[rapmarks]

I watched a YouTube video the other day where they shared some statistics. For Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) analysis seemed to indicate that on average of the 18,000 short term rental homes, they were only rented on average of around 60 nights a year. Of those 18,000 only about 6,000 were actually booked one night or more. That meant that over 12,000+ were not rented at all during the year. The YouTuber seemed to hypothesize that perhaps people were simply buying them for a tax write off. As long as they listed it on Airbnb they could potentially write off all the related costs against their other income. I don't know how that makes sense, but it could push them down a tax bracket. It seems that too many people thought Airbnb would be an easy passive income and it isn't really. That is also 18,000 homes that are out of inventory as residential homes.

Here's the video. The stats I am referring to start at 5:10.

I have put several timeshare weeks in Airbnb in a different area. For the past year and a half, I only was able to rent five nights of one week, one night of a week. That is out of almost thirty different listings. Plus I list a two bedroom at $100 a night.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

That is also 18,000 homes that are out of inventory as residential homes.

Which is driving the housing crisis.

 

[Ski-Dad]

One need to be careful regarding leaping from one fact to another and making broad assumptions regarding an ancillary. If these 18,000 Airbnb listing were no longer allowed, would it free up 18,000 new homes?

If I list one of my timeshares on VRBO or Airbnb, that counts as 1 listing. Assume my timeshare property has 100 units x 52 weeks. If 200 owners list on airbnb, that shows as 200 listings. If these end, no space is made for anyone to live in year round. Further those 200 listings are not 200 separate units, but 1 week blocks.

I also have a beach house in eastern Canada that I rent out as a short term rental. It is a seasonal cottage on a seasonal road (cottage not winterized and road not plowed). If I stop renting, it will not be a home for anyone. It will be my seasonal cottage.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I watched a YouTube video the other day where they shared some statistics. For Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) analysis seemed to indicate that on average of the 18,000 short term rental homes, they were only rented on average of around 60 nights a year. Of those 18,000 only about 6,000 were actually booked one night or more. That meant that over 12,000+ were not rented at all during the year. The YouTuber seemed to hypothesize that perhaps people were simply buying them for a tax write off. As long as they listed it on Airbnb they could potentially write off all the related costs against their other income. I don't know how that makes sense, but it could push them down a tax bracket. It seems that too many people thought Airbnb would be an easy passive income and it isn't really. That is also 18,000 homes that are out of inventory as residential homes.

Here's the video. The stats I am referring to start at 5:10.

It's a possibility but you need other passive rental income. With the $10,000 annual cap on property taxes, having a rental is a way to write off the full amount of the property taxes as a business expense. However any losses on an AirBnB are a passive loss so it can only go against passive income (aka other rental gains not regular income).

You can carry the loss forward and it would add to the net tax basis of the property upon sale or go against future profits.

Can I Carry Forward Losses on a Rental Property?

Depending upon your specific financial status, you may or may not be able to deduct 100%...

www.weekand.com

 

[rapmarks]

It's a possibility but you need other passive rental income. With the $10,000 annual cap on property taxes, having a rental is a way to write off the full amount of the property taxes as a business expense. However any losses on an AirBnB are a passive loss so it can only go against passive income (aka other rental gains).

You can carry the loss forward and it would add to the net tax basis of the property upon sale or go against future profits.

Can I Carry Forward Losses on a Rental Property?

Depending upon your specific financial status, you may or may not be able to deduct 100%...

www.weekand.com

Thank you, I was going to write this but you did it better

 

[clifffaith]

Thank you, I was going to write this but you did it better

Hi @rapmarks! How are you doing?

 

[PigsDad]

One need to be careful regarding leaping from one fact to another and making broad assumptions regarding an ancillary. If these 18,000 Airbnb listing were no longer allowed, would it free up 18,000 new homes?

If I list one of my timeshares on VRBO or Airbnb, that counts as 1 listing. Assume my timeshare property has 100 units x 52 weeks. If 200 owners list on airbnb, that shows as 200 listings. If these end, no space is made for anyone to live in year round. Further those 200 listings are not 200 separate units, but 1 week blocks.

Yes, that is true in some cases, but certainly not all (or I would venture to say most). In my experience, most listing on VRBO, etc. are not individual weeks, but a listing for the property. After you select the property, you then go in and select the dates that you want to reserve. So in all of those cases 1 listing == 1 home.

I also have a beach house in eastern Canada that I rent out as a short term rental. It is a seasonal cottage on a seasonal road (cottage not winterized and road not plowed). If I stop renting, it will not be a home for anyone. It will be my seasonal cottage.

