Second home owners who have vacant properties in New Jersey and other areas affected by Hurricane Sandy are being urged to consider renting their property on a longer term basis to local residents who have had their homes destroyed.
“The number of people who need homes now is much greater than what all of the companies have combined is available,” commented John Meechan, a broker with New Jersey based agents Diane Turton Realtors. Meechan states that because of this situation, many agents are cold calling holiday home owners directly to offer them prospective tenants.
The high demand for rentals comes at a time when the US rental market is already near its peak. Bad credit brought about various economic pressures associated with the recession mean that many US residents are simply unable to buy a property and instead have had to resort to rentals.
“Any time a rental comes on the market, within hours it has multiple offers on it, for the obvious reasons,” said Ken Parker, an agent with Century 21 Nifoussi Realty, of Toms River, New Jersey.
However, agents were keen that those renting out their properties did not try and inflate prices in order to capitalise on what was already a distressing situation for those affected, and urge those considering helping to be realistic with the rents that they charge.
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