Lake Home

Just curious if anyone has experience purchasing a lake home and then renting it out weekly on VRBO etc? Been tossing around the idea in my head and wondering if anyone on here has done something similar.

Aah, you just struck a nerve. I have NOT purchased a lake place and then rented, but I do have a lake place (borders BWCA) and the next closest place on the lake was purchased a couple years ago and is now rented out on a weekly basis. And it seems to be rented quite regularly. We know because we hear the noise like never before. Drunken parties, people getting into fights, hollering at the moon, hollering for no reason at all, loud music blaring at 2 AM. All summer long. It has driven much of the wildlife (moose, deer, wolves) that used to be our neighbors away. The peacefulness is gone. Thanks to the bozos who come up for a week or weekend of partying. They bring their noise and leave behind their trash.

Sorry to rant, but I’d much rather have a neighbor who actually lives in the neighborhood … not somebody who is coming up just to do the things they’d rather not do at home.

Might want to check around for who will do the maintenance, cleanings between rentals, lawn service, snow removal ect. Additionally check with your insurance agent. Last will any permitting be required as you are running a business.

Also don’t forget, people will want to rent it the same weekend your family will want to use it.

Unless you need to bury a pile of cash I would come up with a different plan.

Buy that pontoon instead

The party crowd is what would scare me! I have checked into cleaning services and maintenance and have that all figured out. I currently rent a cabin for a week at a time up here and have not run into a party crowd yet. Mostly been other families like mine. All things to consider and this is the feedback I am after.

David – negative on the pontoon. You trade your boat for a pontoon first then I will think about it.

Does renting a cabin out make it a commercial business for property and Income tax? Also I would think you need commercial liability insurance.

Mwal

Parties at vrbos can be filthy. Have good insurance, damage deposit, cleaners and sturdy coffee tables.

Not a chance in hell would I rent my cabin, No Way No How!!!

And be prepared to charge tax to your renters in case the local community wants to charge you a room tax!!!

Mark

You can be in control of how often it is rented. Nothing says you have to rent it 24/7. Also, you can limit the number of people occupying the cabin as to prevent big parties.

Lots of other considerations though, and after renting out my old home I found out I don’t really like it. All the back and forth communication with people (I don’t generally like people – LOL) and also I don’t like people using my stuff. But this may not be an issue for you.

Maybe this isn’t a concern to you? But if you have neighbors that are friends be prepared for them to not be your friends anymore.

I cannot think of too many things that would make me more upset than a neighbor putting their house on VRBO.

I would think eventually things like this will be outlawed? When you buy a house on a lake next to other houses you realize you are going to have neighbors but I don’t think anything would prepare you to have a VRBO neighbor. The property should need to be zoned commercial to rent it out in my opinion.

It’s literally the equivalent of buying a residential cabin on a lake and then turning it into a business. Not fair to the neighbor’s at all.

Joe Scegura wrote:

Maybe this isn’t a concern to you? But if you have neighbors that are friends be prepared for them to not be your friends anymore.

I cannot think of too many things that would make me more upset than a neighbor putting their house on VRBO.

I rented a VRBO a couple years ago and the owners kept in touch with the neighbors the entire time while we were there. Making sure we weren’t being loud and disrupting the neighborhood.

I have used VRBO but could never be the one renting out my place. Enough stuff gets wrecked at my house when I have buddies over with their kids. Don’t buy a lake home if you need to put the lake home on VRBO to afford it. Both times I used VRBO the owners kept in touch with the neighbors also. They told me that they do that at the time of renting. One place had a camera on the neighbor’s cabin pointed at the rental one and it drove my wife nuts.

Joe Scegura wrote:

I would think eventually things like this will be outlawed? When you buy a house on a lake next to other houses you realize you are going to have neighbors but I don’t think anything would prepare you to have a VRBO neighbor. The property should need to be zoned commercial to rent it out in my opinion

How about if you want to rent it to friends and family? Or you just want to have a large gathering at your lake home? Should that be illegal too? I have to disagree with the common theme here, that renting a cabin out is terrible and the government should be involved in enforcing how you use your property. The fact of the matter is thousands of cabins get rented to families with little to no issues. And renting out cabins is a great way to gain some residual income, enables people to keep family cabins in the family, and also allows more people with lesser means to enjoy our beautiful lake country (both as owners and renters). Are there problems with partiers? Absolutely, but that is not exclusive to renters, and any problem properties should be addressed with the owners (ie request they list the property as not available for bachelor/ette parties).

I’m in agreement with you Bigwerm. What about resorts? I’ve stayed at resorts with multiple cabins and had to deal with the loud music, drunken renters, beer cans everywhere, etc. I realize this isn’t a complete apples to apples comparison, and some lake homes may be in more of a neighborhood of other property owners versus an area with large resorts. But in both cases the noise and lack of respect affects people who have paid to stay on that lake, whether for a weekend or for good.

