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AC and Wildwood are free. Parking is about $20 a day. You can park in the casinos with a players card for $10 or $5 depending on the casino or there is 2 hour street parking just south of AC before Ventnor you just have to move your car every 2 hours to avoid being towed.
Wildwood is free but parking is $20-$40. We do tags in Ocean City. 2 tags for $40 for the year. There is free street parking if you are able to walk several blocks away. In Ocean City, after labor day and the main season ends the municipal parking lots are free. Its the best time for us to go because are kids are not in school yet.
For the OP. Maybe it would just be easier to advertize at the private beach clubs only. Who wants to vacation at a beach house with no beach?
If you only rent out 1-2 weeks a year is it even worth the trouble?
Also, NJ has a Long Beach as well.
I rent it as there is carrying costs with having a condo empty from mid June to mid Sept each year. I have a winter tenant
Maint, taxes, utility bills, insurance etc. And also I have use of funds tied up with condo.
I get $2,000 a week rent so even through I only snag beach club people on average 1-4 weeks a summer the income from 2k to 8k really helps. Plus the folks in the beach club love it. My town has zero hotels and many beach clubs charge folks to park and tip valet to boot. Being able to walk to beach club is a big treat.
But I dont have the email adresses of any of my target audience so I get folks from all of USA emailing me and most are totally confused. This year I really got clear in my ad so I only got 4-5 inquiries and only one did not understand the no public beach. But now my counter which shows how many folks look at ad shows like 98% read ad and dont try to book it.
I actually only physically use unit one week a year. And stop by two or three weekends. I have to have someone in there at least one week. Maint is $500 a month, taxes/insurance $500 a month, utilities like $200 a month. Living it empty is not a great idea. And folks dont want to rent a condo for a whole summer, too small, the most anyone would want it is one month. My longest rental to date was 13 nights.
Folks also find it insane how much the beach clubs cost up to 12k a summer. Some of my renters say it was a bargain staying at my place as it allowed them to go to club 8 days in a row. Some only make it there one day a weekend as driving out from the city in traffic can take a hour and hardly worth it to go one day a week for 16 weeks to a club that charges 12k a summer.
also people seem confused I have picture ID beach badges they are like just leave me your badges. So now I dont even mention I have a badge.
So you don't want us to use the beaches you pay for upkeep, but you want 33% of the money to fix and upkeep to come from public money and that is not hypocritical how?
Who says you can't use them?
It all is "public money". Where do you think the $900K that wasn't grants comes from? That's bonded debt (well the $100K for beach replenishment wasn't) that's repaid out of the property taxes of Town residents.
You talk hypocrisy yet want a free ride.
Wait a minute while I check something.
I'm back. For the month of may there were 6300 non-residents who came to the beach and 1500 residents.
The non-residents are paying guests. They generate trash which has to be collected, parking has to be provided (Town bought two properties last year, well 2nd half of 2013, for use as parking, mostly for the beach, $1.6M for the two), police services, beach clean up and daily maintenance, ancillary costs for water and sewer (I don't have our flush figures for the beach, we just put $75K into upgrading the showers/bathrooms for beach users), random maintenance items, staffing.
And you think all that should be free with the cost borne by a community with 2000 residents (1100 tax paying properties)? So you can have a free swim in the saltwater?
I live in a very popular beach community on the Central Coast of California. During the summer, we are inundated with tourists both from afar and from neighboring counties, all wanting to enjoy the ocean. My property taxes are high, but the reason is because I pay a lot to live in this coastal paradise. If I couldn't afford it, I should move inland where property is cheaper. But that doesn't mean those of who live here should own the beach. It would seem odd to feel so proprietary about access to the ocean and beaches, that I would think all non-county residents should be funneled to a handful of public spots.
I grew up on the East Coast and was used in North and South Carolina to access the beach about anywhere we wanted - it was normal. Then, several years ago, I was in Florida and stunned to see one gated residential community after another, abutting each other with no opportunity to get out of the car and take a walk on the beach. It was =work= to locate a way to do that, and I can say I much prefer the friendlier environs in my community.
