Vacation rentals are pretty hot, and a lot of investors are looking for opportunities in markets like Florida. The tourist season along Florida’s Gulf Coast basically lasts for all 12 months of the year. You’ll have northerners visiting in the winter, families with children taking advantage of summer vacations, and good crowds in the spring and autumn.
If you’re thinking about investing in a vacation rental, Bradenton Beach is particularly promising.
Where is Bradenton Beach?
It’s on Anna Maria Island, about 45 minutes from Sarasota and maybe an hour from St. Petersburg and Tampa. This location is one of the most desirable in central Florida, and we’ll talk more about that a little later.
You’ll find Bradenton Beach on the southern end of Anna Maria Island. It’s close to picturesque seaside towns like Longboat Key. There are miles of coastline and lots of swimming and fishing to be done at Coquina Beach and Cortez Beach. Downtown Bradenton Beach has most of its activity on Bridge Street, where there are restaurants, shops, and live music.
You won’t have to worry about vacancy, declining property values, or stalled rents. A vacation rental in Bradenton Beach will always make you money and it will also offer you an opportunity to stay here when you want if you’re not local to the area.
Here’s why it’s the perfect place for your short term vacation investment property.
Bradenton Beach’s Perfect Location
Bradenton Beach is an ideal place to own a vacation rental home because it’s an area that tourists love to visit.
More than half a million people visit the area annually.
It’s close to Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Fort Myers, and Naples. Visitors can travel east and see Orlando.
The location will draw guests to your vacation rental. As long as your property is priced according to the market and its demands, well-maintained and clean, and attractive to visitors, you shouldn’t have a problem keeping it booked.
Bradenton Beach’s prime location offers:
- Year-round sunshine and warm weather.
- Instant access to the beach
- Fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, swimming, and other water activities
- Fine dining and entertainment
- Easy access to Interstate 75, taking visitors north and south and even across the state to Miami
Another location-rich benefit is that Bradenton Beach is busy and active, but it’s not overcrowded and congested like other Florida beach towns. You won’t find towering condo buildings or large resort hotels. Everything is fairly local. It’s called “old Florida” by locals, meaning it still maintains a lot of the charm and serenity that people have enjoyed in this area for a century. There’s plenty of wildlife and lots of green spaces. The local population barely reaches 2,000 year-round residents.
Neighborhoods throughout Bradenton Beach are quiet, understated, historic, and irresistible. Visitors come here for romance, for family vacation, and for getaways with their best and closest friends.
There’s history as much as there’s salt and sea air. For example, the Bradenton Beach City Pier is a wooden fishing pier of 300 feet. It was once the original Skyway Bridge which connected St. Petersburg to Bradenton Beach. Points of interest like this can be found all over Anna Maria Island.
Bradenton Beach Rentals are in Demand
There are a handful of hotels in Bradenton Beach. If visitors really want the hotel experience, they’ll have some options.
But, there aren’t as many hotels here as there are in other high-traffic resort areas throughout Florida. The visitors who come to Bradenton Beach prefer a more private and personal experience. They want to feel like they’re in a home away from home, and that’s why renting out a property is a lucrative business opportunity.
Visitors prefer staying in private homes or condos so they can cook, relax with friends and family, and enjoy the space and privacy that such a rental provides. It makes the vacation more personal. Commercial hotel chains don’t really exist in Bradenton Beach. Your vacation investment will be popular with the travelers who come to this area.
Bradenton Beach Remains a Desirable Vacation Location
There’s no need to worry about a slow time or a high vacancy season. While some weeks will find you busier than others, the Bradenton Beach area has year-round appeal.
Beaches are the main draw, but there are plenty of other activities here, and that makes an investment property in Bradenton Beach an excellent idea. You’ll have people staying in your home so they can take advantage of the myriad of activities available here.
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Beaches
The Gulf of Mexico waters are warm and gentle. There’s a surf, but it’s a surf that you’d feel safe letting children play in. No wild waves are expected along our shoreline. All of the beaches here are also equipped with facilities needed for a relaxing vacation day. Your guests will find bathrooms, showers, picnic tables, shelters, grills, and even concessions. In the summers, the lifeguard stands are manned, and the parking is always free.
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Fine Dining and Shopping
We love sharing restaurant recommendations in Bradenton Beach, and you’ll have seafood lovers and foodies looking for a list of the best bites when they come to check into your vacation property.
Downtown Bradenton Beach is Bridge Street, which starts at the pier. Recently, the area has been revitalized and is an energetic neighborhood for retail boutiques, art galleries, and lively nightlife spots. There’s a trolley available for those who prefer not to drive or walk.
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The Marina
Bradenton Beach Marina is a full-service marina that’s a fantastic launching point for lovers of water sports. Guided boat tours are also available as well as boat rentals. Visitors come for the dolphin tours, the sunset cruises, and the dinner and show sailing options.
Consider Your Investment Property for Retirement
A lot of investors buy vacation rental properties in areas that they don’t currently live in – but might one day.
Florida is a popular place to retire, and Bradenton Beach would not be a bad place to settle when you’re ready to start that stage of your life.
Once a family has grown up and moved on and achievements have been made professionally, a lot of investors think about where they want to be and what they want to be doing when they’re ready to retire (or at least consider themselves semi-retired).
When you have an investment property in Bradenton Beach, you can easily convert it to a home you live in yourself. Or, maybe you’ll want to keep this property as a vacation home for yourself, your family members, and your friends. You can rent it out when it’s not being used.
Buying here gives you a lot of options.
A lot of the full-time residents in Bradenton Beach and elsewhere on Anna Maria Island are retired or close to retired. It’s a local, laid-back energy where there’s lots of balance between relaxation and activity.
Buying and Renting Out a Property with Bradenton Beach Property Managers
Whether you’re local to the area, an occasional visitor, or an investor who does not even live in Florida, you can find a lot of success when you invest in a short-term vacation rental property in Bradenton Beach. There’s a lot to gain, even if you’ve never invested in vacation rentals before.
To ensure you’re successful and making the right decisions in terms of which property you choose, work with a local property manager and real estate agent. At Anchor Down Real Estate & Rentals, we deliver both the sales expertise and the property management expertise under one roof.
By working with a team like ours when you’re ready to buy, you can leverage our experience and our expertise in the local market. We will help you:
- Determine what will make a good vacation rental based on your own investment goals.
- Help you understand how much rent you can expect to earn per-night, per-week, and per-month.
- Talk about upgrades and updates that may be necessary to make your property ready for the rental market.
- Recommend furnishings and other amenities that will attract vacation guests to your home.
We take care of every aspect, from navigating the sales market and negotiating a purchase to getting your property onto the rental market. We can manage your listing on platforms like Airbnb. We can take care of the marketing, the bookings, the communication between tenants, and the entire customer experience.
Vacation rentals thrive off good reviews. We’ll deliver the type of vacation experience that inspires your guests to leave raving reviews, motivating newcomers to pick your property when they decide to visit Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria Island.
Investing in vacation rental homes is an ideal way to diversify your portfolio. It protects you against risk and it allows you to grow in both scope and profits. We can help you have a successful investment experience, whether you’re new to this or looking for a way to grow an already profitable portfolio.
When you’re ready to talk more about investing in Bradenton Beach, contact us at Anchor Down Real Estate & Rentals.