All Forum Posts by: Beth L.

I agree. I have a tenant whose brother is a contractor and I let him do a few really minor things no charge with the brothers help. I also hired him to paint out some of my units at turnover. But I will never give credits for rent.

You should have it fixed. If an appliance is included in the rent, it is the landlord's responsibility to keep it in working order. Actually, any repairs in the unit should be fixed by the landlord (unless intentional damage of course), so it sounds like you have a great tenant that has been doing things himself. And he's been with you a while, so I say keep him happy. :-)

@Chris Haas I imagine if they are across the street, the price is better but probably no views right? So does the Caribbean resort book and manage everything for you, or can you do that if you want?

What are the fees like over there?

How are yours doing for you @Chris Haas? Did you get 2 at the same time? Same location?

Thanks @Jeffrey Long. Are there certain areas that we should avoid? We were looking at North Myrtle, since that is near the little airport that we would fly in to, and our friend has a condo in Waterway Landing. That is a nice community, however I hate that I have to drive to the beach and try to find parking. Very inconvenient to me. If you have any thoughts on pros and cons of certain areas, I'd appreciate it.

Hello All,

We are considering purchasing a condo in the North Myrtle Beach area to use mainly as a vacation rental, and some limited use ourselves. I would like to pick the brains of the locals and those with vacation rentals to see what the current market is like right now. It seems that the inventory is huge and prices seem reasonable. Can anyone provide some insight in this area?

I am also interested in knowing all the hidden fees and other unknowns. I am not familiar with this area.

Thank you!

@Aaron Cooper we have both vacation rental and long term rental income. Both are itemized on our Schedule E and run through our personal tax return as RENTAL INCOME. Perhaps this could be different, depending on how your entity is set up. Definitely a question for your CPA if you want to be sure. 

@Christina Kovacs I have a short term vacation rental near Disney. We list almost exclusively with VacationRentals.com. This year, amidst all the chaos of them beginning to charge service fees, many disgruntled owners decided not to renew, but I did. I haven't seen an issue and most of my bookings come from there. It will pick up each year as you go along, as we have found that some guests come back, year after year, and they become returning guests. Those bookings are just handled directly with me.

We are long distance owners and have a property manager there locally that meets the guests, handles maintenance issues, schedules cleaning, pool care and lawn care. He is invaluable! I think that it is important to have someone meet the guests to confirm how many are staying and that they are who they say they are (unfortunately there are many scams out there. You rent to someone trusting their identity, only to find out they stole a wallet, used the ID and credit card on a last minute booking and then the cleaning lady finds they up and left with all the electronics. YIKES!)

But I also know of someone who self manages a condo in Myrtle Beach. He ships them the key, handles money through PayPal, and has a cleaning lady come in afterward and it seems to work out well for him. 

So there are many things to consider. I self manage all the communications and bookings. The property manager handles everything while the guest is there. I works out great for us!

Something to keep in mind is who will handle the call-outs. Call-outs are those inevitable maintenance issues and concierge questions. Our property manager has handled calls like a clogged toilet, leaking pipe, a broken mini blind, broken shelf in the fridge, blender not working, A/C not working, the guests can't figure out how to operate the TV, meeting with repairmen, pool heat needs to be turned up/down/on/off, neighbor used our trash bins so now they are full and no room for the guests' trash so the PM has to go pick up their trash and haul it away, light bulbs are blown out, etc. Some of these calls, if an emergency can be made in the middle of the night or the weekend and need to be handled right away. You will need someone you can trust to call out who can be there quickly.

And in case you didn't know, it is part of Florida Law that they must register with the owner/manager within 48 hours of arrival and sign a form in which they agree that they are renting a "transient" facility. They confirm that no permanent residence is planned by them. If this form is not signed and they decide to just stay there and not leave on the date they provided, it is very difficult to get them removed. This form is a MUST and the importance of it has been greatly stressed by our PM. As a matter of fact, he goes to collect the form and meet them in person if possible, or at least checks the unit while he is there. So if you are self managing and not meeting them after arrival, you must make sure that it is included in your rental agreement.

I hope some of this info helps!

@Evan Ventura we use Cozy. It's easy for the landlord and tenant to set up, and it's free!

@Brian Pleshek your biggest issue will be getting a new tenant in the new unit. Assuming it's finished in time, and you are able to show it and sign the lease before you leave, you have to have everything in place for their arrival. If the other tenants pay online, then no bank runs will be necessary. Perhaps you have a family member or close friend that can be "on call" for you. The chances that they will be called is pretty slim, especially with the history of the first tenants and the fact that you are repairing the new place.

Going on vacation when you self-manage is always a little worrisome, but I hope it will be fine and you have a wonderful time on your cruise!

@Christian Sifuentes I personally stay away from downtown, but I know many, especially that are not from this area, that do invest there. I manage my own rentals and I would not feel comfortable being downtown to show units, especially in the evening by myself. I do not want to deal with the drama from tenants and neighbors, and dealing with accepting Section 8. Also, being a landlord and property owner in city limits means that you have to deal with the city. They do inspections inside and out every so often and nit pick over the smallest things and make you fix them. My brother has a townhouse near the hospital (decent area near great schools, but still in city limits), and they came by and made him replace a window shutter because one of the slats was cracked. That meant that he had to purchase ALL new shutters since he couldn't get one to match, and pay someone to install them. I can see the good in this; it makes the city look good. But dealing with them is just another thing to consider.

I target nicer rentals outside city limits and, even though the properties are not as abundant and cost more, you also get more rent, and a better tenant base. I always look for places that I would like to rent and live in myself.

Like Devonte mentioned, I was born and raised in this area and know it pretty well. I don't have negative thoughts about Hagerstown in general, just about downtown and some outlying areas. But I know that it works for other investors, so that's good for them!