Illinois residents John and Barbara Plutshack never thought they would be part of a growing trend, but they are. The Plutshacks, who just bought a home at Dolce Vita, a 55+ active adult community in Apache Junction, are part of an increasing number of Baby Boomer couples buying homes to live in a few weeks a year, but then renting the homes out to others for the rest of the year. Money from renting a home helps to pay off a mortgage, leaving a home paid for free and clear for people when they do decide to retire.
Seeing the trend, four years ago Dolce Vita began helping homeowners find renters. All background checks, paperwork to rent the home and property management is done by Dolce Vita staff members. Dolce Vita receives a 10-percent fee of the rent collected. The typical winter rental is $2,000 to $2,300 a month.
“We have more requests to rent homes than homes available,” said Lori Tuter, Dolce Vita’s sales and marketing director. “We typically require a four-month minimum from tenants, as most people want January to March. It’s the law of supply and demand.”
According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the National Association of Realtors trade group, about 25 percent of baby boomers own one or more types of real estate in addition to a primary residence, and boomers own 57 percent of all vacation and seasonal homes and 58 percent of rental property.
“It helps to defray cost of the lot lease, and it’s nice to have someone living in the home and watching over it,” said John Plutshack, who recently with his wife purchased a home in Dolce Vita. The Plutshacks plan to live in Arizona full time starting in 2015.
Dolce Vita is located at 3301 S. Goldfield Rd. in Apache Junction, Arizona. For more information, call 480-288-1818 or visit www.dolce-vita-az.com.
