All Forum Posts by: Dennis Gallof

Due to new requirements in the city of Miami, I'm not able to rent out my condo unit anymore as a "short term rental" because I'm not able to get a "certificate of use (CU)" that states "lodging" versus "residential".

Based on the link below, If my leases are 6 months or longer it doesn't seem like I would need to submit sales tax; however, if my leases are 6 months or less how much sales tax would I owe?  Would it be 13% based on the breakdown below?

General Sales and Use Tax for Florida 6%
MIAMI-DADE for the County 6% for Accommodations Tax
MIAMI-DADE for the County 1% General Sales and Use Tax

https://floridarevenue.com/For...

Thank you!

Due to new requirements in the city of Miami, I'm not able to rent out my condo unit anymore as a "short term rental" because I'm not able to get a "certificate of use (CU)" that states "lodging" versus "residential".

Anyway, I'm going to try doing longer lease rentals; so if I do leases of 6 months or longer than I don't have to pay the 6% sales "transient" tax, right?

https://floridarevenue.com/For...

Thank you!

Hi, I have a condo in Edgewater, Miami and before this COVID pandemic they allowed owners to rent out their units as short term rentals; however, now they're requiring all these documents/licenses in place before they allow me to do short term rentals again.  I'm following the steps in the link below.

https://medium.com/keycafe/und...

Anyway, I'm making progress but now hit a bump in the road in trying to get my "certificate of use (CU)"; so for me to get this I first need to submit a building permit application for remodeling requesting a "change of use" to "condo-hotel".  Then once this is done, I need to request a "certificate of occupancy (CO)" that I will then submit with my "certificate of use (CU)" application.

And on top of this I, the owner, can't open up this building permit and it has to be done by a contractor.  I don't understand why this is so difficult if I'm not actually doing any work at all in my condo just changing the use to say "condo-hotel".  And the building unit where I have this condo is half hotel and half condo; so the association has no issues on short term rentals it's just they are requiring these Miami licenses/documents.

Has anyone ever had to deal with a similar issue like this?

Thank you!

I reached out to my mortgage company just to check if it was possible to transfer to an LLC, this was their response:

Please be advised the investor (Freddie Mac) does not permit this type of transfer of ownership.
We understand you would remain liable for the Note payment obligation however, for this transfer a new Deed would be executed and this is the transfer of ownership not permitted.

So I guess I wouldn't be able to transfer to an LLC even if I wanted to...

Thank you for all the replies!  All valid points, I don't believe this is necessary at this point in time with a mortgage and only for 1 unit.

I purchased a condo in Miami that allows me to do "short term rentals" since it's in a building that's half hotel, half condo; which works out great because I could rent it out for extra income whenever my family isn't using it.

I see all the benefits of having an LLC for an investment property, but I'm thinking is it really worth setting up an LLC for my single condo unit. I'm not looking to create a "short term rental" business out of this, where I'll be purchasing other investment properties, anytime in the near future, but just want a way to make extra cash when not in use.

I feel like all the steps of going through my mortgage company, seeing if they even allow me to transfer ownership to an LLC, without causing a "due on sale" clause or increasing my interest rate. Then going through the process of setting up the actual LLC, setting up a business banking account, etc...do I really need this much personal liability protection for a condo unit that I'll be using as a vacation / investment property?

Especially, when I see sites like Airbnb/VRBO offer hosts protection of liability insurance of up to $1 million USD to protect against third party claims for personal injury or property damage; so that makes me feel more comfortable just listing on Airbnb/VRBO with the condo unit under my name.

Thank you!

I was able to confirm with the SmartThings community and it will work the way I thought.

I ended up purchasing the Samsung SmartThings Hub because I see the Wink Hub seems to be discontinued. 

Anyway, I just got off the phone with Samsung support and they said I would only be able to control the Hub from within my Miami condo Wi-Fi to be able to change the Schlage (z-wave) keypad lock code.  This doesn't make sense to me because I thought I would be able to control this from any location, and since I live in NJ would be able to make changes to it from there. 

Does this sound accurate to anyone who has a similar Hub type setup with their smart lock?  You can only control the Hub/smart lock only when you're within the same Wi-Fi network?

Thank you!

Just wondering, for your cleaning services; do they also supply toilet paper, paper towels, soap if there is a shortage?  Or is that up for the guests to purchase on their own?

Thank you!

Hi,

Is there a pricing engine service that compares other local STR places, high/low seasons, and can change pricing on Airbnb/VRBO/etc. automatically to maximize earning potential? For example, if your place hasn't been rented and the day comes up it will adjust prices lower to see if you can get a last minute guest. Or does Airbnb/VRBO already have this type of feature builtin?

Thank you!