Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
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4.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 7 7 for 2014, this will be her fourth year in a row. Over the past fve years, the owners of the aforementioned rental websites have seen increases in the amount of homes rented out. Zach Everson, a freelance writer, editor and consultant now based in Washington, D.C., and creator of kentuckyderbyhomerental. com, frst advertised and rented his own house on Lauderdale Road in the Highlands near Cherokee Park in 2010 and got $5,500. Te next year, he rented fve houses through his site, and 24 last year. Te renting price on these websites for Tursday to Sunday of Derby weekend ranges from $3,000 to $6,000. Everson charges $250 per listing (that's $11,000 just from the 44 that advertised last year), while the Watts-Roys charge $19 to $29 (depending on site placement), plus 20 percent commission, if the house rents, the frst year; 15 percent commission the second year and 10 percent each year after that. So far this year, Everson's site has 39 homes listed and the Watts-Roys' has 40. Airbnb.com lets homeowners around the world rent anytime, not just for Derby. As I search for an eight-person stay from May 1 through May 4, this year's Derby weekend, 15 listings pop up. For six people, the number goes to 30 listings; for four people, the number jumps to 46 listings, which includes the same houses that can rent up to eight people. On eventhomes.com, the 2014 Kentucky Derby is one of 13 world events with home-rental listings. Only one home is listed for Derby, but it's joined by homes advertising for the next Super Bowl, the Ryder Cup, the Indy 500 and the 2016 Olympics. Fifteen of the 29 listed on Everson's site mention that they are available for this summer's PGA championship tournament at Valhalla Golf Club east of Middletown. Te Watts-Roys have a separate PGA-themed website that lists all 40 of the same houses on their Derby site. If you're keeping track, there are 126 listings for this year's Derby, including a few houses advertised on multiple sites. Tese numbers don't account for the untraceable number of homes rented to friends of friends, advertised only by word of mouth. Cheri Sims' son has a friend from college with high-end clients who were interested in coming to last year's Derby. Te crew few in from Dallas on a private jet, carrying armloads of hatboxes and clothes. Tey hired a private driver and managed to get into a few good restaurants. "Tey also picked up some steaks at ValuMarket and cooked," Sims says. Last year was her frst time renting, but she says she would absolutely rent again, though she has since moved and is in the middle of remodeling, so this year is a no-go. Bill Chandler, a retiree from the investment business, and his wife Betsy have lived in their home of River Road for 10 years. Te previous 25 years they lived at the other end of Blankenbaker Lane, closer to Brownsboro Road. Tey frst viewed the riverside house on a gorgeously sunny day, and light shone through the home's back wall of windows. Te 72-year-old says he got halfway down the front hallway and the river view through the back windows sold him. Not long after the couple moved in, a colleague of Chandler's came in from New York and had a chance to see the home's setting and decor. By the time the next Derby was nearing, the guy called Chandler, said he had rented a box at Churchill for the next 10 Derbies and wondered if Chandler "knew of anyone who might want to rent their house." Te idea hadn't occurred to Chandler to rent for Derby, but because he knew and trusted the guy, he ofered up his own house. Tat was in 2005, and the couple has rented to the same man every year since, sometimes housing 10 people at once. "Tey'll cook here and grill out, sip cocktails and smoke cigars," Chandler says. "Tey have a grand old time." He says he and Betsy don't charge as much as they could probably get for their 4,000-square-foot home, and that Betsy gives the money to a charity called the Bluegrass Center for Autism, which she founded through their church, St. Andrews Episcopal. M ost of the houses that rent come from likely neighborhoods: the Highlands, Crescent Hill, Old Louisville, Anchorage, Prospect, St. Matthews, with maybe some downtown digs thrown in here and there — areas with charming Kentucky homes and residents with enough money to keep them looking like new. Most of the homeowners will tell you (and it's evident when I walk into these houses with only a day's notice) that the houses must be fawless, as though they're going on the market for sale. It's a niche business, and every house hunter is looking for the same set of deal-closers: a desirable foor plan, walkable 59-year-old says she needed new carpet at the time, and that the chunk of change paid for it. Preparing her house for guests is a small price to pay for untaxed income. According to the IRS website, money made from personal property is only taxed if it is considered a business, which means the property owner is "involved in the rental activity with continuity and regularity." It's ftting that the Derby happens once a year and attracts fat pockets and a high demand for accommodations. Who needs to win the trifecta when you can put down the cost of fresh towels and sheets and take in even more? (By the way, last year's $2 Derby trifecta payout was $6,900.) According to a red "rented" stamp on a listing from kentuckyderbyhomerental.com, as of late February one house had already rented from Tursday to Sunday of Derby 2014 . . . for $10,000. Nestled between Lexington Road and Grinstead Drive just north of Cherokee Park sits the modern-style house with a pool, deck — the works. Te highest price tag is $20,000 for a Prospect home listed on another site, louisvillederbyrentals. com. Hey, maybe the homeowners are trying to update their kitchen or travel through Europe, or maybe they're re-thinking a hefty mortgage. Jef Watts-Roy, who owns and runs louisvillederbyrentals.com with his wife Diane, says, "Unless someone from Dubai fies in last-minute, those will remain occupied only by the owners at Derby time." Why would visitors pay an average of $6,000 to rent a home for the weekend instead of staying in a hotel? First of all, people come in groups, and the odds are against you to score a set of rooms available for that price from Tursday through Sunday on Derby weekend. If you're considering staying in the cluster of chain hotels between Churchill Downs and the airport, you're still paying $700 to $1,000 a night for one bedroom at a La Quinta or Holiday Inn. As of mid-March, the Seelbach had two rooms available, ranging from $4,400 to $4,800 for the three-night stay of Derby weekend. Te Brown has Derby packages starting at $4,600 for the weekend for one bedroom, and doesn't usually fully book until April. Downtown's world-famous boutique hotel-slash-art museum, 21c, had one room remaining as of mid-March. Te two-bedroom, 2,500-square- foot rooftop apartment, which includes a sizable terrace, is priced at $11,000 a night, plus tax, with a three-night minimum stay. (Hmmm, that home in Prospect is starting to sound like a steal.) Tat does not represent the price and size of every room in 21c, but few hotel options remain this close to Derby for larger groups of on-a-whim out-of-towners. Te home-rental route is appealing to both owners and visitors. If Mahon's house rents "Sometimes the mufns are still here, but the bourbon's always gone." 64-81.indd 77 3/19/14 5:27 PM