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Long-term rental advice

Dori

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I am hoping some dear fellow TUGgers can give me some advice regarding long-term rentals (probably 3 months- Jan-March). Let me give you some history. My cousin, a very active 60 year old, has been a widow for 2 years. She and DH used to spend winters in Florida in their 5th wheel. She has since sold it.

Last winter she stayed home and was very unhappy about it. She lives quite a way out of the city and last winter was brutal for snow and frigid temperatures.

She is determined to winter in Florida this coming winter, and asked my advice about renting a condo or a house or even a nice park model. I have briefly looked at the links provided here on TUG, but they are rather overwhelming.

I am wondering if anyone has rented long-term, perhaps in a nice mobile home community, or in a condo development, or perhaps knows someone who does this. I value your opinions over anyone else's.


Thanks,

Dori
 

lprstn

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I've rented long term several times while waiting for a home to be built. There are a lot of places that do offer short term leases, however I must say that I liked staying at a residence hotel that offered free breakfast and was close to where I wanted to be. When you stay in a hotel for more than 30days they don't charge you taxes for it. Plus it was nice having my room cleaned everyday.
 

vacationhopeful

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Try running some FREE ads on Craig's List for the areas in FL she would be interested in being a roommate in ... I am sure there are other widows out there looking for some winter income. They then could tell their freeloading yankee relatives that the guest room is rented and suggest a nice motel for them.:)

Use a throw away email address to avoid scammers ...
 
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Gramma5

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Before we retired, we rented our condo in Southwestern Fl. , south of Sarasota for 3-4 months a year. Several of the condos in our complex are rented as seasonal places. Email me if you are interested in that area and perhaps I can find out if there are any rentals available. I believe the rents run 1800-2300/month for a two bedroom 2bath.
 

Kola

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Another way worth trying would be to check http://www.bidshares.com/. Even though many offers are for one week rental only, there are plenty of multi-week offers for Jan-Febr. 09 in Orlando area with some people listing three weeks or even more. Some Florida destinations are difficult to get but that limitation applies also to apartment rentals. The advantage, in my opinion, is in a variety of experiences, you are not limited to the same (possibly boring) place for months. In addition, of course, you get all the advantages of a resort instead of just a room in some apartment building with no amenities and no activities to speak of. There are other important factors to consider: personal security, health, mobility, etc.
 

SherryS

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There are a number of condo rentals on Siesta Key and south Sarasota that are 3 month minimum rentals (for the "season", January through March). I assume other locations in Florida have similar rentals. Check with Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Bureaus in the Florida city of of your choice. They all have websites, recommendations, advice, etc. to help you.
 

Jennie

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There may be rentals available from private owners at the Century Village properties located in various areas in Florida. These communities were established for seniors and have lots of amenities and optional activities. The owners have purchased year round condo units. Some become ill or die and family members try to rent out the unit for the season to cover the annual carrying charges.

My favorite aunt spent many happy years living at the Century Village in Boca West (off Yamato Road). There were about 20 medium high-rise buildings spread over miles of private, well kept grounds. It had an indoor and outdoor Olympic size swimming pool, a movie theatre, and numerous meeting rooms where diverse types of activities took place, most of them free. There was ample free parking. For those without cars, free shuttle buses circled the grounds transporting people from their building to the Clubhouse. Outside the Clubhouse, city buses swung through and brought passengers to the beach area. various restaurants, shopping malls, houses of worship, medical facikities, etc...

There are other Century Villages at Boca Raton East (near the beach), in Hollywood Florida, and In Palm Beach. There's probably more locations but these are the only ones I'm familiar with.

When I would visit my aunt, I would see many hand-written ads tacked to the bulletin board at the Clubhouse, offering seasonal rentals. I would also see ads in the local Pennysaver magazine. In recent years I'm told that some local real estate offices have rental and sale listings. If this is of interest, you or your friend might call the Management Office of the location that appeals and ask them for a referral to a person (in-house or realtor) that handles rentals.
 

Dori

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Many thanks for all of your suggestions. I knew I could count on fellow TUGgers to help me out. I will pass this information along to my cousin and she can start investigating. Thanks again!

Dori
 

JoAnn

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Dori, there are many rentals in SW FL through Realtors/Property managers. I know our builder/Realtor/PM has quite a few lovely homes for seasonal rentals. Try the classifieds in the local newspapers in the area your cousin might want to 'winter'. Good luck.
 
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