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Vacation Rentals and Property Management, Income and Expenses

Picture of a vacation rental home in Cape Coral

Maintenance Cost of an upscale vacation home in Florida can easily amount to $20,000 or even more depending on the type of home and its features (example of $650,000 home on gulf access canal). How renting your home out as a vacation rental can still make you money or at least reach a break even calculation is shown at the end of this page.

The expenses of a vacation rental is nothing an owner just wants to pay just to have a second home in Florida that he will only be able to use for 3 or 4 weeks throughout the year. So the question is how can I run this property in Sunshine Paradise cost neutral or even earn money with it? The answer is easy - place it in a vacation rental program!

To have your property be rented well with as little as possible vacancies there are quite some service providers needed that take care of everything and make sure there are people that see it marketed. If you live abroad or at least far enough away without the chance to take care of the property yourself or supervise the services that are being booked for everything around the home you need a trustworthy company that can professionally maintain as well as rent out the property and offer you a full-care-package.

Important to know: If you buy an apartment or house in a HOA (Homeowner Administration), the possibilities of renting it out are greatly reduced. Many of these HOAs make it a condition that you can only rent 12x a year, for example, but then each individual rental must be at least 30 days or longer. With an average stay of 2-3 weeks for most vacationers, this becomes quite pointless.

 

The Vacation Rental and Property Management Company

Our partner firm for property management Cape Coral has a longterm experience in this business field and offers a fully integrated service program for your vacation property in Florida. A highly engaged german and english speaking team is available to you taking care of the maintenance of the property as well as maximize your rental income on a daily basis without sacrificing the high quality that is needed to be successful in both areas. This team cares about your home as if it would be their own and they are not shy of taking on another competitor to show what they can and will do.

Highly qualified employees will do everything that is needed to make your vacation rental a successful one: Online marketing, getting in touch with potential vacationers, contract execution with the tenant, Check-in, introduction of the home and explanation of devices and appliances, continuous care of the guest throughout the stay, Check-out, Final walkthrough when tenants leave, return of the deposit, or making sure that potential damages are being repaired, recording usage of power and final statement, professional cleaning of the house including brushing the BBQ-grill, payment of your invoices, lawn and pool care, and much more. Your second home in Southwest Florida will be taken care of in the best possible way and prepared for every guest as if it would be the first.

This guarantees a low maintenance program for you as the owner, great rental income and the insurance that your piece of real estate in Florida will not lose value and experience a longterm appreciation!

The service package of the property management department

  • Weekly inspections of the home inside: Check functionality of lighting, air condition and alarm system, water supply and plumbing, windows and doors, check for damages of any kind, infestation of any pest etc.
  • Weekly inspections of the home outside: Check of any viewable damages, check of pool area and screen, yard around the house, sprinkler system as well as collecting mail and invoices
  • Office tasks: Working on incoming mail, payment of invoices online or sending checks to recipients, complete bookkeeping and monthly detailled statement via email to the owner, inquiring estimates for repairs, ordering of repair or installation jobs, etc.

Picture of the lanai of a vacation home in Cape Coral with a summer kitchen

The service package of the rental department

  • Marketing your rental on the company's website as well as on international portals online
  • Preparation and execution of rental contracts
  • Preparation of the home for incoming guests
  • Check-in and Check-out of vacationers
  • Determining as well as collecting money for power usage from tenant as well as returning the deposit
  • Remittance of the Sales & Tourist Tax to State and County
  • Coordination and final check of end cleaning

We offer you a professional, highly efficient and reliable property management. Our goal is to provide our clients a long term profitability of their investment and in combination a first class care and treatment of the guest. We offer preventive maintenance so that your property is taken care of perfectly and will make reasonable and cost saving improvement suggestions as to protect the value of your real estate and to optimize the rentals!

Should you think about a new construction vacation rental in Florida, we will work hand in hand together from the get go. We will include the rental company into all plannings of the home to incoporate real feedback from tenants as well as them to make sure your rental has the best chances to become successful. We do everything to make sure that your purchase of an existing or new construction home will not be one with red numbers afterwards but a profitable endeavour!