Why mention an amenity in the listing that they can't access?
In fact, I just looked at the listing and we don't mention "beach access" at all.
Why? Because as a California native who is used to miles and miles of regular free public beach access, and who is not familiar with the specifics of the OP's region, the concept of restricted beaches (other than in a few well-known exclusive areas) is foreign to me. If I rented a house on the opposite coast, I would need to know the rules of that region as it would impact my decision to rent there. I may decide to rent anyway despite the restrictions, but at least I would know what I was getting into. I would be super pissed off if, after paying $2K in rental fees, my family of 4 arrived on the beach, suited up, slathered in sunscreen, and armed to the teeth with beach accessories only to be turned away at the last minute. With "beach" in the town's name and the rental being within walking distance of the beach, its a reasonable expectation that free beach access is part of the deal. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that the OP be very clear in the ad that free beach access is NOT included, and also note exactly where free beach access IS available. It's just smart business. If the rental didn't specifically address that beach access wasn't provided, and I was denied access or even fined for attempted access, I would demand at least a partial refund of the rental cost under the premise of false advertising. At the very least, I would leave a scathing review on any websites like Yelp, where vacation rentals are regularly reviewed.
OP just make sure your ad is clear about there being no beach access. It might even make sense to set up a free blog or Facebook page where you can direct people so they can read the specifics about your rental and the local beach restrictions. It would be educational for people like me who are unfamiliar with your region's beach rules, and it gives you a place to post pictures and more in-depth descriptions of your rental. Then the majority of calls inquiring about the rental would be productive rather than a waste of time for either you or the renter. Good luck!
Quick background- I have a place near the beach I rent out once in awhile in the summer when I am not using it. Not on the beach, but like two blocks from beach, five minute walk. The beach is a private resident only beach. There are other public beaches near by that are a short drive and there are a few expensive member only beach clubs walking distance to my place.
In the NY/NJ area free beaches are uncommon and although beach by my condo is a free beach it is open to residents (homeowner) via Picture ID. A renter can get Picture ID passes too if they show a lease of one month or greater and homeowner turns in their Picture ID beach badge.
Whenever someone outside of NY contact me I am clear about this. But then they call, they text, they email me as they think it is the craziest thing that the beach walking distance from my beach house guests or short term renters cant access. Am I the only town that does this.
My ad clearly states Private Resident Only Beach and Private Beach Clubs are walking distance to Beach house and Public Beaches are a short drive away. But I say 50% of folks in particular out of the NY/NJ area think it is crazy.
Since I only rent it like 2-4 weeks a year I always find folks who belong to a nearby beach club or folks who have access to beach via a relative in town they are visiting.
My question is how can I make this any clearer. I mean is it so unusual that folks from Chicago or California still contact me to rent and I waste a few phone calls back and forth.
I don't want to not advertise as the rentals cover a lot of cost in summer when I am not using it and the folks who I do find are happy they rented. But it is annoying having to turn down 90% of folks. Many are shocked I don't provide beach passes, they can't access beach and in fact they cant even pay to go on beach. They act like it is insane. I dont know what to do it is a bit of headache.
How do other folks handle it when they rent a beach house. I mean honestly why should owner be even involved with how you get on beach. I mean you rent a place in Southbeach on the Strip the owner does not get you into trendy bars. I am being very upfront with the tenants. But I heard one other lady in my town rents once in awhile and does not tell the tenants they cant get on beach. She is like hey I never said beach access was included. I would never do that.
Perhaps you should word your add differently. You really aren't renting out your "beach" house....You are renting out your "house a short drive from the public beach"
Beach House Could be easily misconstrued....as it implies your home is on the beach, i.e. steps from, or easy access from. So....it is you, not them who is incorrect.
I rent it as there is carrying costs with having a condo empty from mid June to mid Sept each year. I have a winter tenant
Maint, taxes, utility bills, insurance etc. And also I have use of funds tied up with condo.
