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Tag: Anna Maria Island rentals

A country of renters

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

The United States has been living the American dream of home ownership since roughly the end of World War II. Obviously, there were homeowners before then, but the end of the war brought a surge of homebuilding, prosperity and buyers anxious to get on with their lives.

Many of us were raised with the assumption that we would eventually own a home of our own, and for the most part, that was true. However, many have reset their priorities, and a large portion of the population is remaining renters, a significant shift in our culture.

In my view, this is happening because of a combination of lifestyle and finance. Almost always, two people in a relationship or singles work full time jobs, even if they have children. In addition, so many people are self-indulgent and owning a home with all of the financial and maintenance negatives attached to it may not fit their desired lifestyle.

There are, however, plenty of people who want to buy a home, but the numbers aren’t working for them. We have had a slight dip in interest rates for mortgages, but it’s not enough to justify giving up the freedom and flexibility of renting.

For example, let’s assume the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is 6%. If you are able to find a home in Manatee County for $500,000, which in this market is difficult, and are in a position to put down 20%, you would be looking at a $400,000 mortgage. The monthly payment at 6% is $2,398 not including property tax and insurance, which I would estimate to be at least another $600 a month, totaling about $3,000 a month, not including home maintenance.

The benefits if you own your own home are that you will accrue value by paying off your mortgage and enjoying appreciation and a possible tax advantage. Certainly, if you plan on living in your home long term, typically at least five years, which is considered the break-even point, buying will work to your advantage. Owning your own home has always been the major vehicle to build wealth for the average person.

Zillow tells me the median rental in Bradenton is $2,500.

Every potential buyer has a different scenario. Not everyone has $100,000 available and putting down a smaller amount would increase the mortgage, carrying charges and also adds private mortgage insurance (PMI) on any home purchase putting down less than 20%.

This makes renting even more attractive and encourages people to remain in their rentals. Renters are choosing to stay put; 62% of renters renewed their leases in the second quarter of this year, up from 60.5% a year ago. Even with rents going up and in short supply especially after the hurricane damage this year, some people may still calculate that renting is better for them than owning.

I have always been a pro-homeownership person; that’s what I was taught and what I learned in the many years I was involved in the real estate market. But I’m starting to believe that we are in the middle of a shift in philosophy relative to lifestyle and home ownership. If that’s true, it makes me really sad and puts a huge dent in the American Dream.

Bargains on the beach

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

Realtor.com is part of my everyday life. I check it for new listings, sold listings, open houses and sometimes just to look at the pictures on what may be an otherwise slow day.

Sometimes I even learn something I didn’t know, like their recent story about the 10 most affordable beach towns.

Before you get all excited, all three cities on Anna Maria are not on this list. In fact, they are so far off the list that the median list price for number 10 on Realtor.com’s list couldn’t buy you a garage on Anna Maria Island. Nevertheless, knowing there are other beach towns and barrier islands in the country where properties are available within walking distance of the water will give you a new or continued appreciation of this country’s real estate diversity.

So, let’s start with Realtor.com’s list. Number 1 is Pascagoula, Mississippi on the Gulf coast, with a median list price of $164,900. Number 2 is Atlantic City, New Jersey, with a median list price of $239,000. Number 3 is Deerfield Beach, Florida, with a median list price of $239,950. Number 4 is Dennis Port, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, with a median list price of $277,500. Number 5 is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with a median list price of $299,500. Number 6 is Corpus Christi, Texas on the Gulf coast, with a median list price of $315,000. Number 7 is Sunset Beach, North Carolina, with a median list price of $340,000. Number 8 is Grand Isle, Louisiana, a barrier island in the Gulf, with a median list price of $375,000. Number 9 is Newport, Oregon, with a median list price of $399,950. And finally, number 10 is Ocean Shores, Washington, with a median list price of $425,000.

I find these numbers fascinating and some of them surprising. If I could, I would take a field trip to each of them to understand how their sand and water differs from Anna Maria’s. Anna Maria Island is a 7-mile-long barrier island with pristine beaches and aqua Gulf of Mexico water – we all know that. We also have retained a quaint beach community vibe despite the increase of visitors and developers building mega homes, all of which have brought in more high-quality restaurants and upscale shops. The flurry of annual street fairs, parades and entertainment on the Island continues the small-town feel. The annual Easter egg hunt on the beach behind the Sandbar Restaurant is something to be seen, as well as the fishing boats coming in to unload the day’s catch at the Cortez docks.

