Ocean Grove near Tent Village. Photo by Eileen Goldfinger . 2017 Re-post.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net. 2017
We recently had a flurry of interest regarding Airbnb rentals in the Grove. Some individuals seemed to think that this phenomenon was causing a deterioration in OG lifestyles in terms of crowding, parking, and boorish behavior. But such issues were not well documented. Short term rentals have always been present in the Grove.
Here is a link from 2019 on the subject:
We have heard about illegal rentals as well as outrageous rentals. Recently a woman from the south side wrote us a long letter that renters were ruining her block and home, including mice infestations.
It’s hard to generalize about OG since we are a town of small and diverse neighborhoods. My block, for example, has only one renter, but one block over, there are quite a few. But fast forward to 2023, and we are seeing more renters at the North End.
Among the special interest groups in town are the realtors who don’t share the nuts and bolts of what is happening to our real estate market now (2023) and what is happening with the rental market.
I do know that a young person who would like to live here. (2023) might be unable to rent an efficiency for even $1,500.00. How about renting a room? Is that legal?
But to update to 2023, many houses are sold to be used for rentals, and renters may be more likely to rent than to buy. Many of the buys are by New Yorkers who seem to have no trouble forking over $800,000 to $1 million for a 1500 ft2 home in the Grove. In some shore towns the prices are dropping, but not here. And the house inventory is still sparse.
I also heard from a woman who rents her house in summer and finds it to be essential to keep her head above water financially. She was concerned that her endeavor would get a bad name on Blogfinger, but really there have been few complaints.
If you do some searches on Blogfinger you will find historic references to the vast number of rooming houses that used to be here and were actually essential in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the Grove given the vast religious tourism industry.
Anyhow, this post allows me to bring back a favorite song by Teddy Thompson from the film Brokeback Mountain: