Vacation Rental Regulations In Palm Springs CA

Many buyers of property in Palm Springs purchase with the intention of renting out the property full or part time until they are ready to retire to it. This can be a very lucrative proposition. It is a great way to pay for a big part of your eventual retirement home or just a smart real estate investment. It is simply important to follow the city Rules on Vacation Rental Regulations.

In an effort to manage the temporary occupants of these vacation properties the city has established a hotline. It is 760-833-7988. If you are experiencing problems in your neighborhood with a vacation rental you can call to report the problems. In any non emergency situation please use this number rather than calling the police department.

Important Rules and Regulations for Vacation Rentals:

Occupancy limits based on number of Bedrooms a studio is 2 people, a one bedroom is 4 people, a 3 bedroom is 8 etc. Noise – no outdoor amplified music is allowed, You must register the property with the city via Short Term Vacation Rental Registration Permit (a one time $25 fee) and the yearly Vacation Rental Registration Certificate (an annual $60 fee). There are Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) due on rentals of less than 30 days.

If you are using a rental agency to manage your vacation property they should be willing to help you with this. If you are doing it on your own be sure to contact the city of Palm Springs to make sure you are in compliance.

You can visit the Vacation Rental department of the City on the Web here.

Finally it is important to keep in mind that for homes and condos located inside communities with Homeowners associations there may be additional restrictions from the association.

(While this blog is specifically about the city of Palm Springs most Desert Cities have similar policies and procedures for the management of vacation rentals.)

Own Your Own Vacation Rental Property in Palm Springs Start your search here

Tenant Rights In A Foreclosed Property

We have written before about the need to be very careful when renting an apartment or home in todays market. There are many scams and just because someone has the keys to a property does not mean that they own it or have the authority to rent it. You can read our whole post about Rental Scams here however, the most important thing you can do to protect yourself is get ID from the person renting the home to you and find out if they even own the property. Typically you can do this at your local county tax office or a friend in the Real Estate, Title or Banking Industries can often check that for you.

This blog post is about what happens when you have already paid, moved in and settled only to find out your landlord is not paying the mortgage. Tenant Rights In A Foreclosed Property.

Foreclosure is looming and you are stressed out worried about  what will become of your lease. Sadly, there are many scenarios where you may never know it is coming unless there is a notice posted on the property. Closer to the actual auction sale date you may see people driving by and checking out the property. A few brave ones may even ring the doorbell. These are typically investors that want to see what the property looks like in advance of the foreclosure auction. Many will have no idea that you are a tenant and not the owner. You do not have to talk to them and you probably would be better off referring them to your landlord.

So what are your Tenant Rights in a Foreclosed Property? These rights changed with passage, in 2009, of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) this law say that any bona fide lease entered into prior to the notice of foreclosure remains in place when the owner-by-foreclosure (OBF) purchases the property to be used for any purpose other than as a primary residence. Yes, you read that right.. a real lease that is in place prior to the notice of Foreclosure ..has to be honored by the new owner as long as they did not buy it to use as their principal residence.

There is another criteria that must be met as well. The lease must be for fair market value. The PFTA is very vague however, and it does not really spell out any set way that this can be determined. I would suggest that a copy of current rental ads should be pretty strong evidence that your rent is at market value.

So what if the new owner wants to use the property as their principle residence? Well, In this case you can be given a 90 day notice to vacate the property. Sort of a worse case scenario yes, but you cannot be forced out without adequate time to find a new place.

This Act is in effect until The end of 2014.

Again, use caution when leasing any property. Make sure you know who you are dealing with and if the worst thing happens - know your rights.

This Month In Real Estate

This months report covers first time buyers wants and needs. What motivates them to buy rather than rent. The major driving force now is the staggeringly low 4.1% average mortgage interest rate.

Cool Homes In The Hot Desert

[caption id="attachment_1460" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A New World Of Style and Design"][/caption]

The September 2011 Issue of Los Angeles Magazine has a great feature on three unique Desert homes.  The article is called Sand and Stone and can be seen in the LA Magazine online digital edition.

The homes featured are  Desert House, Acido Dorado and The itHouse.

The Desert House is located in Desert Hot Springs, located west of town on a hill with commanding views back towards Palm Springs and the San Jacinto Mountain Range. Prefab construction. It is currently offered for sale as a short sale for $599,000.

Acido Dorado is located in Joshua Tree.  Through the innovative use of concrete, mirror and metal melds itself into the stark but dramatic landscape in a way that makes it seem as if it just belongs. This home is in a rental program and has been used for fashion shoots all of which you can see by following the link provided above.

The itHouse is located above Pioneer town, the funky, hip former western movies set located just west of Yucca Valley. The house is off the grid and is partially powered by solar panels.

All of these properties show out of the box thinking in both materials and design and are a breath of fresh air. With the current movement and popularity of Green technologies we are sure to see more structures with these elements in the Desert soon.

Developing Trends In Real Estate Buying

[caption id="attachment_995" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="The Variables Of The New Market"][/caption]

A Recent article in US World and News Report breaks down the different demographic groups and analyzes the unique choices and challenges each group has in the current real estate market.

The two most interesting points to me, revolved around 1) GenY (late teen to early 30's age group) losing faith in the value of owning a home and coupled with their interest in living in more urban areas becoming a class of permanent renters and 2) The Baby Boomers in the 45-55 age group unable to sell their homes in the suburbs to downsize. Negative equity and a much smaller pool of buyers to sell to make these homes harder to unload.

My thoughts on the Gen Y group is that if they lock themselves into renting now - later in life they may find that the market has passed them by. As the economy changes, interest rates rise and costs continue to escalate they may be unable to buy or at least unable to buy in the areas they most want to live in.  Not only will this create a permanent class of renters but I wonder about the long term economic impact of,  say 20%, of the population not buying property?

As far as the baby boomers being unable to sell their properties at what they paid for them - this is bound to have a negative effect on the retirement plans of these homeowners.  Perhaps fewer vacation home purchases and a delay of retirement all together will be the result. The article mentions a drop in the interest for retirement centers as people live longer and healthier lives. I wonder what will happen to the suburbs as these properties eventually sell for much less or are abandoned all together.

Styles do change and new things become desirable leaving previous "hot ticket items" in the dust. I remember in the early 1980's I was living in the "suburbs" in a nice home that was built in 1973.  It has 4 bedrooms and 4 baths along with a cavernous living room and a small formal dining room plus an eat in kitchen.  I was pretty comfortable and I thought the house was pretty upscale.  One night in the early summer I decided that I would take a walk through the woods to a new home development that was being built.  In those days homes under construction could be left unlocked and I decided to walk through a few of them.  I recall being completely flabbergasted at what I saw.  There were master "suites" with huge walk in closets and bathrooms as big as my entire bedroom and bathroom put together.  Kitchens were big and roomy not little after thoughts off the dining room. Building styles had begun to change and as we would all soon see this was just my first glimpse of  the new style of home for the 1980's. These days no one would look twice at a home like that,  it is standard issue in the American suburbs.

I believe we are the cusp of another major change in how Americans live and what they want in their homes.  My best take, on the trends cited in this interesting article, are that midsized urban centers with a high quality of life are going to be the "hot" properties in the very near future.  Large suburbs far from amenities and work places will suffer as the next generation of home buyer no longer considers them desirable or in fashion.

Look at all homes for sale in Palm Springs California: