All Forum Posts by: Mark Shay

BEWARE: Many of the lots you see at Pocono area sheriff sales were abandoned because they were deemed not-buildable due to changing septic system requirements and pushback from the EPA. The Monroe County government here may well be ripping you off by selling lots that can't be built on. It is especially bad if you are in a HOA and are forced to pay HOA fees for those unbuildable lots, and that is the reason there are so many lots in auction. See Winona Lakes, Towamensing Trails, Indian Mountain Lakes.

Be careful about buying vacant lots in well established communities.  The builders have snapped up all the good lots, so if you want to build, contact a builder and see what they have available or under construction as a spec.  

Communities with sewer don't have this problem, not many Pocono Communities have sewer systems.  Camelot Forest, Greenwood Acres, Lake Harmony Estates, Split Rock and Penn Estates are some of the places that do.

The Poconos Association of Vacation Rental Owners (Poconos VRO) attended this meeting and several of our volunteers provided data to help the board in their rollback of this cap.  Our position:
1) Don’t interfere with the real estate market with arbitrary caps, you are hurting innocent people. Let the market do what it does best.
2) You have plenty of rules, now ENFORCE them. You have a 24 hour hotline yet bad operators continue to operate. Shut down the ones that are operating without a license. Enforce the rules you have

For anyone in the STR Market in the Poconos, we encourage you to join Poconos VRO and support our efforts for reasonable regulation. Search Poconos VRO.

Yes, in Pennsylvania much of the power sits with the municipalities, not the counties. You would register to get a STR License from the local township, in this case it is Tobyhanna Township. Additionally, HOA communities like Lake Naomi has a permit process which often includes registering your guests, or guest stays. Search Pocono STR Scorecards for some additional insights.

One of the many challenges in Lake Naomi is wealth. The HOA seems flush with money and discourages providing any services to guests. The Lake Naomi Club is the holding company for all the community amenities and club membership is very expensive, and guest access very limited. For you to survive with a STR here, you should ignore mention of the community amenities and focus on your property. Guests won't get lake access, won't get to use any of the club facilities. Also, adjoining and affiliated Timber Trails HOA limits owners to 10 rentals per year.

Good news for property rights owners here, by a 3-2 vote on March 17, 2025, the Tobyhanna Township Board of Supervisors rescinded the cap on the number of STR licenses they will issue.

Good news about the cap, it was rescinded (March 17,2025). Bad news on the Septic, you should upgrade, or you will be limited in your occupancy. The 500 gallons might mean you can only have 2 bedrooms as legal STR, equating to 6 person occupancy. If you need to upgrade the system, you might want to go beyond the current bedroom count so that someday in the future you can add an additional bedroom. As you might know, STR permits define occupancy based on the septic system size, so pay a few thousand bucks today and bump your occupancy by several people may have a strong ROI for years to come.

The regulatory push in some HOAs has been stalled due to the STR victories over The Hideout. Masthope had been rumored to be limiting STR, but it seems they are keeping their eye on the fallout after the big court win in Lake Ariel - https://www.timoneyknox.com/reversed-short-term-rental-regul...

Since you are in Scranton, you might want to consider Big Bass Lake, a community that does well in the summer. 

Even though The Hideout HOA lost their legal battle opposing STR, there is still fallout. Those legal cases seem to have put Masthope Mountain's potential opposition to STR on hold. https://www.timoneyknox.com/reversed-short-term-rental-regul...

I suggest you take a deep look at your community budget and determine the impact STRs have on your community.  You can work with fellow owners through the rental alliance called Poconos VRO https://poconosvro.wildapricot.org/ to build a committee to determine what is best for your group. Your committee can put a candidate up for the HOA Board of Directors and you can impact change this way.

The recent court case against the Hideout implies that fees must be the same for all properties, the implication that a homeowner letting guests stay in their home would also be subject to guest fees.  That case is not done and the impact will only be felt if other court cases use it as precedent.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/poconosvro

Recent STR Pros Podcast about the Poconos:

https://hospitality.fm/show/episode/mastering-the-poconos-ma...

Also:
How to Feel Confident Purchasing STRs in the Poconos  

The Poconos Association of Vacation Rental Owners put out an impact study that talks about the big picture which is good.  30 million visitors coming each year, nice things to do, mix of resorts and outdoor destinations that are not overcrowded, a pleasant place to drive to.  STRs generate about as much hotel tax revenue as the hotels/resorts so there is support at higher levels:  https://poconosvro.wildapricot.org/Economic-Impact

Local regulation is rough. 74 municipalities each with their own zoning and STR ordinances plus most of the housing stock is in planned communities, many were built as vacation/resort summer homes.

I think it is fair to say that the STR market in the Poconos is very competitive and in a bit of a correction. There are 6,800 licensed STRs in the 4-county Pocono region. Average homes, in average shape, in average communities with average listings and average marketing are doing well below average financially. As was stated above, there are an awful lot of mediocre properties that are dull and that are not doing well. I do think we are moving to an 80/20 market where 80% of the revenue will come from 20% of the homes.

You can do very well in the Poconos, you just have to earn it.