Yes, there are those cases, but in recent years there has been a huge surge of people buying homes for investments for short-term rentals only. It is a very significant amount of homes and has had a huge impact on the availability of homes and a major cause for the escalated prices we have seen in the last several years. No one can deny that fact.

Kurt

 

[dioxide45]

One need to be careful regarding leaping from one fact to another and making broad assumptions regarding an ancillary. If these 18,000 Airbnb listing were no longer allowed, would it free up 18,000 new homes?

If I list one of my timeshares on VRBO or Airbnb, that counts as 1 listing. Assume my timeshare property has 100 units x 52 weeks. If 200 owners list on airbnb, that shows as 200 listings. If these end, no space is made for anyone to live in year round. Further those 200 listings are not 200 separate units, but 1 week blocks.

I also have a beach house in eastern Canada that I rent out as a short term rental. It is a seasonal cottage on a seasonal road (cottage not winterized and road not plowed). If I stop renting, it will not be a home for anyone. It will be my seasonal cottage.

We are talking about homes in South Florida, not a seasonal location like Canada. Many of these homes are not second homes, they were purchased with the intent to rent. It is possible that if localities crack down on short term rental listings that some of these simply may sit empty, some may get converted to long term rental and some may get listed for sale. The percentage breakdown between those is kind of a guess at the moment. If two thirds are sitting empty now with no revenue it is possible that the owner may continue to just sit on it empty for whatever reason.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The woman in the office here at Hono Koa (on Maui) has a huge problem with Airbnb homes and condos. She would like to see the practice stopped completely, and a lot of others feel the same way. I see that happening. The governor and mayor are pretty high-handed. They already tried to end out-of-state-owner-owned Airbnb rentals, but the rental companies who manage the rentals balked.

There is a shortage of housing here on Maui after the fire. Many people are leaving the island because no homes, high prices on everything (which we notice as well), and just the general feeling of loss.

I am sure the hotel and timeshare industries would love to see an end to Airbnb on the island.

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread about FL.

 

[dioxide45]

In many cases, the hotel and hospitality lobby are behind many legislative efforts to limit short term rental options.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Most of these laws limit to 30 days options if short term rentals are outlawed. It would not be hard for an owner to rent for 31 days to a renter in the contract and then add a clause and discount that sublets back the remaining days to the owner who acts as a manager to sublet the remaining days to other renters.

The other option is to let the units stand empty as second homes losing jobs in the region for housekeepers, maintenance and trades to keep them maintained and renovated.

IMO...if there are so many empty units, then market forces will eventually pull many them off of the market as people will not want to be incurring the expense of property taxes and maintenance unless they truly want a second home for snowbirding and will significantly use it. If that is the case, short-term rentals are not the problem and regulating them will not eliminate the housing problem.

 

[pedro47]

In many cases, the hotel and hospitality lobby are behind many legislative efforts to limit short term rental options.

I can remember when the hotel association in Williamsburg,Virginia opposed timeshare resorts coming to Williamsburg. Their object was no one would purchase a timeshare in Williamsburg and it would also hurt the hotel industry nightly accommodations .

 

[rickandcindy23]

You cannot rent a house in an HOA governed community for short term rentals. HOA rules (most HOA's) have rules against it in their governing docs.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

has a huge problem with Airbnb homes and condos. She would like to see the practice stopped completely,

pretty much everybody in HI who doesn't own one or manage one has a huge problem with Airbnb homes and condos & would like to see the practice stopped completely. did you know there are "airbnb cars" all over Honolulu? Residents buy an extra car (or people who never had one, buy a car), get a legal parking space (sticker, I guess) in their hood, then "airbnb" it out to tourists.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

a major cause for the escalated prices we have seen in the last several years

we can certainly debate how "major" it is relative to 5 other causes I can think of quickly. I did not read this article. I have read 3 or 4 others like it over the last 18 mos, and all of the authors had zero problem with sensationalism. Do not trust that this stuff is actual "journalism", if that even exists any more. And when house prices fall, different people will choose different, pet "major" causes.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

folks probably bought NVIDIA yesterday

You likely said the same thing about NVDA 4 or 5 mos ago, and about MSFT, and about CRM, and about AMD, and about ONTO, etc.
I own all of them and I occasionally thought "maybe" the same thing about all of them at various times. And they all hit new highs just recently.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

I half-seriously searched vrbo for Miami Bch 1 bedrms / studios (mid-beach, not the drunken south) about 6 wks ago. The # available in the area I know was unbelievable. The prices seemed highly attractive. Whether they were all legit or some kind of scam was a big ?????????????????? for me

 

[TUGBrian]

perhaps its just south florida, i can say without question that issue does not exist in orlando/central florida!