Anna Maria Island is a stone’s throw away from the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, which is expanding and adding flights almost daily. We’re also within 10 miles of some of the best professional live theatres in the state. Let’s not forget access to the city of Sarasota with its fabulous waterfront, high-end restaurants and more shops and museums. Even little old downtown Bradenton is starting to shine with new hotels, a farmers market and street fairs.

Anna Maria Island, for all the changes it has gone through this century, is still a special place we have to protect at any cost. When people cross the bridge for the first time and wonder what it would be like to live here, we can all tell them, it’s great.

New world order: Renting

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

Like fashion, real estate goes in and out of vogue. What was all the rage in one decade can be out the next. Well, now the real estate reset is homeownership.

My parents grew up in a big city that, not unlike other big cities, had more renters than owners. The suburbs didn’t exist and most people either lived in the “city” or the country. As we all know, after World War II, homes were built creating suburbs adjacent to big cities and for the first time, middle-class people could buy a home near where they worked.

We’re seeing the beginning of a new trend and Americans who would traditionally be homeowners have become long-term renters, many of whom have made this choice as a lifestyle change.

For decades renting was only a steppingstone for the upper and middle class before it was time to buy. Owning a home was always considered by most families their major asset and they depended on building equity in that home. But what we’re starting to see now are high-income families and seniors who aren’t ready for retirement communities but don’t want the responsibility of home ownership opting for renting.

These new American renters are looking for luxury and services including concierge services and amenities. They’re choosing to invest their money or spend it on vacations and their children’s education. Benefiting from tax breaks and capital gains exclusions no longer holds the same appeal. Investment portfolios are being reworked to invest in tax-free products and municipal bonds without a thought of building equity in homes.

About 64% of people in the U.S are homeowners compared with about 89% of people in China and 87% in India. These numbers set me on my heels. Didn’t we invent middle-class home ownership and the American dream?

Like so many other changes in our lives, COVID-19 is the pandemic that keeps on giving. The effect on the real estate market is significant. Interest rates went up, making mortgages unappealing to buyers even if they could afford the higher rates. The lack of inventory discouraged them even more and the mobility of work and living arrangements played into the new world order we’re starting to see. Of course, the big losers here are the lower-income renters who are being hit with increases in rental fees and a lack of available properties to rent.

Entire single-family home rental subdivisions, build-to-rent, are being constructed, marketing to high-earning families and seniors. This is no longer a transition for people, it is a lifestyle choice and likely permanent. In the state of Florida, I found build-to-rent projects in both Charlotte and Lee counties, Jacksonville and Port St. Lucie. In 2022, 14,500 of these communities were constructed around the country. One report said there are now 44,700 under construction and another report by an online firm Yardi says that number is 84,459. Either way, we are seeing a significant trend.

None of this will be affecting Anna Maria Island, which always moves to its own drummer. However, the trend in lifestyle with fewer homeowners and more renters could change how home investors on the Island view their investments. You never know what will change the real estate market. Who could have predicted what has happened in the last three to four years?

I hate to sound like a senior citizen, which I am, who is stuck in a time capsule, but with Americans becoming more and more self-centered, the appeal of community and homeownership is being threatened. Wouldn’t Mom and Dad be shocked?

Working in paradise

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

This may seem redundant, but Anna Maria Island is an island and, like every island in the world, it’s surrounded by water. There are two bridges to the Island from Bradenton, one north and one south, and the traffic approaching these two bridges backs up consistently. Oh, by the way, the bridges are drawbridges that open every half hour, and one of them is slated to be torn down sometime in 2025, maybe, and will be replaced with a fixed-span bridge.

Now that I’ve told you something that you already know, what’s my point? My point is what do the individuals who work on the Island but don’t live there experience daily? I think a lot about this from time to time, since I too worked in Anna Maria for many years, and frequently felt like I was back in midtown Manhattan.

