It’s a tradition almost as old as the Gator chomp — every football gameday weekend, real estate values in Gainesville spike.
A single parking spot could cost Gator fans more than $20, and hotel prices rise sky-high.
This fall, locals and students may have a way to cash in on this sporadic overcrowding.
Gainesville Football Rentals allows families and students who live close to UF to list and rent their houses on weekends when accommodations are in high demand, such as graduation, game days and Gator Growl.
“What this does is provide alternatives,” said Daniel Baralt, director of the Gainesville rentals. “People are going to have to pay good money, but in return they get a house within walking distance to campus in most cases.”
The parent company, Rent Like a Champion, started at the University of Notre Dame, where football season brings droves of out-of-town fans.
It was a huge success, so the program extended to Pennsylvania State University and now UF.
Out-of-town groups paid about $2,000 per weekend at Notre Dame, and Baralt imagined the price will be similar in Gainesville.
“It depends how far away the house is and which game day weekend they’d like to visit,” said Baralt, a 22-year-old sociology senior. “The idea is you want to work with the demand of the weekend — more people would want to see UF vs. Florida State University than UF vs. Western Kentucky.”
Those renting out their houses would pocket most of that money. For example, Baralt said, if a house rents for $2,500 one weekend, the full-time occupants could pocket between $1,800 and $2,100.
Also, if an occupant rents his or her house out 14 times or less during a year, he or she doesn’t have to disclose that information in taxes.
“It’s no different than you leaving town for a weekend and letting a friend stay at your place,” he said.
Coty Berdugo, a 21-year-old accounting master’s degree student, thought the money he’d get for his five-bedroom, two-bathroom house, which is less than a block away from campus, makes the service attractive.
Berdugo has sold parking in the past for between $10 and $20, but never gave much thought to renting out his entire house.
“It might be kind of odd to let people you don’t know sleep in your bed,” he said. “But for the money, we could work it out.”
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
