Investor · Cherry Hill, NJ · Member since 2016 · 860 posts · 324 votes
Hey all,
So I'm tossing around the idea of buying a STR with the intention of my family getting use out of it.
Currently I live in South Jersey and my family travels to Florida a few times a year, In the summer we spend a lot of weekends in Ventnor, NJ and we love the Poconos. I have family in both Ventnor and South Florida which is where we stay when visiting.
I love the idea of being able to purchase a property in these areas with the intention of getting all my costs covered by STRs and being able to use them for my family.
I would love any feedback on this especially for this who have STRs in some of these areas.
Hi @Mayer M. I have duplex STR in Ventnor and a 10+ unit under contract. The returns have been beyond expectations but its a high end unit.
We are converting our Atlantic City properties to STR as well.
Moms got spots in SW Florida and she likes being down there for the winter. I think you play to what you like. Maybe check out the STR University guys videos. It's great content
Hello everyone looking to purchase my first STR I currently live in the Poconos in the Marshalls creek area and I've been in the market for about 4 months and researching STR for about 2 yrs and I pretty much know how it works and Im ready to get on this wave being that this market is 12 yrs old and has room for me but I do see a lite saturated market in the business it self in certain areas but again I'm trying to get a piece of the pie so my 2 targets are Poconos and Florida im a little hesitant with Poconos because having low occupancy rates during the winter months because theres been a drout with snow or else we would probably be in the 60-75% percentile where we would probably be looking around 200 days out of the yr of rentals which im ok with that now Florida they looking at a higher percentile due to the fact that they pretty much booked all yr round so please any experienced advise in any of these 2 states from a markets point of view im all ears or eyes to be exact thank you very much
I don't know anyone who's getting anywhere near 60-75% occupancy in the Poconos; most people get closer to 20%.
My first rental property is a vacation rental in LBI. We get to use it for 2 weeks in the summer and a lot of weekends in May/early June and September. We then rent it out from mid June through Labor Day (other than our two weeks). Technically our expenses aren’t completely covered, but we end up spending less than we would on a 2 week rental that we would have anyway.
In 28 years now (hopefully sooner with other investments), the property will be paid off and our vacation cost will have gone down significantly. I’m using the renters to significantly subsidize our 2nd home.
In the two years we’ve own the property, I’m believe it has appreciated about 14% based on recent sales.
This summer we had the issue of the short term rental tax which impacted our rentals, but they have been overturned.
I honestly would not be doing the Poconos. I don't like Florida either, due to the increased storm activity that keeps pounding the south coast. A lot of people are finding good markets such as the Smokies or perhaps Branson Missouri or others. This is a huge decision, I would not jump in just because a couple of people give you suggestions.
Hello everyone looking to purchase my first STR I currently live in the Poconos in the Marshalls creek area and I've been in the market for about 4 months and researching STR for about 2 yrs and I pretty much know how it works and Im ready to get on this wave being that this market is 12 yrs old and has room for me but I do see a lite saturated market in the business it self in certain areas but again I'm trying to get a piece of the pie so my 2 targets are Poconos and Florida im a little hesitant with Poconos because having low occupancy rates during the winter months because theres been a drout with snow or else we would probably be in the 60-75% percentile where we would probably be looking around 200 days out of the yr of rentals which im ok with that now Florida they looking at a higher percentile due to the fact that they pretty much booked all yr round so please any experienced advise in any of these 2 states from a markets point of view im all ears or eyes to be exact thank you very much
@William Battistelli. Ahhh yes, I did see that. I dont see the point in that differentiation really, but guess theres some ‘high level’ thinking on that.
@Shane Ward - I would agree with you . I have seen many properties even non lake fronts make good money out of it .. I own and do a str on a lake front in poconos close to kalahari and I haven’t been disappointed , looking to dive into the lake harmony area which is another hot spot I believe it being closer to Jim Thorpe