I posted on here previously about the ruination of our neighborhood by STRs

[Coventina]

We have a lovely couple next door to us. They are Canadian, and therefore are only here in the winter.

They contemplated selling the house, which filled us with fear.

We live in a tiny 2 bed, 1 bath house, about 800 sq. feet.

Their house started as a 3 bedroom, but has been expanded over the years and is now 5 bedrooms with a HUGE resort-style hot tub in the backyard. (It's the size of a small backyard pool, but a hot tub).

IOW: PERFECT to become an STR. Sure enough, all the interest came from management companies who told the couple they estimated the property could earn $20,000 a month in rental fees.
They even offered to rent the property back to the couple for the BARGAIN RATE of $10,000 a month!

We are BEGGING them to not sell. I can only imagine the party noises all hours of the night that will come from that place if it becomes an STR.

It's estimated that my small city has about 10,000 properties that are already STRs. And, we have a housing shortage.

[Ocelot II]

1. What is an STR?

[LAS14]

2. My question also. nt

[TheBeam19]

3. Google told me it means "short term rental."

[Ocelot II]

4. Oh, of course! I should have got that from the context.

I didn't know that was much of a thing but apparently it is in some cities.

[Firestorm49]

22. Thank you. I hate acronyms. Use them once it's been defined.

[MizLibby]

5. Short Term Rental/Vacation Rental

[rubbersole]

6. Syphilis Transmitting Renters

[Coventina]

7. Air B&B, VRBO, etc. Basically, a hotel that lives next door to you.

Except, no owner or manager on site (99.99999999999999999% of the time).

Usually rented to a screeching band of partiers that keep you up all night.

[magicarpet]

9. STR.... see below....

S- hort

T- erm

R- ental

[Joinfortmill]

14. Short Term Rental per Google.

[ChazII]

8. I had the same question

and I appreciate the answer.

Since the Super Bowl will be in Phoenix this year several rentals in my neighborhood are getting ready for that event. The houses are being rented for a few months.

[cilla4progress]

10. This is a significant problem for many municipalities

in the west where I live - for all the fears mentioned - where there is also a housing shortage! Major contributor to problem...

[mitch96]

15. We had one in our neighborhood in So Fla. Loud parties, rude out of state/country people.

Cops over on numerous times... A real pain in the ass...
m

[Kaleva]

11. There are 8 strs in the town where I live, population 192. No issues

[Coventina]

18. Must be nice.

Here they are making housing unattainable, and making actual families unable to enjoy the neighborhoods they live in.

[Kaleva]

23. 6 miles away, in two small towns, the situation isn't good

But it it isn't strs that are the problem. It's 2nd homes owned by people who come there to party on weekends. They don't rent out to others.

[moose65]

12. They are a problem in MANY places

I live in an area where we have a university plus it’s a vacation area. The rise of VRBO and Airbnb has made it possible for everyone to be a hotel owner, it seems. Rental properties that used to be rented long-term to locals or workers are now being used as short-term vacation rentals.

In addition, investors are buying houses and using them as short-term rentals. The already-crazy housing market now has a severe shortage of long-term rentals. Workers can’t afford to live around here.

The same thing is true for the Outer Banks of NC. People who used to rent out their properties to workers or long-term residents can now make a lot more money renting them as vacation rentals. The people who work there can’t afford to live there now. Many of them commute from the mainland and drive an hour to get to work.

[yankee87]

13. Good luck

I keep thinking of that movie, Neighbors, where the house next door becomes a frat house. Good luck my friend. Sending positive vibes from Ohio

[70sEraVet]

16. I know that Nashville has been plagued by these things.

The endless parties disrupt what were nice, quiet neighborhoods. And the ever-growing parking problems means residents can't get mail delivered, and create dangerous conditions for children.

[Maru Kitteh]

17. Can you buy it and turn your current property into a regular rental?

To pay your new mortgage?

[Coventina]

19. Not a chance. They are asking for 3 million.

That is the insanity that my neighborhood has become.

[Kaleva]

21. You might want to consider selling while the market is good

And move to an area where strs aren't an issue and property prices are much, much lower.

Sometimes it's better to run away and live to fight another day. It sounds like the situation is only going to get worse where you live.

[Coventina]

25. If we were retiring, we absolutely would. But that's at least a decade away.

Right now, we're almost exactly halfway between my work and his, and we love the neighborhood.
(Must be why it's so popular, argh!)

If we sell, we'd have to buy, and we couldn't get a comparable situation through selling, so we're kind of stuck, unless we want to make our commutes significantly worse.

[Kaleva]

31. Yes, you'd have to look for another job

[Coventina]

32. Yeah, we both have golden handcuffs.

I'm tenured college faculty and my husband has a highly specialized technical job with an aerospace firm.

Neither of us are going elsewhere until we retire.

[Ocelot II]

20. Does your city have any ordinances governing STRs?

I looked up mine: All property owners have to get a short-term rental license, which must include a management plan, liability insurance, neighbor notification, posting a floor plan in the unit, and including the property's rental license registration number in the online listing. Owners are limited to one short-term rental property in addition to their homesteaded property. I haven't heard of STRs being a problem here, but this city isn't really a vacation destination unless there's a rare special event like the World Series or the Superbowl.

[Coventina]

26. Very few, as our asshole governor and the MAGAts in the legislature passed laws

that forbids local communities from regulating STRs.

[2naSalit]

24. That's why there's a housing shortage.

It's one third of the problem around here. Some areas have created ordinances prohibiting them. It sucks to have one or more near you for all the reasons you mentioned.

[Coventina]

27. We currently have 4 on our block alone.

20 within 1/4 mile of us.

[MichMan]

28. Just seize it as squatters the next time they leave.

[Coventina]

30. LOL! We have their keys and security code as we take care of it when they're gone.

One time, my husband returned from a fishing trip and had way too much fish to store in our freezer, so he put a bunch in theirs.

We kind of forgot about it, and we got some questions when they returned! They weren't mad, just confused about fish they didn't remember buying.

[USALiberal]

29. Explaining STR would've helped

[allegorical oracle]

33. I'm flat-out living in the middle of nowhere, but just learned there are three Air B&Bs not a

mile from me. Other than kayaking, diving, boating, hiking, there's nothing to do here. We moved here for the peace and quiet, but the "renters" aren't so quiet.

[Kaleva]

34. Airbnb and VRBO have policies against disruptive partying

https://host.expediagroup.com/vrbo/en-us/resources/property-management/tips-for-preventing-disruptive-parties

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2704


It may help if you and other affected neighbors take aggressive action in reporting situations to Airbnb and VRBO. I'm assuming these properties are listed on those sites.

[Coventina]

35. Very few of them are on Air B&B or VRBO

There are over 140,000 of them, and many of them encourage parties.

None of the STRs around us are Air B&B or VRBO.

Getting a hold of someone is not easy, and the police rarely show up when called.

[Kaleva]

36. I think your only option then is to begin a grass roots effort...

to get an ordinance passed regulating them . You could look at the ordinances of communities who have them and see what was done to enact them.