The success of Anna Maria Island is the envy of many coastal towns in the country. Our real estate values are sky-high and construction is on practically every street. The vacation rental market has sapped the life out of any long-term rental properties to turn them into weekly and sometimes daily rentals, leaving very little to choose from for just regular residents who need to rent rather than buy.

Many of these displaced renters are individuals who work in the Island’s restaurants, hotels and rental properties. One of the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is not only the surge in real estate prices and the abundance of new visitors to the Island, but also the many service employees who never came back to the workforce when restaurants finally opened and visitors started returning. About a month ago, I read a fascinating story in the Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section about two high-end vacation locations that are enjoying the same success as Anna Maria Island and facing the same problems.

Those towns are Nantucket Island, Massachusetts and Vail, Colorado. Although entirely different geographically, they share the same issue of finding local people to work in restaurants, resorts and multi-million-dollar properties. I’ll start with Nantucket, since that’s a place I’m very familiar with. There is only one way to get to Nantucket and that’s by boat. The ferry from Cape Cod takes two hours or a bit less for the fast ferry, which, of course, costs more. If you’re in no hurry, it’s a lovely ocean voyage that can be subjected to frequent weather delays. In 1983, Nantucket established a land bank, buying up available property to promote conservation and recreation. This, of course, impacted the amount of buildable land.

Vail may not be surrounded by water but it’s still a substantial drive to the charming village to work for the day. Vail’s local government has built some housing restricted to local full-time residents, but it doesn’t totally solve their problem. They may as well be on an island.

Getting back to Anna Maria Island, without a land bank or resident-only rentals, the responsibility is totally on service employees and their employers. There is that new ferry that is starting service from downtown Bradenton to the Island, but it’s not planned to be available daily and will probably be mostly for tourists and day trippers with some future dispensations for Island workers.

Maybe there is still a way to mitigate the shortage of help. Certainly, including the problem in conversations about consolidation of the three cities could be a first step. The result of doing nothing will be higher prices for residents and visitors to the Island and, although I dislike saying this, declining real estate values.

Artificial intelligence cracking down on party houses

Artificial intelligence cracking down on party houses

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Vacation rental company Airbnb is employing artificial intelligence to help reduce the number of properties rented for the exclusive purpose of throwing a party.

The purpose of the technology is to help owners of vacation rentals managed by Airbnb to avoid the hassle of dealing with renters whose primary purpose is to have a disruptive party.

On Anna Maria Island, noise ordinances are in place in Anna Maria, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. Police in all three cities respond to multiple potential noise violations every week.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Bradenton Beach Police Lt. Lenard Diaz said.

Last week when The Sun spoke to Diaz, his department had three written reports regarding his officers responding to noise complaints. Those numbers climb significantly around holidays.

Damage to homes is also a concern for owners, many of whom live outside Florida and can’t respond immediately to problems with renters.

Airbnb’s AI and machine learning, which learns the patterns of renters who may be potential party risks, block some renters from procuring properties. One of the key components involves blocking one- and two-night rental reservations that are tagged as high-risk. In addition to the length of the trip, AI also looks at the distance from the destination and whether the booking is last minute. Airbnb has also instituted mandatory anti-party attestation that makes it clear that parties are banned and, if the rule is broken, suspension or removal from the platform could result.

“While disruptive parties are rare, we want to try to reduce the risk of them even more,” said Naba Banerjee, head of trust and safety at Airbnb. “Our AI anti-party system is an important tool in helping us to do that.”

The anti-party system was launched before Halloween last year in the U.S. and Canada and saw significant results. Airbnb says there was a decrease in reports of disruptive parties compared to previous years when the system was not in place. In Florida, 11,300 bookings were blocked during the initial launch in 2022. AI is unique and it learns more the longer it is in use, so the technology is expected to become exponentially more efficient. Numbers for Halloween 2023 are not yet available, but the company expects similar, if not better results than last year.

Airbnb says it has also implemented a dedicated portal for law enforcement, as well as a neighborhood portal where neighbors of rental properties can report concerns, at www.airbnb.com/neighbors.

Other steps the company is taking include a 24-hour safety line for hosts to contact Airbnb’s safety team, as well as a free noise sensor for hosts in the U.S. and Canada.

WMFR moves forward with vacation rental inspections

WMFR moves forward with vacation rental inspections

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, West Manatee Fire Rescue.

