Why Renters Become Buyers on Sanibel Island

Well, it happened again.

I received an email yesterday notifying me that my rentals guests in my condo for 3 months are not renewing for next year because they are buying a unit of their own.

They are not buying in my complex, but regardless, they are transitioning from renting on the Island to owning on the Island.

That makes the 8th couple who have rented either our condo or our home, Toucan House, to make this leap in the course of 13 years.

I have a gut feeling this is not the usual thing, and am going to share this with other vacation rental owners to see what their experience has been.

But the action does not surprise me, as this was indeed the way the our ownership began.

While we have traveled in much of the world, admired it, and even returned as vacationers, there were few places where we wished to return so badly that we entertained ownership. And of the few places where we visited with the thought of buying, we learned enough in researching the ownership to put us off sufficiently. With properties out of the country, we were always a little leery about being foreign land holders. But even able to overcome the apprehension, the pure cost of ownership from that distance added a real monetary disadvantage to the equation. Even when the property was not priced very high, in many countries there are so many add on costs for purchasing, it took affordable properties and rendered them unaffordable.

With vacation rentals within the country, it was all about destination satisfaction as we would want to use the vacation rental ourselves, share it with friends and relatives and get all the benefits of a second home while we covered all costs with rentals revenues. We would, of course, want a tranquil and peaceful location. But not tranquil and peaceful to the exclusion of intellectual stimulation. And, of course, we also wanted full amenities as well as the benefits of nature.

When we got to bottom lines (and believe me we looked hard), there was not a place in the country that better matched our needs and desires than Sanibel Island. It's serenity and seclusion balanced by a full array of cultural activities, its abundance of nature complemented by all the restaurants and shops a person could want on vacation or in residence.

So while I think it is a bit unusual to have so many people cross the line from vacationers to owners, it is certainly not surprising when one considers the very unique nature of this lovely tropical island.