Where to Find a Last Minute Snowbird Rental

Two Rental Web Sites Specifically Cater to Snowbirds

Seasoned snowbirds know the race to book a rental for the next season is very real. If you have never experienced losing out on a property because someone else beat you to it, just know it's bound to happen. What's even worse is when a new guest swoops in and takes your place for the next season right from under you! Ouch. It's happened to me and many of my snowbird friends. If your unit is taken--as much as a year in advance--before you've had a chance to renew, it is unsettling. Now you're proverbially "sitting on the curb" and someone else has your valued rental. Sometimes rentals change owners or management and that creates problems if it's taken out of service. It is not usually quick to find another suitable property and as it gets closer to departure time, decisive action is needed.

Snowbirds may delay booking a property for valid reasons such not knowing for sure if they will be able to return again due to financial and budget constraints, health issues, travel difficulties, pet/s, jobs/career changes, or perhaps the same unit is no longer available and much more. Therefore it's not at all unusual for snowbirds to start the process of looking for a place in the final quarter of the year. Advantages include uncommitted properties where deals can perhaps be made. Or there may be properties that were booked and then fall out and come back on the market again.

Where to look for these properties? Third party online web sites cater to snowbirds and have organized the information to make it easier than ever to find what you need. I have selected two third party search sites that provide great options by different categories, but destination is the first place to start and then hone in from there. An overview of what to expect from each site is provided below.

The first is Florida Snowbird, which is part of the American Snowbird Network of rental web sites. Their strength is a vast network of long term rentals in thirteen warm weather states and two countries that cater to snowbirds. Choices can be narrowed to specific neighborhoods within an area. The second is the snowbird long term rental section of VRBO. Their major power is providing a snapshot of rental options with all-in prices easily identified as part of the initial listing without having to dive any further. As always, do your research, carefully scrutinize every detail and make a choice that best fits your needs. 

Florida Snowbird / The American Snowbird Network of rental websites

The Florida Snowbird tagline is, "With thousands of units to choose from, let us help you find what you're looking for."

Under the tagline, there's choices as follows:

• Search by State or Country
  • City/Region
  • Neighborhood
• Search for Rental
• List Your Rental

A destination drop-down is presented in alphabetical order

Snowbird rentals are presented by thirteen warmer weather states and two countries:

• Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas
• Caribbean
• Mexico

Listings on the home page include

• Photo of the property
• Listing ID#
• City and State
• Brief Description

Additional listings to narrow the search criteria include

• New Snowbird Rentals
• Snowbird Vacation Rentals
• Featured Snowbird Rentals
• Latest Listings

More information such as

• How to Book Your Snowbird Rental
• Latest News
• FAQ's

Source: https://www.floridasnowbird.com/

VRBO - Long Term Rentals

The VRBO tagline is, "Snowbird Vacation Rentals. Book early. Stay awhile. Save more."

Under the tagline, there's choices to search by:

• Destination
• Dates
• Guests

An array of listing choices are presented in descending order

Snowbird rentals are presented by seven states:

• Florida
• Arizona
• Texas
• South Carolina
• California
• Alabama
• Hawaii

Below each section that is separated by state has "deals" for a specific date range, such as "Dec 5 to Jan 2"

• Photo of the property
• Location
• Description
• Rating
• Nightly rate
• # of nights
• Total cost (all fees included)
• Discount by percentage

Beneath the sections of general listings by the seven states are additional listings to narrow the search criteria

• Florida Snowbird Rentals with Private Pools
• Pet Friendly Snowbird Rentals in Florida
• Affordable Snowbird Rentals
• Find the Ultimate Snowbird Rental

Benefits of Snowbird Winter Rentals

• The Best Places to Snowbird
• What to Look for
• Explore Budget Rentals
• Why book your snowbird rental with VRBO?

Snowbirding FAQ's

Information such as what is a snowbird, when, how and why to be a snowbird, advantages of rentals vs. buying, budgets and long term discounts and much more information is included.

Source: https://www.vrbo.com/travel/snowbird-rentals

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