On Saturday April 7th, 2018, the following was released via email to a select group of homeowners. The DMHOC, where indicated, would like to provide the Community with our position on the stated issues.
Email to Community: The vote will be worded, “ In favor of ” or “against” a 30 day minimum rental period. There are NO other options.
DMHOC: Thank you for this clarification. We will pass to our constituency of supporters as well as all whom have objected.
Email to Community: The question is “Do you want someone renting the house next to you by the night and weekend”. Yes or No? It is just that simple. Not voting because you want a LONGER MINIMUM further jeopardizes our community. So please vote and vote early! After extensive research, DM felt 30 days was fair, balanced and passable. It stops short term, motel-like renting yet allows people who need to rent the ability to do so.
Email to Community: Desert Mountain is working on a robust “fly and buy” realtor program to bring bonafide buyers to DM and allow proper follow-up. The rental study proves, very few buyers come through short term renters here for a vacation. Sales happen through realtor contacts and follow-up. If you talk with someone who purchased after renting.…ask them who they rented through…a realtor or the internet? It likely was a realtor.
DMHOC: In a sample pool of 25 Owners Who Rent, per data received via an information request the DMMA fulfilled recently on the Dings Committee Work, at least 29 known individuals purchased a home as a result of their stay at 25 properties. Additionally, at least 9 club memberships were also sold to those individuals. The Dings Data Book recently released actually indicates out of 44 Owners who rent that were surveyed at least 45 renters purchased homes.
Email to Community: How about the Property Rights argument? AirBnB spends millions to protect short term renting. The property rights argument iscalled a “unifier” which rallies homeowners to vote against securing the privacy of their own community. In the end, do you want a motel-like rental house next door to you? Whether you are currently effected or not, this is a possibility.
DMHOC: There are very few renters who are actually renting for less than a week at a time as a rule and are only making exceptions for Desert Mountain members or property owners, their family members, or guests of an event. The Dings Data Book estimates, from those interviewed, the average rental period is 9 days. The notion that there is a motel-like atmosphere in Desert Mountain is preposterous.
Email to Community: To quote a DM member: “This is not a property owners rights battle; it’s a minority of homeowners who rent short term and subject families to security risk, decreased property values and negative impact on our DM experience that we paid a premium for”.
DMHOC: This is largely a property rights issue for all DMHOC supporters; Owners who rent are a small minority of our group. There are no proven security risks; for every one call to a rental there are two calls to a non-rental and it is not even recorded if security calls to rentals are a result of an Owner, guest, or a renter’s behavior or action.
There is absolutely no correlation between home values and the presence of rentals within the Desert Mountain Community.
Email to Community: Why is the other side (8%) fighting so hard? People make excellent incomes from renting homes in Desert Mountain.
DMHOC: First off, the percentage of those fighting is roughly 25% of the lot owners in Desert Mountain. Approximately 70% of the DMHOC are NOT OWNERS WHO RENT. Owners who rent are vastly in the minority of those within the DMHOC, those who have currently thus far objected, and those who objected last year.
Now that we have that out of the way, the vast majority of Owners who are renting do so to offset SOME of their household or membership expenses. Renting is not a money-making prospect in Desert Mountain. The stays are largely seasonal and the rental period is generally no more than 4-5 months per year.
If Desert Mountain homes were truly generating large profits there would be far fewer homes on the market and all of our property values would increase simply as a result of the rules of supply and demand.
Email to Community: DM is the ONLY large “resort” community in North Scottsdale left without restrictions. Investors are waiting to see what happens.
DMHOC: We are glad the other side is admitting that Desert Mountain is a resort community. With that said, it is completely untrue that Desert Mountain is the only resort community left in North Scottsdale without a restriction. See the Dings Data Book for some details or simply do a VRBO or Airbnb search; even the most exclusive, high-end, recreational/resort style communities have rentals available.
Investors are not waiting to see what happens; potential property owners are waiting to see what happens. A reality check is needed here on prospective buyers. The prospective buyer of today is a 50-60 year old professional/couple who are affluent, likely currently working with 10 or less years to retirement. They likely have the means and the energy to renovate homes in much need of work and potentially will pay dues to the club for 30 years or more.
This demographic cannot be in Desert Mountain for more than a week per month and likely no more than 3 to 4 weeks per year. Any individual with financial wherewithal would know the ability to rent, for this group of owners, is key to offsetting expenses and does result in some return on investment.
This vote is more than stopping short term renters, this vote will largely reduce the demographic we all should want to sell our homes to. The real estate community has recorded lost sales as a result of this proposed restriction and there are at least 10 pending sales that will be lost if the restriction passes.
Email to Community: More money is made renting by the night than by the month.
DMHOC: There is nothing to suggest this is the case although there is a small (less than 5) population of renters who only rent for 1-7 nights because they believe this is the case.
Desert Mountain Homeowners Coalition 