In Tough Times, Owners Turn To Renting

One of the biggest things we advocate is finding a way to offset your expenses through rental!!! We have an entire breakdown of the costs and benefits of renting your second home or condo whether in the Panama City Florida Real Estate Market or anywhere in the country. As the article below mentions, many resort management companies are really charging a lot of money to handle this...and one point they don't mention is the fact that the repairs will eat up even more!!! Be careful of who you go with...ask for references and call them to see their satisfaction with the service. Read below and let us know your experience!

Daily Real Estate News September 12, 2008Renting Out a Second Home Offsets Costs Renting out a second home can be a source of income in a tight economy, but the competition is increasing, says Christine Karpinski, author of How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner.Management companies charge between 30 percent and 40 percent, but many renters have success advertising on VRBO.com or Homeaway.com and handing the details themselves, according to Karpinski.Owners say they don’t make a ton of money renting out their second home, but breaking even is a realistic goal.In this economy, you may have the greatest chance of success if the home is located less than two hours from a city, Karpinski says.Source: Star-Tribune, John Ewoldt (09/09/08)

We are big fans of VRBO and Homeaway.com....we have one of our units www.OceanRitz2003.com on both sites and more than 3/4 of the renters come from those sites. They are qualified and ready to go. That being said, the real estate market in Panama City Florida is getting tighter and tighter, but if you have the time and can rent the unit out....you are getting back to the old days of being able to offset your overhead renting the unit out...and using it yourself!! Visit us online today at www.Panama-City-Beach-Florida-MLS.com to see more real estate in Panama City Florida for sale or if you are looking for a condo visit www.Panama-City-Beach-Florida-Condominiums.com and if you are just looking in the Panhandle, www.RandBCoastalRealEstate.com covers NW Florida.