BRADENTON – West Manatee Fire Rescue’s board and staff are moving forward with beginning an annual inspection program for vacation rentals in the district that will reclassify the properties as commercial for fire district purposes.

Commissioners voted unanimously during an Aug. 15 meeting to move forward with the plans, despite some concerns stated by the public.

Under the new program, the district will assess vacation rental properties, also called transient public lodging establishments, as commercial properties, regardless of their zoning. District staff also will annually inspect these properties for life safety, looking for items such as fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, fire extinguishers and proper egress from each bedroom in case of an emergency.

Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski said that after sending a letter in July to over 12,000 people in the district describing the new program, he said he’d received 12 written responses and 87 phone calls from the public, each one of which he said had been amicably resolved. A few more people stepped up during the public hearing to voice their concerns and questions about the new initiative.

One man said he only wanted to rent his property for one year. Kwiatkowski said that for the one year he rents the property, it will be assessed as a commercial property, however, when he stops renting the property, it will revert to a residential property in the eyes of the district and be assessed as such.

Kwiatkowski said the new assessment rate and inspections are allowed under the Florida Fire Code. Under the questioning of district attorney Maggie Mooney, he added that the district’s classification of properties does not affect those by any governing municipality and does not change property from residential to commercial for county or city property tax purposes.

Attorney Aaron Thomas stepped up to the mic, stating that he was representing the ownership of more than 500 rental properties in the district. Thomas said that he feels there is sufficient case law to argue against the district assessing vacation rental properties as commercial and suggested that his clients may seek legal action if the district pursues the change.

The district charges property owners a non-ad valorem assessment rate which appears on TRIM notices each fall. The rate consists of a base rate that is adjusted based on the size of the building on a property, not the value. On average, a commercial property owner, as defined by the district, will pay about $200-300 a year more than a residential owner, depending on the size of the structure.

Fire district looks at reclassifying vacation rentals

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Featured.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Vacation rentals are a popular use of residential properties both on the Island and in unincorporated Manatee County where West Manatee Fire Rescue’s district is located. Now district leaders are looking at reclassifying those properties within their district as commercial properties for enforcement and tax purposes.

During a January board meeting, Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski presented the idea to the district’s staff and board of commissioners as a life safety concern. With so many people in and out of vacation rentals across the district and limited oversight from government agencies, as a preventative measure, he said he’d like the district’s fire prevention bureau to be able to inspect the properties for safety.

Inspections would include looking for items such as properly placed smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, floor plans of the home indicating exit points, emergency lighting and other precautionary measures commonly found in commercial properties. To fund the initiative, he suggested the fire department’s staff look into the possibility of assessing the owners of vacation rental properties in the district as commercial rather than residential properties. If that happens, it will mean a jump of approximately $200 per year, depending on the size of the property, for vacation rental owners and an increase of more than $1 million in funding to the fire district.

To run the program, Kwiatkowski said the district would need two more inspectors and an assistant at an estimated cost of $350,309 per year with an additional $140,000 needed to pay for department vehicles for the new hires.
Currently, the district charges a fire assessment on residential trim notices at a lower rate than they do for commercial properties. And while multiple-unit residential properties are already assessed and inspected as commercial properties, traditionally residential properties, such as single-family homes and duplexes, are still treated as if a full-time resident lives there. Because they are rented, Kwiatkowski said that under the state’s fire code, the properties are identified as transient public lodging establishments, allowing for them to be inspected by the fire district’s staff. This is the same designation given to a hotel.

In the past three years, Kwiatkowski said that of the 11 residential structure fires on the Island, eight of them were at vacation rental properties. In 2022, he said there were three pediatric drownings or near-drownings on the Island, all of which occurred at rental properties.

He presented the proposed project at a Holmes Beach Code Compliance town hall meeting with vacation rental owners and representatives on Jan. 31, reassuring the rental community that the fire department would be working with local municipalities to make sure that enforcement and inspections would not overlap with those currently taking place on the Island as a result of city efforts to make rentals safer for visitors. He added that the inspections would likely begin taking place in the fall.

Castles in the Sand

Do you really want to be a landlord?