 

Income and Expenses of your vacation home in Florida

Example of a property valued at approx. $650,000 (younger building age)

 

Monthly Expenses

  • Property Management: approx. $150
  • Rentals: No direct cost as commission is only taken from actual rental income
  • Pool Service: approx. $90
  • Lawn Service: approx. $95 (incl. trimming bushes)
  • Lawn fertilization: approx. $40
  • Pest Control: approx. $40
  • Electricity: approx. $170 (when vacant as well as lump sum payment when fully rented)
  • Water: approx. $100
  • Phone, Internet, TV: approx. $180

 

Yearly Expenses

  • Flood Insurance: approx. $750 (this can vary and go up to multiple thousands of dollars depending on the locationof the home)
  • Homeowner Insurance: approx. $3,000
  • Property Tax: approx. $9,500
  • Reserves: $1,500

Total Yearly Expenses incl. Reserves: approx. $25,000

 

 

Yearly Income

Example of a booked capacity of 30 weeks per year (average number from experience)

  • Rental income season (November until April): Weekly rental price $1,500 x 18 weeks = $27,000 (no additional tenants calculated beyond 4)
  • Rental income off-season (May until October): Weekly rental price $1,350 x 12 weeks = $16,200 (no additional tenants calculated beyond 4)
  • Gross rental income: $43,200
  • Commission of rental agency: 17% = $7,344 (usually 20% in Cape Coral, reduced rate if customers come from us)
  • Net income: $35,856
  • Total Expenses: $25,000
  • Saved expenses for your own vacation (assuming 2x3 weeks per year, 3 weeks season and off-season, incl. 11.5% taxes and 2x final cleaning) = approx. $9,800

Total net income before IRS taxes: $10,856 plus saved expenses for own vacation of $9,800 ($21,656)

 

 

With a foccussed marketing plan and creation of an owner website in addition plus spreading the word among family and friends we see quite some properties that can ramp up their bookings to 40 weeks per year assumed that the location, property and furnishings have been recommended by the rental company and us. Additionally you save quite some money not paying for a vacation rental of somebody else.

Example of an optimized capacity of 40 booked weeks per year

  • Rental income season (November until April): Weekly rental price $1,500 x 23 weeks = $34,500
  • Rental income off-season (May until October): Weekly rental price $1,350 x 17 weeks = $22,950
  • Gross rental income: $57,450
  • Commission of rental agency: 17% = $9,767
  • Net income: $47,683
  • Total Expenses: $25,000
  • Saved expenses for your own vacation (assuming 2x2 weeks per year, 2 weeks season and off-season, incl. 11.5% taxes and 2x final cleaning) = approx. $6,655

Total net income before IRS taxes: $22,683 plus saved expenses for own vacation of $6,655 ($30,338)

 

 

These numbers show that a rental most likely can be a profitable business. Now let's run these numbers in a worst-case-scenario should your vacation home primarily be rented during the season time:

Example of a reduced capacity of only 20 booked weeks per year

  • Rental income season (November until April): Weekly rental price $1,500 x 15 weeks = $22,500
  • Rental income off-season (May until October): Weekly rental price $1,350 x 5 weeks = $6,750
  • Gross rental income: $29,250
  • Commission of rental agency: 17% = $4,973
  • Net income: $24,277
  • Total Expenses: $25,000
  • Saved expenses for your own vacation (assuming 2x2 weeks per year, 2 weeks season and off-season, incl. 11.5% taxes and 2x final cleaning) = approx. $6,655

Total net income before IRS taxes: $-723 plus saved expenses for own vacation of $6,655 ($6,932)

 

 

You can see that even in a cautiously optimistic calculation your property can still run beyond the break-even point.


These calculations serve as a general overview for income and expenses of a rental property. All numbers can vary and depend on the location, the property itself and its furnishings. The shown sample calculation in no way guarantees a certain rental income for a property of that type and should be verified with the rental company before purchasing it.