Finding Rentals on St. John?

The only long-term rental management company on St John Is Scenic Properties.  There are a few other groups on Facebook you could join too.  St John Accommodations is one that comes to mind.  Connections on St John also has a board with postings.  Long term rentals are hard to find and usually rent quickly word of mouth.  What is your budget and start date and other requirements?   I can keep an eye out for you.  

@stjohnjulie Thank for the offer.  It's early yet.  I'm giving myself the goal of 2022.  Depends on our business sales this year. ? I appreciate those leads though.  I did join the FB group and check out the others.  I'm just trying to get a feel for price per bed/bath/neighborhood.  Looking at the listings on STT, I feel pretty comfortable saying I can get X for Y.  On STJ, I have no idea ???? Can't wait though!  Been "training" since 2007...

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The long term rental market on St John is pretty different.  They are in short supply and there are landlords that will charge very high prices for pretty crappy places just because they can.  I was hoping that we would be some evening out now 3+ years after the hurricanes. But not so.  We have a pretty high demand for the short terms with us being one of the only places welcoming US visitors during the pandemic.   Maybe by the time you are ready it will be better.  I would recommend getting in with Scenic Properties early and jump if they have something good come up close to the time you want to be here.  

I found their Facebook page but not much else.  Does Scenic Properties have a website as well? I wasn't able to locate one.  ? 

I don’t think they do.  I would t think they would have much need for one since they don’t ever seem to have any trouble getting their places rented quickly.  The board at Connections also has rental postings as well as job postings and sales postings.   I’m not sore how they are operating during COVID.  Bit you could give them a call.  They may be able to text you a picture of what’s on the board.  

@stjohnjulie Thanks, Julie! That's a great idea! ?

Why would you want to build on STJ?  It's already overcrowded as it is.  Have you spent much time in the islands?  If not, I'd highly recommend renting for a year and really exploring all three islands first.  After that, if you still want to build on STJ, go for it.  But, honestly STJ is one of those islands that seems so exciting at first, but quickly becomes boring because it's so small with relatively little to do.  I love visiting STJ, but I'd never ever want to live there over STT or STX.

Finding a rental to accommodate a family of 8 is bound to be pretty pricy on STJ in addition to all the other costs of daily living.

Good luck!

It's a good point. We have been living in a 3 bed/2½ bath 1400 sqft home plus a half finished basement for 20 years, so I am hoping we can find something relatively comparable. I guess the question I have would be more along the lines of will someone rent us that little space with 8 people. I guess we'll find out eventually!

Thanks for the comments and for contributing to our education ???

Love this journey!

I would think places would allow it.  There are a lot of large and multi generational households here.  Finding a comparable sq ft to what you have now is probably going to be harder.  A healthy budget always helps matters quite a bit. 

Posted by: @simpub

It's a good point. We have been living in a 3 bed/2½ bath 1400 sqft home plus a half finished basement for 20 years, so I am hoping we can find something relatively comparable. I guess the question I have would be more along the lines of will someone rent us that little space with 8 people. I guess we'll find out eventually!

Thanks for the comments and for contributing to our education ???

Love this journey!

 

First, you'll want to live on STJ for a year at least before you decide that you want to build there. You won't find out all the reasons not to if you're living on another island. In fact, you probably won't until after you've started building.

Second, 3BR long-term rentals on STJ are rare and very expensive, especially if you don't have any connections on island. Most homes that size go on the short-term rental market instead because it's more profitable. Also, because the market is so limited, you won't get much bang for your buck.

Third, pay close attention to what other people on this board are telling you about where things might go wrong in your plan. At least some and perhaps many of them will. 

You are about to spend a substantial amount of money on an experience that may not provide the return you expect. Consider what you might do with it instead if you just stayed where you are now.

I think the bigger issue for the OP is the cost of building, if that’s the ultimate goal.  We live on STX but have friends that have built (and rebuilt after the 2017 hurricanes) and building something very basic with minimal excavation and no real surprises will be $500 a square foot and can take 2+ years.  Seeing $1,000 a square foot wouldn’t be surprising for a nice home on a difficult lot with a pool once you include the driveway and landscaping.  One major reason STJ real estate (rentals) is/are so expensive are building costs.