Are You Allowed To Rent Your Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Home Or Condo?
There are a number of deals to be had in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market. Whether you are a first time investment buyer, or a seasoned professional, there are a number of criteria you will look at before you decide to purchase. The most important criteria, and the simplest question, is “Can the property actually be rented?”.
Due to the massive amounts of bank owned properties entering the Fort Lauderdale real estate market, many investors are looking for deals that they can purchase. Every investor has certain criteria they want in their investment properties. Unless you are going to hold the property as a vacation/second home or want to try to rehab the property and sell it quickly, the most important factor in deciding on an investment property should be that it is ABLE to be rented.
Many people think that when they purchase their investment property that they can do what they want with it. That is true to a certain extent. If you purchase a property located within a Condo or Homeowners Association, you agree to abide by the bylaws within that association. Investors are finding out that one of those bylaws is that the property cannot be rented, or cannot be rent until a certain amount of days or months after the purchase.
The reason some associations, particularly condos, do not allow rentals is because they feel the renters do not care for the property as an owner would, and renters are sometimes not screened well by the investor owners. The banning of renters was challenged in court by investor owners. After a rather long legal battle and a couple of decisions, it stands now that if you purchase a property in an association that does not allow rentals, you cannot rent. However, if at the time of purchase the association allows rentals, and then changes their rules, you may still rent if you were an owner before the rules took effect.
This poses a particular problem to sellers trying to sell properties in rental banned complexes and buildings. Many associations are being petitioned to temporarily allow renters until the Fort Lauderdale real estate market picks up again. Those request are often falling on deaf ears and we have not heard of one complex yet that has overturned the rules.
The bottom line is to make SURE that you and your Fort Lauderdale real estate agent know what questions to ask and check the documentation. A couple of cursory questions and a reading of select documents can mean the difference between a deal or a nightmare.
Comments