All Forum Posts by: Bill Cereske

Good to see you back, Paul.

I had a guest die once.  He went out on the lake in a kayak, and never came back until they found his body underwater.  Rather than clear out, the family brought in reinforcements and stayed the entire time they had booked.  It made the local paper for one day (they hate to print bad news), and I don't think I'm getting a repeat booking.  

You need an insurance policy that specifically has coverage for short term rentals.  Talk to your insurance agent to be sure you have the right policy.  You might consider "Loss of use" coverage that will keep your income stream if something happens to the property, like a fire.  In my opinion, you want a minimum of $1 million in liability coverage and another $1 million umbrella policy.

They tried to beat us, and in some cases, have.  Now, Marriot International if moving into - you guessed it - Short term vacation rental homes.

We have done this a number of times, but ONLY for an organization that we know, support and are already members of, typically animal welfare and rescue groups (that actually fits in, in a moment).  

The times available are always during our shoulder seasons, (before summer and before Thanksgiving, when there are not going to be any paying guests).  

Although there are no tax advantages to giving stays to be auctioned, we DO get to support a favored charity without cost, we DO get to expose our PET FRIENDLY property to folks who: A) love Lake Tahoe enough to bid on a stay, B) have the money to win a charity auction, and C) love animals enough to appreciate a pet friendly property - maybe returning as guests. 

Unless South Lake Tahoe's ordinance requiring a minimum 30 day rental contract is overturned in court, that may be the way we HAVE to go.  We still have three years before we have to cross THAT bridge, however.

Between the draconian penalties imposed last year for the tiniest violations - but only for vacation renters - and this recent vote, the message has gone out loud and clear to potential visitors:  "We don't want you, go away"!  I can't speak for the entire SLT VHR industry, but my property there has seen it's reservations collapse already.  After the holidays, I have one reservation in March and the next one is in June.  From my point of view, the city of South Lake Tahoe is in for some serious economic hurt, sooner rather than later.

Andrew, it just doesn't work that way.  You have to be a registered voter where you reside. I was able to vote in San Francisco, where I reside now, and lost on every issue.  

We'll see what happens in SLT.  Meanwhile, we are voting with our feet, becoming residents of Boise, Idaho before Thanksgiving.  We bought a lovely new home there, and are selling out of San Francisco.

It's not over until it's over.  They still have to count absentee and provisional ballots.  As of Friday afternoon, their lead has shrunk from 113 to 25 votes.  According to the Tribune, they still have thousands of votes to count, through the whole county.

IMHO, if measure T passes it will devastate the south shore economy. People who rent vacation homes aren't going to start using the hotels and motels, they'll find vacation homes in other locations.  All that money from visitor spending and taxes will just dry up and blow away.  Many businesses that depend on visitors will either downsize or just go away.  It will certainly solve their housing problem - with many fewer jobs, many people will be forced to leave to find employment.  The real estate business there is already slow as people hold their breath to see what happens.  If it passes, real estate values will plummet and SLT will be a quiet community of second homes.