by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
Many Jacksonville residents who were hoping to rent their homes to Super Bowl visitors this week and take a mini-vacation are now realizing that they might have set their expectations — and their price ranges — a bit too high.
Because so many locals expected a high demand for rentals this week, the market has been flooded with expensive rentals from the Jacksonville area, many of which have yet to be rented.
In Tuesday’s issue of The Boston Globe, there were 190 classified advertisements for Jacksonville rentals for the week. Tuesday’s Philadelphia Inquirer had 236 Jacksonville rental ads, which meant there were more ads for Jacksonville real estate than for Philadelphia properties.
A spokesperson for Suncastle Properties, one of the beach area’s largest rental brokers, said many of their property owners have had to lower their original asking price in order to rent their places.
“We’ve probably sold 70 percent of what we took,” said the spokesperson. “People aren’t getting the prices they originally anticipated, and there are quite a few places left including oceanfront and in the Sawgrass Players’ Club.”
Other private owners who set out on their own to rent their homes this week also have run into similar situations. An owner of a condo in Berkman Plaza said he received about 10 calls for his rental but none have been serious inquires. He said he expects that his asking price, which is $11,000 for four days, is the major complication with potential renters.
“I started off high but if someone does take it, I will probably rent it for less than $1,000 per night,” he said.
Victor Evans also is trying to rent his home, a three bedroom house within a stone’s throw of Alltel Stadium, but said he has run into a lack of interest from potential renters.
“I could hit the stadium with a pellet gun,” he said. “That is how close I am. I can watch the Jumbotron in the South end zone from my deck. This would be a great house to rent for the Super Bowl.”
Evans has only received about three calls regarding the Super Bowl rental so far but hopes he will get more. He said he has advertised the rental in the Philadelphia and Boston papers as well as the Times-Union. If he doesn’t rent it within the next day or so, Evans said he would put the rental on Ebay.
If he does rent his house, Evans said he is headed a few blocks away to one of the RV lots near the stadium where his friend will have a Winnebago parked.
Oceanfront property owners looking to rent have also run into a lack of interest regarding their properties.
A property manager for one house in Jacksonville Beach said that while she has been marketing the vacation rental as a Super Bowl rental for the past two weeks, she has only received one or two serious inquiries.
Another property owner of a condo at Ocean 14 in Jacksonville Beach said he has had several serious offers but has turned them down because he thought the renters might be too rowdy for the other residents living in the oceanfront building.
While the owner said he is currently awaiting a return call from former football star Barry Sanders for his $15,000 weekly rental, other celebrities including Tom Hanks and Bill Murray have already reportedly rented condos in the Ocean 14 building.