Posted on Sun, Jan. 21, 2007
SUPER BOWL XLI
Savvy S. Floridians Cash in by Renting Homes to Game Fans
BY JODI MAILANDER FARRELL
jmailander@MiamiHerald.com
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CHARLES TRAINOR JR./MIAMI HERALD STAFF
SUPER BOWL READY: Amir Benesh chats on the phone in his one-bedroom penthouse on Collins Avenue, which he is renting for $1,500 a night.
Short term rental tips |
More than 100,000 visitors are about to descend on South Florida for
the country's largest sports event. What's a homeowner to do!
Hundreds of them are seizing the money-making moment and offering their homes to Super Bowl fans. Asking from $150 a day to more than $15,000 for the week, South Floridians are posting online pitches of pads from Pompano Beach to South Beach.
''I already have 10 e-mail responses. One woman called me from California at 2 a.m.,'' said Romina Llanes, a day after posting her one-bedroom South Beach condo on craigslist.com for $500 for three days.
Condo owners are hoping booked hotels and high room prices near the Feb. 4 game will steer some Super Bowl visitors their way. Owners of single-family homes are appealing to small companies and groups that need larger spaces. Theyre posting photographs, maps, glowing descriptions and promises of fun in the subtropics.
''Star gazing, champagne and strawberries in the Jacuzzi!'' offers one ad on craigslist for a South Beach penthouse that sleeps four, offered at $1,500 a night. Another online ad, for a four-bedroom, three-bath house in Fort Lauderdale, plays up its backyard and outdoor deck. ''The lush island appearance is vivified by tropical landscaping and a heated pool,'' the owner wrote. Asking price: $25,000 for the week.
They can ask, but that doesn't mean people will pay said Brad Mackler, vice president of Event Home Rentals, an online company that connects short-term home rentals with sports fans in towns hosting major events. The company is part of Alpha Tickets a ticket- broker business based in Georgia.
''There are all these myths that people pay $20,000 or $30,000 to rent a house; that's just not true,'' Mackler said. ``Why would they when they can get the Ritz for $600 a night? People who want extraordinary amounts for renting their homes don't rent. It's rare when places rent for more than $10,000.''
SOME RESTRICTIONS
Homeowners who rent their primary homes for fewer than 15 days a year don't need to declare the rental income for tax purposes, according to the Internal Revenue Service. But cities and homeowners' or condo associations may restrict or ban short-term rentals, warns Norbert Machado, vice president and managing broker for Eslinger Wooten Maxwell's Miami Beach office.
Some cities, such as Miami Beach, forbid owners from renting a single-family home for less than six months. The rule doesn't apply to condos, said Hilda Fernandez, Miami Beach's assistant city manager.
Numerous websites aimed at NFL fans are posting South Florida rental properties. Some, such as craigslist and eBay, are free. Others charge fees or take a percentage of the rental income. Event Home Rentals charges homeowners $99 to post a home on its website for a year. Of about 50 rental homes posted on the site last year -- when the Super Bowl was held in Detroit -- about 15 were rented, Mackler said.
South Florida homeowners shouldn't count on over-booked hotels creating a hot short-term rental market. Two years ago, when the Super Bowl was held in Jacksonville -- the smallest city ever to host the Super Bowl -- sleeping space was so scarce that five cruise ships were used and the host committee established a home rental program to provide enough rooms. That's not the case here. The region has plenty of hotel rooms -- and many are still available, although the prime ones are long gone.
The South Florida Super Bowl XLI Host Committee, which is offering fans online and toll-free hotel booking, still has rooms for as little as $209 a night available on its website, www.superbowlxli.org.
There are 17,000 South Florida hotel rooms reserved for the NFL, which doles them out to sponsors, media, NFL staff, team owners and other VIPs. The league will let go of any unneeded rooms closer to game day.
Location plays a huge part in whether a home will be rented, rental specialists said. Although the game will be played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, most visitors want to be near the pre- and post-game party action on South Beach. The exception may be a small company in need of a three- or four-bedroom house to put up several clients.
''Will someone like that pay $5,000 or $10,000? Sure,'' said Mackler of Event Home Rentals. ``They would have to get four hotel rooms otherwise.''
Mackler is renting a two-bedroom, one-bath condo on Washington Street in South Beach for 10 days for $2,000.
LEAVING TOWN
Like many hopeful owners, Llanes of South Beach is leaving town during Super Bowl week. She's going on a cruise. Others are planning to stay with friends. Still others, such as South Beach's Amir Benesh, have the luxury of owning a second home.
''This can be a second income for some people,'' said Benesh, who lives part-time in New York and is renting his Collins Avenue one-bedroom penthouse for $1,500 a night. ``This fulfills an amazing need for people. Staying in a home is more fun that squeezing into a hotel. You can be with everybody, cook together. It's quite a different experience.''
He should know. Benesh is one of the owners of Your Home International, which offers short- and long-term stays in homes around the world. In 1999, the last time the Super Bowl was in Miami, Benesh said he rented his penthouse to British former Formula One racing driver Eddie Irvine.
Your Home International doesn't charge people to post their homes on the website, but it does collect 10 to 15 percent of the rental fee. The company offers maid services and will book everything from restaurants to chauffeurs for renters.
Benesh said he also rented out his condo during the Miami International Boat Show last February.
A spokeswoman for the Greater Mimi Convention and Visitors Bureau says short-term home rentals ''happen more than people realize'' here, thanks to big events such as Art Basel and the Sony-Ericsson Open tennis tournament.
But we're not the only ones cashing in on the short-term rental market. Already spotted on one website: Ads for home rentals for Super Bowl XLII next year in Glendale, Ariz.
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