I get $2,000 a week rent so even through I only snag beach club people on average 1-4 weeks a summer the income from 2k to 8k really helps. Plus the folks in the beach club love it. My town has zero hotels and many beach clubs charge folks to park and tip valet to boot. Being able to walk to beach club is a big treat.
But I dont have the email adresses of any of my target audience so I get folks from all of USA emailing me and most are totally confused. This year I really got clear in my ad so I only got 4-5 inquiries and only one did not understand the no public beach. But now my counter which shows how many folks look at ad shows like 98% read ad and dont try to book it.
I actually only physically use unit one week a year. And stop by two or three weekends. I have to have someone in there at least one week. Maint is $500 a month, taxes/insurance $500 a month, utilities like $200 a month. Living it empty is not a great idea. And folks dont want to rent a condo for a whole summer, too small, the most anyone would want it is one month. My longest rental to date was 13 nights.
Folks also find it insane how much the beach clubs cost up to 12k a summer. Some of my renters say it was a bargain staying at my place as it allowed them to go to club 8 days in a row. Some only make it there one day a weekend as driving out from the city in traffic can take a hour and hardly worth it to go one day a week for 16 weeks to a club that charges 12k a summer.
also people seem confused I have picture ID beach badges they are like just leave me your badges. So now I dont even mention I have a badge.
Perhaps you should check with the private clubs, and rent exclusively to their folks...Since as you said earlier, "Plus the folks in the beach club love it." That seems like a win, win.
There are zero free beaches near condo. The Public Beach in Long Beach NY which is nice and only like 2 miles away is 12 bucks a person. A shocker to folks from outside the region.
I tired to do a deal with the beach clubs but they seemed to think I wanted to make a profit and wanted a big cut. Cheapest was $600 a week. Or $100 a day.
But issue was it was for two adults, two kids. No guests, non transferrable and guest fees were like 25 a day. So if the family had more than four very expensive. Two clubs asked me to become a member first myself just to sell me the guest access.
And some just said no. And they wanted picture IDs of the people they dont want to just let folks off the street join. One guy said case by case basis. I got folks paying 12k a summer for a nice summer, I dont want to bring in folks for one week to upset my year round folk. I guess he is thinking Joe Dirt is renting my place. But then when he asked specifics on who the people were saying they are random people off the internet did not seem a good way to go. So I said my cousins or aunt and uncle used place and need beach access.
And I am very very clear no beach passes. Which is why I disabled auto booking and email folks and always talk to them on phone first to make sure they understand they can see the beach from the front of my condo. But they need their own beach passes either through someone in town who can take them on beach as a guest or belong to beach club. I would never lie, first it is wrong and second they would trash the place.
But it is amazing I did not realize beaches are free outside NY 100% and open to the public.
But it is amazing I did not realize beaches are free outside NY 100% and open to the public.
That is not completely accurate. Even in NJ, there are many places where the beaches are not free access. And in those places where there is free access, the parking costs will get you. However, to go so far as to prevent people from stopping to take a picture is ridiculous.
I am a Jersey girl, I grew up with a beach house on the beach which was private as was the street. When I lived on Staten Island, I used the public beaches but I much preferred being thought of as a benny in NJ and not even the locals could come and use our private beach.
But I dont have the email adresses of any of my target audience so I get folks from all of USA emailing me and most are totally confused. This year I really got clear in my ad so I only got 4-5 inquiries and only one did not understand the no public beach. But now my counter which shows how many folks look at ad shows like 98% read ad and dont try to book it.
.
I don't think the "looker" vs. "booker" ratio means anything. I sometimes just look at VRBO and Homeaway to pass the time, without having any intention of renting anything right then. I have booked a few rentals but looked at TONS of them before I made my decision, and looked at the eventual choice many different times, which I assume would show up as multiple looks?
FWIW, I was totally confused about your beach situation as you originally described it. Of course, I'm from Missouri, and my ocean beach experience is pretty limited....
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