summer rental wanted (Sheridan, Jackson: RV park, real estate, rentals)

[jwrichter]

Hi all, retired couple from Mn, now living St. Augustine Florida looking for summer rental in or around Jackson Hole. Is it possible to rent for several weeks without having real deep pockets? We'd like to see the area and might be open to a house swap. Can you reply even if you don't have a property as to whether or not this is even done. I have read that the land is all mostly park property so the land and real estate is very expensive. Thanks, Jim jwrichter10@yahoo.com

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by jwrichter

Hi all, retired couple from Mn, now living St. Augustine Florida looking for summer rental in or around Jackson Hole. Is it possible to rent for several weeks without having real deep pockets? We'd like to see the area and might be open to a house swap. Can you reply even if you don't have a property as to whether or not this is even done. I have read that the land is all mostly park property so the land and real estate is very expensive. Thanks, Jim jwrichter10@yahoo.com

Think in terms of Naples, FL as a measure of comparison ...

How easy is it to find places there that don't require "real deep pockets"?


My recollection of St Augustine is that it's a mite uncomfortable for those of us acclimated to lower humidity and temps than are to be found in a most pleasant Jackson WY during the summer months ....

[branDcalf]

Unless you have business or social obligations that require you to be in Jackson, you might consider other parts of the state. In my area (Sheridan), summer rentals are at a premium but not impossible to find and slightly less than what I hear out of the Jackson area.

Idaho is a great place to summer in or near mountains and is often overlooked, as are some of the ski areas of Colorado. I have friends that rent summer places there (CO) for family and business gatherings at relative bargains. Great off-season rates. They choose CO because it is easier for people from other areas to travel to and from, compared to many places in WY.

[jwrichter]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Think in terms of Naples, FL as a measure of comparison ...

How easy is it to find places there that don't require "real deep pockets"?


My recollection of St Augustine is that it's a mite uncomfortable for those of us acclimated to lower humidity and temps than are to be found in a most pleasant Jackson WY during the summer months ....

That may have been true years ago but not anymore. Naples Florida is one area where the real estate has dropped more than 50% and rentals and resales are plentyful. Deep pockets don't apply there anymore.

Can't dispute the temperature issue, actually it's not the humidty but the dew point that makes one uncomfortable. NE Florida is much better than the southern areas of the state but still a factor.

[225digger]

i cant remember what site i saw it on , i think i just type vacation home rentals in google .... but last year i seen one house for weekly rental in the WAPITI valley between cody and yellowstone for i think 700 a week , had a kitchen and 2 bedrooms .

one thing you may also want to try is finding a good real estate agent in the area you want to vacation in , they often know where rentals are ..... only bad thing would be going up in the summer when its tourist season , i would start now

[ElkHunter]

there is one other possibility and that is a nice 5th wheel trailer. You don't have to have anything to pull it with as there are plenty of places that will move it for you. But call ahead and have it set up on a lot and summer in it. In the fall, have it moved into storage (most storage runs less then $75 a month for outside storage, more costly if you want inside storage). That would guarentee you a home at minimul cost, probably running $500 a month hooked up to power water and sewer. The added plus is after you summer a couple years you might find someplace you like better and it's simple to move your summer home. You don't have to live with the neighbors, scenery, business' that are near you, simply move down the road a ways and tie it down again.

You can have an RV dealer come out and winterize your trailer for about $300. They drain all holding tanks, blow out the lines, put chemicals in all tanks and lines that prevent moisture buildup and freezing. They seal up windows and vents, and make sure the rig is parked on wood instead of dirt.

I lived in an RV for about 10 years, but I wintered in it too. But I was traveling back and forth across country to do my job.

Something to think about.

[Wyomama2]

Have you looked on VRBO.com?

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by jwrichter

That may have been true years ago but not anymore. Naples Florida is one area where the real estate has dropped more than 50% and rentals and resales are plentyful. Deep pockets don't apply there anymore.

