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

[buzglyd]

I have a home in Scottsdale and it’s booked solid, especially this time of year. Bachelorette parties are a huge thing there and it even gets rented when it’s hot in AZ.

 

[dioxide45]

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.

I watched a YouTube video where the person was talking about their fleet of 37 cars they rent out through Toro.

 

[dioxide45]

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

Are you saying that there aren't that many Airbnbs in Orlando or that they are all getting rented out?

 

[dioxide45]

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.

I would agree with this. Government rarely creates good laws and more times than not they create more problems or other unintended consequences. Over the long haul the marketplace should even things out.

 

[TUGBrian]

vast majority get rented out yes.

spring break week for instance shows vrbo has only 15% of listed properties available with the rest rented.

 

[buzglyd]

I watched a YouTube video where the person was talking about their fleet of 37 cars they rent out through Toro.

I have a friend that’s doing that in Mesquite.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

I have a home in Scottsdale and it’s booked solid, especially this time of year. Bachelorette parties are a huge thing there and it even gets rented when it’s hot in AZ.

Would you put me in touch with your neighbor? I have some friends who'd like to rent out their home.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

I watched a YouTube video where the person was talking about their fleet of 37 cars they rent out through Toro.

Oh oh, no wonder car prices are in a bubble.

 

[buzglyd]

Would you put me in touch with your neighbor? I have some friends who'd like to rent out their home.

Scottsdale has a very orderly process for rentals. My neighbor used to work for the city. He says all my guests have been very polite.

Take your anger someplace else.

 

[silentg]

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.

All these initials what do they stand for? NVDA MSFT CRM AMD ONTO?

 

[PigsDad]

All these initials what do they stand for? NVDA MSFT CRM AMD ONTO?

Stock ticker symbols.

Kurt

 

[moonstone]

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

Or in the St. Augustine Beach area. Our condo is rented out pretty much the entire time we are not using it. I think is was empty for 5 weeks out of the 8 months we were not there last year. So far this year looks to be the same. It is rented currently (from just after we left in Dec.) right up until the morning we return next week, and so far there are 3 months booked starting the day after we leave at the end of April.


~Diane

 

[Janann]

It would be interesting to know what portion of the short-term rentals are occupied by the owner most of the time. There are people who live in their home full time, but are able to go to a friend or family member's house for a few days when their home is rented out. Some portion of the units that are never rented may have that arrangement. If that's the case, then the lack of rental occupancy has zero impact on permanent housing availability.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

It would be interesting to know what portion of the short-term rentals are occupied by the owner most of the time. ... If that's the case, then the lack of rental occupancy has zero impact on permanent housing availability.

This. The authors of the articles I have read had zero interest, or probably knowledge of how, to look behind the #s.
The authors of the articles I have read were certain that this would have already exploded by now.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

It would be interesting to know what portion of the short-term rentals are occupied by the owner most of the time. There are people who live in their home full time, but are able to go to a friend or family member's house for a few days when their home is rented out. Some portion of the units that are never rented may have that arrangement. If that's the case, then the lack of rental occupancy has zero impact on permanent housing availability.

Honestly, I don't know how many people could consistently rent out their main home like this and live out of a suitcase. We own a vacation rental in Tahoe and it is stripped of family photos, empty pantry/refrigerator, pet items, bills/paperwork, clothing in closets, and other personal items.

What would you do with such items in your main home?

 

[buzglyd]

Honestly, I don't know how many people could consistently rent out their main home like this and live out of a suitcase. We own a vacation rental in Tahoe and it is stripped of family photos, empty pantry/refrigerator, pet items, bills/paperwork, clothing in closets, and other personal items.

What would you do with such items in your main home?

I think you would need two homes. I stay in my Scottsdale house when it's not rented but I'm more like a vacationer because I bring clothes and other items with me. I do keep my garage locked off from guests (sometimes I leave a car in it so I'm not driving so much) and theoretically I could leave personal items in there. We're considering living there starting in 2025. It will be hard to give up the high season cash though!

 

[Janann]

Honestly, I don't know how many people could consistently rent out their main home like this and live out of a suitcase. We own a vacation rental in Tahoe and it is stripped of family photos, empty pantry/refrigerator, pet items, bills/paperwork, clothing in closets, and other personal items.

What would you do with such items in your main home?

The number of people doing this is probably small, but it does happen. It is more common in areas where there are huge music festivals, major sporting events, etc.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Honestly, I don't know how many people could consistently rent out their main home like this and live out of a suitcase. We own a vacation rental in Tahoe and it is stripped of family photos, empty pantry/refrigerator, pet items, bills/paperwork, clothing in closets, and other personal items.

What would you do with such items in your main home?

Simply from what I saw in mid-Miami Beach, the large #s here are not "homes" as large as your home is nor are they inhabited by people with as many memories and belongings as you have. They are studios & 1 bdrms, tiny 1 bdrms. They are most likely owned by & sometimes inhabited by single people in their twenties. Most of their memories fit IN THEIR SMARTPHONE. The large multi bedrm "homes" a few blocks away are not significant in these #s.
From the #s I saw in mid-beach, you'd have to believe speculators (investors?) had taken over large chunks of most of the buildings in the area. It just seemed highly unlikely to me. Of course, that is only one area, but
a) it is the area upon which this article focuses
b) it is a TOURIST area
The authors of these articles never seem to ask "Well, why is it that home prices have also spiked in areas with almost no tourism?" We could start naming them ... upper-class suburbs of non-touristy metro areas ... downtrodden areas in the mid-west ... these have also spiked. Do you think prices are stagnant in upper-class hoods in Dallas' outer burbs? Do "tourists" airbnb those and then commute to see the sights in Dallas?

 

[moonstone]

It would be interesting to know what portion of the short-term rentals are occupied by the owner most of the time. There are people who live in their home full time, but are able to go to a friend or family member's house for a few days when their home is rented out. Some portion of the units that are never rented may have that arrangement. If that's the case, then the lack of rental occupancy has zero impact on permanent housing availability.

The couple who rented our condo for 2 mos. last summer and have signed/paid to do the same this summer, have a huge ocean front house somewhere in south Florida that they rent out for a crazy high price and then rent our condo for less than 1/4 of the money they make on their home rental. The man told our property manager that the money they make on that 2 month rental covers their home's upkeep costs for the entire year.

~Diane