Dan wrote:

What about resorts?

If I wanted to live next to a resort then I would buy a house next to a resort.

BigWerm wrote:

How about if you want to rent it to friends and family? Or you just want to have a large gathering at your lake home? Should that be illegal too?

I hope you know the answer to that question.

I have little kids at my house and the last thing I would want are strangers 20 feet away from my kids trying to play outside. If the neighbors had people over a few times a year big deal. But every single weekend somebody new with the owner’s nowhere to be seen? no thanks.

I actually thought about buying a house just to rent on VRBO. But all of these issues I bring up I couldn’t bring myself to do to someone else. So I scrapped the idea. Each to their own though. Whatever is legal is legal.

Well said Joe.

I respect people’s right to do what they want with their own property but this renting business is different for obvious reasons. And quite lucrative from the going prices for rentals nowadays.

Hope they find a good way to regulate them.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joe Scegura wrote:</div>
I would think eventually things like this will be outlawed? When you buy a house on a lake next to other houses you realize you are going to have neighbors but I don’t think anything would prepare you to have a VRBO neighbor. The property should need to be zoned commercial to rent it out in my opinion

How about if you want to rent it to friends and family? Or you just want to have a large gathering at your lake home? Should that be illegal too? I have to disagree with the common theme here, that renting a cabin out is terrible and the government should be involved in enforcing how you use your property. The fact of the matter is thousands of cabins get rented to families with little to no issues. And renting out cabins is a great way to gain some residual income, enables people to keep family cabins in the family, and also allows more people with lesser means to enjoy our beautiful lake country (both as owners and renters). Are there problems with partiers? Absolutely, but that is not exclusive to renters, and any problem properties should be addressed with the owners (ie request they list the property as not available for bachelor/ette parties).

The last I knew the IRS allowed you to rent up to 14 days without a bunch of extra bs for tax purposes. If you are going to rent it out and write off repairs, depreciation, etc. you will need tax numbers, commercial insurance, claim income, etc. To me it would be a big headache. A lot of people do it though. I have rented in Door County and the owner has 6 properties he rents out, so it must be profitable.

Well, for the reasons mentioned in my post above, I wish I had the right to speak out during a regulatory hearing whether or not to allow rentals at the property adjacent to our lake home. The rentals have definitely reduced our satisfaction with the area. We still go up quite often, but we always wonder who the neighbors will be this week and how much noise and commotion they will cause. I’ve reached out to the property owners (in California, no less) who don’t seem to care too much about how their rental affects our visits there. So, if we have to, we’ll just call in the local sheriff’s department to manage the next ruckus. I wish these places (rentals) were licensed somehow so that there was some recourse for others who may be affected.

I would be looking to rent out 10 to 12 weeks a year of which I can think of several friends and family that would want to rent some of that time too. I have personally stayed at a VRBO and respected it as if it was my own. I realize not everyone is as respectful. I also have a local to watch over the place. I would restrict the rental to a certain number of people as well. I get this May rub a lot of people the wrong way especially if you have had bad experiences. Another option that I have discussed is working with one of the several resorts for them to use it as an overflow rental. That was actually suggested by the realtor who has been a resort owner in the area. I appreciate all of the feedback whether it is for or against.

I remember reading this article from the Brainerd Dispatch last month, and it brings up some interesting thoughts. I’m not sure where you’re looking at Brad Dostal, but you should check to see if that county has any ordinances regarding short-term vacation rentals.

http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/government-and-politics/4473998-lakefront-property-owner-wants-vacation-rentals-regulated

Already checked and at this time there are no ordinances in place. I am sure this could change.

Feel like if you rented out 10 times and had one bad group out of the ten times it still wouldn’t be worth it.

Not a chance in heck I’d ever consider renting our place

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Not a chance in hell would I rent my cabin, No Way No How!!!

ya mean like this??
https://y.yarn.co/8a56adff-8fef-405e-9951-b08b9acf89b6.mp4?1535769507163

I rented a place on Leech this summer and the owner, who also owns and lives in the house next to it, said that some family friends originally bought the place I rented, paid too much, so they had to rent it out in order to keep their heads above water. Every week there was a new group of idiots trashing the place and making a ton of noise. Drove the neighbors up the wall. Friends had the place eventually foreclosed so the neighbors I rented it from bought it just to rent it out to people of their choosing.

So long story short- renting it out yourself is a good option because you get to choose who rents your home. Especially if you have other people you know who would rent it most weeks, you’ll be able to be quite selective on who rents it the others.