Can't dispute the temperature issue, actually it's not the humidty but the dew point that makes one uncomfortable. NE Florida is much better than the southern areas of the state but still a factor.

As I have some friends who are developers in the area, I'm aware that the prices in Naples have dropped ... from stratospheric to merely expensive ... which has put some of their projects on hold for the moment.

Similarly, we have seen prices soften in the Wyoming area for second home recreational properties in Jackson, and resort developments like Cordillera or Bachelor Gulch in Colorado have almost dropped off the map ... with 70-80% declines in property asked prices. But that's for resales and the marketplace for rentals remains relatively into "deep pockets" territory because for most distress property owners, given the choice between renting out at a minimal price point with attendant loss of use/value/repairs to keep it in marketable condition vs. keeping it vacant and sustaining the losses ... they'll generally keep it vacant unless the rental price point cash flows to relieve a distress financial situation.

Overall, I'd say that there are very few properties available for rent at distress or even "affordable" rates in Jackson ... where tourism is a prime income stream producer and the summer months are still a high season. It's only in the months between ski season and summer that will present a number of real "deals" even today.

RE: Humidity vs dew point for comfort perception ... measure it any way you want, but I've spent enough time in Northern FL coastal areas as well as far inland (Greenville) to know that 95% humidity even in temps as low as the mid 60's-70's is downright uncomfortable after spending most of my life in a region where mid 20% humidity presents at almost all temps (-dd below zero to mid 90'sF) unless there's active precip in progress. The bottom line is that one's perspiration doesn't evaporate and cool effectively in the high humidity ... hence the perception of a much hotter temperature and attendant discomfort. The extensive use of refrigerated air conditioning aggravates my discomfort with the continual cycling between outdoor ambient conditions, A/C in the car, and A/C in buildings/homes/commercial buildings ....

[jwrichter]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

there is one other possibility and that is a nice 5th wheel trailer. You don't have to have anything to pull it with as there are plenty of places that will move it for you. But call ahead and have it set up on a lot and summer in it. In the fall, have it moved into storage (most storage runs less then $75 a month for outside storage, more costly if you want inside storage). That would guarentee you a home at minimul cost, probably running $500 a month hooked up to power water and sewer. The added plus is after you summer a couple years you might find someplace you like better and it's simple to move your summer home. You don't have to live with the neighbors, scenery, business' that are near you, simply move down the road a ways and tie it down again.

You can have an RV dealer come out and winterize your trailer for about $300. They drain all holding tanks, blow out the lines, put chemicals in all tanks and lines that prevent moisture buildup and freezing. They seal up windows and vents, and make sure the rig is parked on wood instead of dirt.

I lived in an RV for about 10 years, but I wintered in it too. But I was traveling back and forth across country to do my job.

Something to think about.

That's a agreat idea, thanks for the input!

[sunsprit]

Not sure where ElkHunter is getting his numbers from for Jackson area RV parking rates ... in Jackson itself, there are two RV campgrounds that I've been in touch with (re my 19' Class B RV that only requires an electrical hook-up) and their summer time rates for up to a 25' RV were between $65 to $79 per night with no discount for a monthly rate.

They both apparently are booked up through the summer on transients at their full rates and don't need to discount for summer nights except for qualified RV discount programs ... Good Sam, AAA, etc.

These parking site price points are a lot more expensive than $500/month .... and don't include the cost of the RV, either.

There are parks in the area with RV camping available at nominal price points, but there are number of days stay limits and these would require moving your RV about every two weeks to another area. In some cases, after 14 days you may have used up your entire seasonal allocation of time in a given forest property; ie, you can't just move to another campground in that property, you've got to leave.

While I'm now traveling in an RV by necessity for a job, I'd be very reluctant to want to spend a vacation summer in an RV park with minimal elbow room to the next RV campsite. Some folk do and it's OK for them, but my perspective may be a bit different ... especially with owning properties in Vail, CO to satisfy my need for a mountain home.