Rental Glut

Yes, there are more rental units than usual. Most of them are still on the vacation or short term market rather than the long term market. . On St Croix that market is not as active as on St Thomas or for sure St John.

There is no doubt that Hovensa "employee adjustments" have had some effect., particularly on the mid range market. It is easy to see that despite a depressed world wide real estate market, some rental "asking" prices have gone up in STX because of the actual cost to owners. By that I mean, that some condos here because of their former poor condition were hard to rent and are now more desirable because of their better condition and should get higher rents than in the past. That was somewhat convoluted...duh... But the rents can't go up because of a decreased demand...?

What I am saying is that the new owners are asking more for some units such as Mill Harbor and Colony Cove that have greatly improved their condition, but not yet their reputation. The sad thing (for long term renters)is that all rentals on St Croix are still too high. Most people who want to rent here are not able to find a place that is in their price range. The landlords are still trying to get rents that compensate them for the amount they paid for the property.

Help me out here folks...

I guess I am saying that many buyers paid too much for their St Croix property, so if they intend to put their property on the rental market they will never get a positive cash flow. Long term Renters on he other hand will have a hard time finding a place they can afford if they live in the Virgin Islands because of the unwillingness of landlords to consider long term rentals versus vacation rental income. My advice to landlords, do the math.

What do you think?

I have a 1 br unit and am finding it hard to rent because there are fewer people comming down that are professional

billd

The rents are what the market can bear. And rents went down quite a while ago. There are always new landlords that try to get the moon but then realize about two months later they have to charge less but have already lost two months worth of rent so they would have been much better off asking a reasonable rent. Another tip for new landlords have the place sparkling clean and staged Before you take pictures, it will help you so much. I'm often shocked at the pics I see, with dirty dishes and laundry all over the place. But I've been doing this for a very long time so my judgement be biased.

For us the renters market came at a good time. We're both tired of it and the quality of renters has gone way down. They either want the moon for a lot less money (you can't have both & no one wants to keep a pain in the rear renter) or they have bad qualifications. So we might do a handyman trade off for rent but it would be down the road.

Hiya,

I am new to the boards. Are you a landlord with several properties or do you work in property management within a Real Estate office? We are several months out from needing a rental but have been looking at whats available and at which price points to set help us set a realistic housing budget.

I think maybe I was a little unclear in the second paragraph, but I'm no longer doing any rentals. We don't have to rent them and I'm worn a little thin right now. Sorry about that. But always willing to help a fellow Texan out, if I'm reading your handle correctly. Just PM me if you have any questions about relocating and what not.

I think the market is different for people trying to rent one apartment in their own home. These landlords are pickier, but also, IMO, more flexible. We've been renting from the same owner for about 7 years. The rent started out low and has stayed low over the years. She keeps it low because we're good tenants and she doesn't want the hassle of re-renting.

Once a renter is on-island and standing in front of the landlord, oftentimes concessions can be reached based on the desirability of the renters.

Thanks!. I totally will...once I figure enough out to even cull down my questions to a reasonable amount!!!