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

It’s not uncommon for people to look at the job of a real estate agent and say, “Wow, that looks easy. Work part-time, pick your hours, work from home and make a lot of money.” Well, those of us who have done the job know that none of that is actually true. Similarly, purchasing a second home – whether you’re setting it up as a rental investment property or using it for your personal use – is never as easy as it looks.

If you’re purchasing a property to rent, the benefits include passive income and tax breaks. Properties on Anna Maria Island, for example, have become so expensive that just getting into a property will cost a lot more than in previous years.

You need a minimum of 20% down if you’re financing, and mortgage loans on an investment property can be higher by a point or two than primary homes or even second homes that are non-rentals. In addition, investment property loans include higher minimum credit scores and a more desirable debt-to-loan ratio. Lenders also generally require more cash reserves as well.

Maintenance of a second home, whether it’s an investment property or one for personal use, has gone up considerably in the past couple of years. Some owners say it’s as much as 10%, which seems a little low to me. The cost of materials, appliances and labor have hit all homeowners, but second homeowners are hurting on all of their homes.

Anna Maria Island, especially this season, is maintaining a very high occupancy rate for rental properties. But this is not always true and if you lose the ability to rent the property, your stream of income is severely damaged. Inflation is taking a bite out of everyone’s budget and vacations are a luxury; having a nice cash buffer will help with the anxiety of not having a tenant.

One of the major benefits of owning a second home is to watch your appreciation grow and grow and grow. And that certainly has happened in the past two years. But here again, we have seen real estate markets take a plunge, taking all of your “mental equity” along with it. You’ll need to develop nerves of steel to invest in real estate.

Finally, if you have the vision of generational family gatherings passed down through the years long after you’re gone, don’t be surprised if your beneficiaries don’t feel the same connection to the property or each other. Family members may feel differently on the amount of usage, the cost of upkeep, whether the property should be updated, should they allow rentals or if indeed they even want the property. It can become really tricky to make everyone happy, especially if one of the family members wants out and the others need to come up with the cash to buy them out or sell the property.

Even on Anna Maria Island where beach houses and other second homes are off the scale valuable, ownership isn’t easy. Just like any piece of real estate, it becomes a daily chore that will all be paid back to you while sitting on your beachfront deck. Now if you want something easy, get a real estate license; we all know that’s a piece of cake.

Fireside chats: Vacation rentals

Written by Rodney Kwiatkowski on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News, West Manatee Fire Rescue.

Our community is changing. That’s a given, but communities are always changing, and change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When it comes to changing communities, the fire district’s goal is to adapt to the change and continue providing the needed services. We are not politicians, but public servants and among the most valuable service we provide is safety. Walk into any supermarket, doctor’s office, library, etc., and you will find occupancy-specific passive and active fire and life safety features designed to protect life and limit the damage caused by fire; fire barriers, fire alarms systems and sprinklers systems to name a few. Local fire districts have done a commendable job of keeping up with the change in these areas. However, there is one area where change has outpaced our ability to keep up… vacation rentals.

Let me be clear, West Manatee Fire Rescue District is not proposing the enactment of any new legislation or ordinance aimed at restricting or prohibiting residential occupancies from renting as transient public lodging establishments; that is not our goal, nor is it our role. As a fire district, we recognize the value both small and large business provides to a healthy, vibrant community. Our objective is life safety!

Safety in vacation rentals

It is estimated that someone is injured in a vacation rental every 44 seconds, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Estimations aside, during the last three years on Anna Maria Island there were 11 structure fires at single-family residential occupancies. Of those 11, eight, or 73%, occurred at licensed transient public lodging establishments (TPLE).

Furthermore, on Anna Maria Island in 2022, not counting on our beaches or in swimming pools located at multi-family occupancies, there were three pediatric drownings or near drownings; of those three, 100% occurred at TPLEs.

The drowning crisis last year provoked a WMFR Water Safety Campaign that was kicked off by a press conference in Holmes Beach where, among other experts, Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge and Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth gave impassioned pleas imploring the public to commit to overseeing young people while in and around our waters. Since then, WMFR has continued its efforts to provide water safety materials to local vacation rental companies. Along the way, questions have been asked as to the extent of oversight the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) has over vacation rentals. This article wishes to address that question.

What is a vacation rental?

