Rental Property Investor · Bradenton, FL · Member since 2018 · 73 posts · 61 votes
Interested in hearing from others what is happening in your state with rentals. See below what is going on in Florida.
Florida Governor Suspends New Vacation Rentals
In an effort to discourage visitors to the state who may be carrying the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday a two-week suspension of new vacation rentals (30 days or 1 calendar month, whichever is less). The order does not apply to current occupants of vacation rentals.
I believe these are hard times ahead very possibly the next 3-6 months as covid19 is very unlikely to go away quickly and the US was extremely ill prepared for it, now scrambling over the last 4 weeks to get things in place for this in hospitals around the country. Definitely too little too late. Many HC workers quarantined right now will likely get worse before it gets better.
This virus is very different than the flu and other common viruses. It can cause pneumonia in both lungs, increase blood clots and cause something called cytokine release storm which is dangerous and can be deadly. None of the other viruses do this that I know of. A vaccine is 12-18 months away by most accounts. There is no immunity to it because it’s a new virus. Because of all these reasons this is likely to go on for much longer than just 4 weeks.
Be mindful that things will recover and do your best to hold rentals in place for when this is finally at least a bit under control and you can get back to business fully.
If you have STR my advice would be to make sure you disinfect very well. Covid19 has been seen to exist in surfaces even after 17 days. You don't want someone to stay in your STR and then have someone else and spread this around or get it yourself.
Also consider renting to HC workers in quarantine or those working in hospitals away from their families so they don't infect them. I believe there is going to be a growing market for this in the coming weeks in STR.
I'm taking a loss on STR right now and doing ok on long term rental. However I realize this is temporary and holding in place- preparing for the worst but truly hoping for the best.