Short Term Rental Questions

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Hello. New to the app & doing some research, I found this app might be a good resource. I'm looking to buy a house in the St Pete market & have read zoning regulations, articles about STR (anything less than 30 days) and have discussed with my realtor. I know that by law you can only do 3 STR (less than 30 days) per year. You must have the Business tax license & pay all the fees required. I read that you can only do unlimited STR in hotel/motel zones. I just don't want to buy that close to the water due to flooding concerns. My goal is to live in the home during the winters, maybe 3-4 additional weeks for vacation, then rent it out to help cover the mortgage the rest of the year. Overall goal being to retire in the home in 10-15 years. My ideal location is in the middle so I'm away from severe flood risk, but still 15-20 mins tops to downtown or the beach. My realtor told me that there's been happenings of neighbors turning in people who are doing STR's and getting investigated by authorities, resulting in fines & such. I'm trying to understand how frequent this is. Are there folks that are successfully doing STR in this market that aren't in the hotel zones? Has the policing gone up significantly? Are you just moving to 30-day+ rentals? How is the demand for that? Just wanting to understand opinions & ask some questions. I appreciate any & all feedback!