Florida Statute 509.242(1) states, “A public lodging establishment shall be classified as a hotel, motel, non-transient apartment, bed and breakfast inn, or vacation rental if the establishment satisfies the following criteria…” Florida Statute 509.242(1)(c) goes on to define a vacation rental as, “Any unit or group of units in a condominium or cooperative or any individually or collectively owned single-family, two-family, three-family, or four-family house or dwelling unit that is also a transient public lodging establishment…” And finally, Florida Statute 509.013(4)(a)(1) defines Transient Public Lodging Establishments as “any unit, group of units, dwelling, building, or group of buildings within a single complex of buildings which is rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or 1 calendar month, whichever is less, or which is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests.” Transient public lodging establishments are licensed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR).

There are some exclusions, however. For example, if one had a single-family home and wished to convert it into an assisted living facility, a license from the Agency for Healthcare Administration (ACHA) would be required. Similarly, requirements for daycare centers and nursing home licensure would be required. The aforementioned are occupancies that WMFR has been inspecting annually for years without hesitation or question. WMFR inspects these occupancies utilizing the appropriate prescriptive chapters of the current edition of the Florida Fire Prevention Code.

Fire code and vacation rentals

Florida Statute 633.206(1)(b) Uniform Fire Safety Standards states: “State Legislature mandates local fire jurisdictions protect the health, safety, and welfare of “all-new, existing, and proposed… nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family-care homes…  transient public lodging establishments…” Additionally, it goes on to say in 633.206(2)(b), “All such local authorities shall enforce, within their fire safety jurisdiction, the uniform fire safety standards for those buildings specified in paragraph (1)(b).” Lastly, the Division of State Fire Marshal’s Florida Administrative Code 69A-43 Uniform Fire Safety Standards for Transient Public Lodging Establishments, Timeshare Plans, and Timeshare Unit Facilities further address the required inspections of TPLEs and which specific prescriptive code sections to utilize.

Changing together

As Manatee County, Anna Maria Island and the vacation rental industry continue to grow and change, it is incumbent upon WMFR to keep up with the change. The fire district has a state mandate to protect the health, safety and welfare of those vacationing in transient public lodging establishments. To that end, WMFR wishes to partner with all state and local stakeholders to ensure those living, working and playing within our community are safe. Please join us at our first vacation rental stakeholders meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. at Holmes Beach City Hall.

Holmes Beach logo OLD

Mayor requests temporary end to vacation rentals

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Mayor Judy Titsworth has issued an official request to stop all new vacation rentals in the city in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, Titsworth issued a letter March 25 to all vacation rental owners and agents in the city asking them to stop taking new reservations for the time being. The request does not affect reservations that were already made, though each vacation rental owner or agent may have different policies regarding reservations during this time.

Titsworth’s request states that it’s in response to two executive orders issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis. One order requires all people entering Florida from an area with substantial community spread of the virus to self-isolate for 14 days upon entering the state. The states mentioned in the order include Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and was later amended to add Louisiana.

The second order involves a public health advisory asking all people over age 65 to stay home and take other measures to limit their potential exposure to the virus.

In response to Titsworth’s request to suspend vacation rental reservations, Barbara Sato, president of the Anna Maria Island Vacation Property Association, forwarded a letter stating that the group will be taking proactive steps for rental properties in Holmes Beach.

Effective March 25 and continuing for three arrival weeks, the group agreed to not take any new reservations for vacation rental properties in Holmes Beach unless the reservation is for one month or longer. Existing reservations for people arriving from the states mentioned in DeSantis’ order are canceled for the next two weeks with the issue to be re-evaluated weekly. Also, for the next three weeks, the group of rental agents agreed to limit the occupancy in vacation rental units to no more than 10 confirmed guests.

Members of the property association include Anna Maria Island Accommodations, Coastal Cottages, AMI Vacation Rentals, Duncan Real Estate, Fran Maxon Real Estate, Island Real Estate, Lizzie Lu’s Island Retreat and Sato Real Estate.

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Governor suspends vacation rentals

 

Holmes Beach mayor declares state of emergency

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Commissioners consider exemption for rental homes

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Vacation rental owners may soon have one less piece of paperwork to worry about filing in one Island city.

