Misc I Love Not Renting

[Beach Runner]

Don't buy a place with the expectation of rentals helping to pay your mortgage unless it's just a business for you and you have no concern about your things being stolen or danaged. We built a big place with the expectation of rentals helping with the mortgage. We felt that is was our home that we were sharing with others. But every time we entered our home, there was damage or missing items. We spent most of our time there repairing renter damage.

We decided to sell and build a smaller home. We love it. We don't have to put our nice linens away and be forced to sleep on rental linens. We can leave our food in the pantry and refrigerator and our cleaning products in the pantry and walk in and not find everything gone. We don't have to worry about damage or missing items. We can leave our clothes in the closet and not have to pack if we want to drive down for the weekend. Love it.

I guess it's a matter of a business investment or a home. We've chosen home, so we do not rent.

 

[spaglioni]

Don't buy a place with the expectation of rentals helping to pay your mortgage unless it's just a business for you and you have no concern about your things being stolen or danaged. We built a big place with the expectation of rentals helping with the mortgage. We felt that is was our home that we were sharing with others. But every time we entered our home, there was damage or missing items. We spent most of our time there repairing renter damage. We decided to sell and build a smaller home. We love it. We don't have to put our nice linens away and be forced to sleep on rental linens. We can leave our food in the pantry and refrigerator and our cleaning products in the pantry and walk in and not find everything gone. We don't have to worry about damage or missing items. We can leave our clothes in the closet and not have to pack if we want to drive down for the weekend. Love it. I guess it's a matter of a business investment or a home. We've chosen home, so we do not rent.

Ditto, except for the building of a smaller home. We did a slight opposite. Watched the market after selling our townhouse at Blue Mountain Beach in 2004. Took 8 years, but we found our dream home in 2012 right as the market bottomed. Don't need to rent it to make the mortgage and love the flexibility that comes with saying "hey let's run down to the beach for a long weekend." With the internet we have thermostats on wifi so adjusting the temp is no issue or changing the season setting.

 

[cooper]

Same here as well back in '07 as bottom fell out of market. Just purchased the above mentioned wifi thermostats and will hopefully install this week. Unfortunately have not found a property manager who actually looks in on the house as advertised. Stuff just happens to refrigerators and air conditioners and lawns and .... Admittedly a true luxury and we are fortunate to have. The house has almost "guilted" us into scheduling vacations that we would not have done otherwise and I think has extended both our working careers to "pay for itself".

 

[Truman]

Glad you found your peace!

 

[Paula]

Hi Beach Runner. I remember your last place and it was beautiful. As for rentals, we rent out our two cottages and we haven't had many problems at all in the past 12 years. There have been a few here and there, but we like having a management company take care of our cottages because they take care of any problems on the spot and we don't have to worry about them. And, our cottages are very nice but beach casual (e.g, slip covered furniture, easy care furnishings and quilts, and nothing personal in them), so there's nothing too precious for us to worry about. We touch up the paint once or twice each year when the walls get smudged (and they do) and we replace things and do deep cleanings (which for us becomes an excuse to come to the beach). So, we've been very happy renting our places. Our guests overall have been wonderful and very appreciative. We like having people in the cottages rather than leaving the cottages empty when we're not there, and we feel pretty good about giving people a nice place to stay at the beach where they don't have to worry. In fact, at one cottage we have the dining room table and chairs that my mom had when we were growing up. We can remember many wonderful meals and holidays at that table, and we like knowing that our guests are creating special memories at that table, too. As far as we're concerned, every nick on that table tells a story.

Overall, for us, the renting has been a very good thing. You are correct that one should't count on rentals paying off the mortgage, though. One can expect events such as hurricanes, economic crashes, and other things that significantly reduce rentals now and then. The rentals have certainly made it possible for us to own the two cottages, and we plan to keep them to pass them on to the next generation. That said, I suppose it would be nice to have a place that one never rents because you get to keep all your stuff there (including clothes and food in the freezer), you don't have to coordinate schedules, and you get to make it as nice as you want without considering wear and tear. It's all a trade-off, and we've been happy with renting them out (though this year we're not renting one out in Jan/Feb and we'll be using it, so I hope to see you at the beach this winter!).

 

[Paula]

By the way, I also think the larger the home that's being rented and the more people who can stay in the home at the same time, the more likely there can be problems because a large place that hosts a lot of people is more likely to be a place where renters party. Our places are 1100 square feet (not too big) and we limit guests to 6 people and I think that makes it less likely that there will be parties, damage, parking problems, etc. in the cottages (and next door...).