All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Bolcon

When I had some inherited tenants I wanted gone in neighboring RI recently (criminal record, needed to fix up the unit) I actually gave them a heads up in advance, which a lot of people wouldn't recommend and I get why.  But I had "the talk" with them about 3 months in advance and told them it was coming and I was trying to give them as much heads up as possible.  Then around when I said it was going to happen, and I was ready to think about working on that unit I gave them the 30-day termination notice.  They did complain about financial situation so I offered up the remaining month as free rent and told them they would get the security deposit back the day they moved out as long as there was no gross and obvious damage.  I made them sign an agreement that the month of free rent was for moving costs and if they didn't move after the month they would owe the money as back rent.  That seemed to do the trick and they moved out without much of a fuss.  

I was told at the time by an attorney that I could send a termination notice and evict for being a hold-over tenant, but I decided it was well worth the one month's rent to try and make it civil and smooth and to help them transition.  I wouldn't have been able to file an eviction until that one month was up anyway.  It did work but you have to figure out if they are going to be honest and what their intentions are.

That being said @Kathleen James I have found that at this point I am pretty much priced out of the market. Houses are going within days of being listed and they are being listed at much higher than I think they are worth, or could justify paying for them even given generous STR numbers and potential appreciation. I think I'm going to have to wait this hot market out but I still hope this version of the bill doesn't pass.

@Michael Dumont II the way the bill reads is absolutely a deal breaker. It currently reads, as far as I can tell, that you have to be a resident of the property (live there 70% of the year essentially) for the year prior if you wish to offer all or part of the property as a STR. This means you can't possibly own more than one unit. And you can't rent it out unless you lived there the year prior. As soon as you go a year without making it your full-time residence you go back to square one and can't rent it out next year. This is similar to what individual cities and towns have passed elsewhere. Newport, RI is one.

However there is some good news as @Kathleen James has pointed out.  There are a number of petitions against this bill and the control of zoning regulations at the local level would also mean that it would be a nightmare to enforce as written.  Also I believe that Representative Stevens has reintroduced H. 256 which does much of the same things as this bill but without the ridiculous residency requirement.  Given that both bills are in front of the committee he chairs it is far more likely that they would advance H. 256 given it's lower level of opposition while still achieving many of the same goals.

I like alabaster white (an off-white) or repose gray which is a light, neutral gray.  It depends on if you want to get super efficient and paint everything one color, but I do think its nice to do the bedrooms one and everything else the other.  For instance, just ordered flooring after painting walls gray.  The flooring pulls a lot more gray than I thought so downstairs the cabinets are already a gray-ish so the walls are getting the off-white treatment. I'm not going to re-paint the upstairs, it is a rental after all and it still looks good. Is is necessary to think about the flooring vs paint? no but sometimes its the simple things and it really isn't that hard to have two 5-gallon containers.

@Kristofor Rahmas This could be of interest to you. See the last page of the bill that would ban STR's for anyone who doesn't reside in the property full-time.

https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/vt/2021-2022/bills/VTB00007442/

I've been having discussions with some folks on this and no one is sure if it would pass like this for a number of reasons but it's impossible to know for sure.  One of the reps sponsoring the bill represents the Londonderry area which is close to where you are looking in Dover.

@Patrick Giblin Also I can see what you are saying about "statewide support" and it may be a reality.  But that won't change the reality of how complicated it would be to enforce if it were to pass given the different zoning standards in pretty much every town.

Not saying it would happen this way but I can see a town particularly hurt by this decided to issue zoning variances left right and center to allow a "business" to operate a STR. Which is why these types of restrictions usually happen at the local level, because they can decide if it is helpful or hurtful for their area and they control the zoning.

@Patrick Giblin That is how I am reading it. You must have been a full-time resident the year prior to offer as an STR. Which means in any given year you had to be a resident the preceding year otherwise you go back to not being able to offer it as a short term rental. The second line is only to capture those who buy a house in the middle of the year.

@Patrick Giblin I have been discussing this with some people both in an out of VT.  I agree it would hurt the ski/mountain areas the most.  The other thing that I have been discussing with some is that the reason this type of restriction is not usually passed at the state level is that the zoning laws are all controlled by individual towns and counties.  So it becomes a nightmare to enforce.  Because what is zoned for residential vs business vs mixed-use is not standard across the entire state.  Now I would have to agree that it doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't pass anyway, but I think it reduces its chances.  Hopefully it is just low hanging fruit to be negotiated out because the rest of the bill is decently reasonable.

@Kathleen James I am reading that line of the bill differently than you. I think that text about the 270 days/less than a year is only to encompass anyone who has owned a house for less than a year. So as soon as the second year of your ownership starts you can't offer a STR unless you are a resident living there the majority of the year. If the bill were to pass that is.

@Kathleen James thank you for all of the helpful info, I appreciate your help.

it may not be possible to buy ahead of time and I still think those types of restrictions are unreasonable. 

For now I am going to hope the bill will not pass with the residency provision in it. The rest of it is fairly reasonable. 

I would have to imagine that since they are not banning STRs outright that it would be hard to prevent an entity (LLC for example) from offering a house for STR. How can you have a residency requirement on a company? I think the aim of the bill is to keep these rentals registered and safe and make sure the correct taxes are being collected. Which is reasonable. But the residency requirement would have numerous unintended consequences especially in mountain towns.