Vacation Home as Long Term Rental Viability

[Yolanda Eccleston]

It is always recommended when purchasing a vacation rental to ensure that it can be used as a long term rental in case regulations are changed. Do beach markets lend themselves to long term rentals? We are considering beaches along the Gulf Coast of Florida.

[Andrew Postell]

@Yolanda Eccleston a vacation home to me (or sometimes called a "secondary" home) is a place that I will vacation to.  I take my family/friends there and we hang out.  Maybe our "vacation home" definitions are a bit different but if you are looking to occupy the property while you are on vacation then that's way more important to me than the viability of long term renting.  I'm not going to force myself to vacation somewhere that I hate just because it's a better long term rental market.  Having said that, the "work-from-home" movement that's going on has lots of people living in lots of different places in the US.  And there's shortages of properties everywhere.  Usually you make your money with a short term rental on the beach though.  You make TONS of money during the Summer....and then no money during the winter.  If you did convert it into a long term rental...well, a 12 month lease would mean that you would not longer vacation there.  And you wouldn't get that extra income during those seasonal months when people vacation to those spots.  I hope that makes sense.