What you need to know about Seasonal Rentals

Florida remains the #1 U.S. location where Foreign and Domestic Travelers purchase the most vacation properties and those who don’t own property in the area are interested in Short-term Rentals when they travel here.  The months of October – March are peak Season during which we have the highest number of Visitors.   

Below are items that are necessary to consider if you’re interested in Seasonal Rentals. 

1. There are Condos that do not allow Owners to Lease their Units, so that limits the amount of available Inventory.

 

2. There are Homeowners who aren’t interested in having their properties occupied by Renters, short term or otherwise, so this fact also limits the amount of available Inventory.  

 

3. The Condo Association determines the minimum length of time that an Owner may Lease their Unit and how frequently it may be Leased.

 

4. The vast majority of Condos that do allow Rentals require a minimum rental period of 3 – 6 months and there are Buildings that do not allow Short-term Rentals.   There are Buildings that allow 30-day rentals, but they are few and far between.   

 

5. Rental occupancy periods that are most frequently allowed are Annual Leases only (minimum stay of 365 days), 3 month minimum, 6 month minimum, and 4 month minimum.   Some Buildings only allow Owners to Lease their Units once per year for the minimum length of time allowed and others allow several Leases yearly (examples:  4 Leases per year at a minimum of 90 days per Lease or 1 Lease per year at a minimum of 90 days).

 

6. Approximately half of the Condos DO NOT allow Pets, so if you will be traveling with Pets, you must keep this information in mind, as well as the fact that most Buildings that do allow Pets restrict their their size to 20 pounds or less and specify how many Pets you may bring and the type of Pets that you may bring (some allow Cats, but not Dogs and vice versa).  On a related note, some Buildings only allow Owners to have Pets, but not Renters.  Additionally, some Owners choose not to allow their Renters to have Pets even though the Building allows Pets for Renters.

 

7. The lowest Rental rates available for properties are the rates for Annual Leases.   The rates for Seasonal Rentals are typically AT LEAST twice more per month than the rate would be for an Annual Lease.   This means that if a Unit would rent for $1,800 per month on an Annual basis, the Seasonal rate for the same Unit would typically be approximately $3,600 monthly. 

 

8. Related to the item above, you should note that there are properties that are available to be occupied on an Annual basis or a Seasonal basis, however, the Annual Rental rate is most frequently advertised since Annual Rentals are the largest majority of properties that are Rented locally throughout the year.  When a listing is displayed on various sites online, there is usually only one field allowed for entry of the price, so that field can’t include 2 different amounts, however, in the MLS (the database that Real Estate Agents use for storing property data), there are more than 100 fields of data, including a field that contains information about the Seasonal rental rate.    In Listings where Agents have entered thorough information, the publicly visible Remarks/Description area of the listing for an Annual Rental will indicate that “it’s also available Seasonally for ______ per month” and this information is, of course, helpful to interested Tenants who are viewing property listings online.   This explains why you see properties listed for $1,200 per month, but are told that it’s $2,400 for Seasonal Rental when you call to inquire about it. 

 

9. Condo Association approval is required for all occupants of Condos (this applies to Buyers as well as Tenants).  What this means is that, as a Tenant, you will be required to complete an Application for occupancy and submit it to the Condo.   The main element of the Application process is Background Screening of the Applicants (Background Screening to determine that Criminal History doesn’t exist).  

 

10. The Application and Approval process typically ranges from 1 week – 4 weeks and varies at different Buildings, so you should allow sufficient time.   

 

11. There is a processing Fee for the Application and the amount of the fee varies.

 

12. Many Condos require occupants to pay a Refundable Deposit known as a Common Area Deposit, in case of any damage to the common areas of the Building (such as the Lobby, Gym, Social Room, Business Center, etc.).  The amount varies. 

 

13. Property Owners require Renters to pay Deposits. Typically, the Deposit required is 1st Month of Rent, last Month of Rent, and a Security deposit equal to 1 month of Rent.   If you have a Pet, a Pet Deposit is usually required by the Owner and sometimes the Building also requires a Pet Deposit.

Hotels and Condo Hotels offer the most options for Rentals that are less than 3 months in length.  Additionally, there are Single Family Homes and Townhouses that are available for Seasonal Rental.  Vacation Rentals by Owner is a great source of short-term Rental listings, in addition to similar sites.