question about rental housing (Sebastian: bank owned, for sale, foreclosures)

[treasurecoaster]

Hello everyone,

We are now looking for a home to rent in Sebastian. I've explored realtor.com and found some options but we would like bigger with more privacy and we would love to have a pool. Price points are not a problem... so ridiculously low for nice homes! We looked at a very cute house in Collier club which though small had a good feel and nice yard for the little ones, but a lot of elderly neighbors didn't seem very happy about the kids.
It seems the rental market is a little lean right now.
As a side note, I found one for sale that was foreclosed and is bank owned.... it is in Collier Creek and I was thinking of calling to see if the bank would rent it to me with the understanding that I might buy it if I liked living there. Anyone ever tried something like that and how did it work out?

[runswithscissors]

It's prime season right now and it's busy here this year. And yes rentals are prime now in this phase of the post crash situation. Adding a pool is going to limit your rentals too, although I don't blame you a bit. A POOL in a rental is super high maintenance and a headache. Adding larger lots to that request is ALSO a problem.

I don't recall ever reading about a bank owned property renting one out. The want to get RID of these properties.

I think you'd have better luck finding one for sale that is not a foreclosure and make a rent offer.

What did the neighbors do or say to make you think they were anti-kid?

Are the "little ones" your children or grandchildren? Will they be there all the time? Is school an issue?

Are there other kids in that neighborhood?

I'd get a realtor to show you more properties if you have reservations. Remember they're going to show you THEIR listings first not everything in the MLS. And realtor.com is a pain because there are so many listing "errors" in the MLS with misleading info. Like SFH when it's a condo or POOL when it's a community pool

Or expand your search to the barrier island, if price points are no problem, or go a little south between Sebastian and Vero.

Going from Sebastian to around 45th is only about 10 minutes and there are subdivisions all over.

Like Waterway Village at 49th. I know they had rentals when I was looking, and when we had the spring training baseball teams here, they rented there too. And they have pools.

[FlaLadyB]

runwithsissors.... I actually don't show "only my listings" and if you think about it, why would I keep someone from seeing exactly what they want if I don't have it? I would rather find them a house they want to buy.

Yes, there are a number of Realtors that only show their own listings, just ASK them up front. If they won't show you everyones listing, find someone else who will.

Realtor.com is NOT accurate as to what is really on the market. I don't care if it says "updated 15 minutes ago" I have listings that have been gone since last december that I still get calls on.

To answer the ops question- NO a bank will not rent to you. They are all about the numbers and getting houses gone. They have enough paperwork they can't get through already.

[treasurecoaster]

Hi Flalady, thanks for the input.
Hey a question: what if I see a house for sale that looks vacant in the photos and looks like it has been on the market a while, could I call the realtor and ask if they would ask the owner if he/she would consider renting it, with credentials and credit check etc of course? I know the owner is under contract to sell and may not be able to get out of the contract, and the realtor is not very motivated to get it rented since that would substantially lower the commission. But is this a viable option or a waste of time?

[FlaLadyB]

personally, I wouldnt be doing that. If its been empy for a while its probably a foreclosure or in some kind of trouble. You don't need to add yourself to that trouble. There are already way too many foreclosures for rent or rented to people who have no idea but don't want to be in that kind of position. It means, many times, no sooner do you move then you have to "get out" again. If you want a possible short term with a "get out!" at any time and nobody to fix anything that goes wrong.....be my guest. But go in to in knowing that.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by FlaLadyB

runwithsissors.... I actually don't show "only my listings" and if you think about it, why would I keep someone from seeing exactly what they want if I don't have it? I would rather find them a house they want to buy.

Well for one reason, what's your commission on someone else's rental?

That's great you'll spend days and days weeks and weeks or months showing people rentals but I don't think that's common.

It was my experience over many years of RENTAL requests in FL; first for my son during and after college then myself over three cities of relocations. The OP is asking about rentals not buying so I shared my experience.

When I moved to Vero, it was because it was the best realtor I could find in 2008 starting out in Broward during the 2008 nightmare, and even SHE showed me only HER listings. And I took one.

[SeetheUSA]

When I was looking for our rental home, my realtor pulled up 3 homes in the area I wanted. I found 2 another realtor sent me via email. We spent the morning looking at all of them- and the one I picked was from the other realtor's listing. Rentals are different than purchases. When a contract is drawn up, the 2 realtors split a set amount if I remember correctly. I think both the homeowner's and my realtor each got $700. I don't know how they came up with that figure, but that is what stuck in my head.

[FlaLadyB]

Originally Posted by runswithscissors

Well for one reason, what's your commission on someone else's rental?

That's great you'll spend days and days weeks and weeks or months showing people rentals but I don't think that's common.

It was my experience over many years of RENTAL requests in FL; first for my son during and after college then myself over three cities of relocations. The OP is asking about rentals not buying so I shared my experience.

When I moved to Vero, it was because it was the best realtor I could find in 2008 starting out in Broward during the 2008 nightmare, and even SHE showed me only HER listings. And I took one.

What is my commission on someone elses rental --
usually 1/2 of the amount they get from the owner goes to my OFFICE, not directly to me. I get a cut of that. Many times a lot less than that, sometimes only a couple of hundred at best. Many realtors refuse to do rentals at all for that reason. I myself have done that in the past as well. So no... I dont want to show listings that pay nothing, but I do show them anyhow. Lots of little pieces can make a slice of the pie and people still need a place to live. I don't just show my own and don't like the realtors that do. I think it's wrong but it's their choice.

[bruceox1962]

Hey we are in our early 40's and have bought 2homes so far. My advice to you would be to never rent anything. Even if your credit is bad you can still be a homeowner. You can find a nice home with owner financing or you could lease to own. When you rent,you get a plce to call home but it Is not really your home. you are paying another man's mortgage and in the end you have nothing to show from it. Never rent,own it!

[FlaLadyB]

as for " showing someone rentals for days, weeks, months "....that's not gonna happen. I don't have that kind of time to spend and too many others asking for the same things. You have a time frame that you need to move by. An amount of rent you can afford. X number of homes available to choose from in that "have to move by" time frame.

I won't look more than 45 days out. Otherwise, it's pointless since most rentals aren't even on the market for much further out. Many tenants haven't even decided to move, much less given notice. No need to look for July in March. There is nothing avail yet.