During a May 30 work session, commissioners began discussing whether or not to do away with the requirement that vacation rental owners apply for and receive a business tax receipt for every unit they own in the city. City Attorney Patricia Petruff said that for the small amount of income the city receives from the BTR applications from rental owners, $31.90 per unit annually, processing the high number of applications has become a burden for city staff. She said that Mayor Judy Titsworth had requested the commission discussion on the issue.

“It was a nightmare,” Titsworth said to commissioners of the processing of large amounts of BTRs. “Why continue this nightmare of trying to keep track of it all when there’s no benefit?” She added that it costs the city more in staff time to process the applications than is earned through the BTRs.

In a breakdown of the costs to process the BTRs for 506 individually owned vacation and annual rental units provided by the city clerk, with no complications it costs $41.45 in staff time to process a single BTR, which costs $31.90 for the applicant, resulting in a loss of $9.55 per BTR. The total loss to the city is $4,833.90 annually according to the supplied calculations. In total, it’s estimated the BTRs for vacation and annual rentals represent somewhere around $60,000 for the city.

Rather than charge rental owners through the BTR, Titsworth suggested commissioners consider an increase in the vacation rental certificate required for all short-term rental properties renting for less than 30 days to make up the difference in finances.

VRCs are required to be renewed every two years and currently cost $150 for the initial application and renewal. During their June 11 work session, commissioners are expected to consider an amendment to the VRC to raise the cost of initial application and renewal to $600 per vacation rental unit.

If the BTR requirement was removed from rental units, Petruff said the longer term, 30-day rentals would basically have no oversight by the city as they are not required to apply for a VRC. She said code enforcement officers would have to try to catch violators of the minimum rental period or occupancy requirements through advertising. Police Chief Bill Tokajer said that the financial impact to the city from those units, a few hundred in number, could be easily recouped through the around 1,200 VRCs issued to short-term rentals.

Commissioners agreed to consider the issue but said they want to see more information about how the loss of revenue would affect the city and how it could be made up through the VRC program.

Related coverage

Vacation rental changes on hold for now

Holmes Beach vrc presentation chief

Vacation rental changes on hold for now

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – It’s been a long, sometimes rough road for the city’s vacation rental certificate program and the code enforcement officers who oversee it since the program’s inception two years ago. Now with the first round of certificate renewals occurring, commissioners are re-evaluating the program.

On second reading, an amendment to the VRC program failed due to a list of questions and concerns voiced by Commissioner Jim Kihm that caused his fellow commissioners to agree to take the amendment back to a work session rather than vote to approve the suggested changes. The amendment will now be studied by commissioners in a work session before returning to regular meetings for two public hearings and votes before any changes can be enacted.

The decision came the same day that Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer hosted a stakeholder public forum for short-term rental owners and agents to come to learn about the proposed changes to the program and ask any questions. Now those changes may or may not materialize.

The primary reason for enacting the changes to the program was to give code enforcement officers the ability to immediately fine property owners for some violations of the certificate program including misleading advertising, renting for higher occupancy than allowed or for fewer days than permitted, and for not including the unit’s VRC number on advertising. With the program in its second year, Tokajer said the ticketing changes would help to reinforce the city’s stance on violating the program.

vrc delay lynn tran
Rental property owner Lynn Tran appeared before commissioners Nov. 13 during public comment to explain why the additional advertising requirements proposed in an update to the city’s vacation rental certificate program could be problematic for short-term rental owners and agents. – Kristin Swain | Sun

Rental owner Lynn Tran spoke to commissioners during public comment about the proposed changes to the program and how requiring property owners and agents to add more information to advertisements could become a hardship due to increased cost. She suggested finding a compromise between what the city wants and what’s considered reasonable for owners.

Though the changes to the VRC are going back to a work session for further review and discussion, commissioners did vote unanimously in favor of approving a contract with Host Compliance LLC in San Francisco for $30,600 to monitor rental advertisements for Holmes Beach properties online and alert police when a potential violation of the rental certificate program is noted. Sample violations include the advertised length of stay or occupancy and the lack of a VRC or business tax receipt number in the advertisement.

Once alerted of a potential violation, Tokajer said police would do their own investigation to determine if the property owner or agent is in violation of the VRC program and issue a citation, if necessary.