Hilton Head Island for Renters

New flight paths

2008-04-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Aiport officials are looking into proposing a new approach path in Hilton Head airport. The new path will take incoming flights over uninhabited areas of Broad Creek. This will ease noise and safety concerns. They would eventually like departing flights to take the same path.

Hilton Head Georgia?

2008-03-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Anyone else noticed the "name creep" that is occuring with Hilton Head Island? It is such a desired brand that more and more businesses, communities, and amenities are using the name even though they aren't on the island. Savannah/Hilton Head Airport is in Georgia! It used to be Savannah and then they added the Hilton Head name recently. There is Sun City Hilton Head which is 15 miles away from the island. More and more people are adopting the name and trying to ride the coattails. What's next, renaming I-95 Hilton Head Highway?

Kitesurfing

2008-02-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a new sport popping up on the beaches of Hilton Head - Kitesurfing. Have you seen this, it is awesome to watch. Surfers stand on their small surfboard and a big kite catches the wind and powers them across the water. They can jump and do acrobatics. It is fun to watch in the late afternoon on North Forest Beach. They follow the wind down the beach, but I can't figure out how they get back...

HHHD

2008-01-21T17:59:00.000-08:00

Hilton Head might get a Home Depot on the island. As an owner of vacation rental property, this is great news. It is a hassle to drive all the way off the island to Lowes and the current Home Depot in Bluffton. If you are just vacationing, you probably don't care, but maybe your vacation rental will look a little nicer because the owners have access to supplies to keep it fresh.

Expensive Acre

2008-01-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hilton Head recently purchased an acre of land for $790,000! They wanted to preserve that land and the views that come with it. It shows you the rising value of Hilton Head property but also the commitment by the island government to preserve the beauty and not over build. This one acre of land could have been home to another 10 condos. They made a good choice.

Play before you get to Hilton Head

2007-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Next spring, there will be a new children's play place on the way to Hilton Head. So after hours of travel and hours of sitting in Hilton Head traffic, you can get the kids out of the car to burn some energy before you get onto the island. The play area will be on 278 in Bluffton next to Jalapenos restaurant - right before you get on the bridge.

Fire safety coming

2007-12-08T18:37:00.000-08:00

After the recent fires in rental properties in Charleston and Ocean Isle Beach, officials in Hilton Head are expected to make some changes to building codes. On Hilton Head, only large buildings -- those bigger than 10,000 square feet -- are required to have sprinkler systems, Fire Chief Tom Fieldstead said.

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce estimates the island has 6,000 vacation homes and villas -- buildings that are constructed like the one in Ocean Isle Beach that burned last weekend, Fieldstead said.

Snow at Hilton Head

2007-11-26T17:41:00.001-08:00

Yes, there was snow falling at Hilton Head Island this weekend... along with Santa and reindeer. It was part of the tree lighting ceremony to kick off the Christmas season. The mayor flipped the switch to turn on the tree and they created snow from chips of ice at the Sheltor Cove Neptune. If you are vacationing in Hilton Head during the holidays, add this to your list of traditions.

Tropical Storm Misses

2007-11-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

Tropical Storm Noel passed offshore Hilton Head Island with only some strong winds, high surf, and strong rip currents. They also expect that there will be some beach erosion. Hilton Head is fortunate to have avoided server hurricane damage over the years.

Coastal Discovery Museum

2007-10-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head Island has been under renovation for a while, but is opening up again this weekend. This is a great education and cultural stop for visitors to the island. Next time there is a rainy day, skip the stores and bring the kids to the museum instead.

Airport Parking

2007-10-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

The new parking garage at the Savannah/Hilton Head airport is finally open. You can park there for free for 30 minutes when picking up passengers and they have reminder slips so you won't forget where you parked! I love this airport. It is clean, quaint, and easy to get in and out of. I'm just not sure why they call it the Hilton Head airport when we have one on the island.

Fourth and a half Annual Cajun Festival

2007-10-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

The original Hilton Head Cajun Festival was canceled in June due to Tropical Storm Barry. So they finally were able to complete the festival last week and over 4000 people attended!

More about the festival

August spike

2007-10-16T05:01:00.001-07:00

After a slow start to the summer season, tourism picked up in August at Hilton Head. In August, 70% of the hotel and villas on the island were occupied. Last year it was only 64%.

I know the last week of July and early August were really crowded, so my advice is to book your rental early and visit in June if possible. It is a little cooler and there are shorter lines at the Sea Shack!

Motorin' in the Low Country

2007-10-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hilton Head has an annual motoring festival with vintage cars. This year it will be held Nov 1-4 and they have lots of activities planned and educational sessions to teach kids about the history of motorcars. More info at http://www.hhiconcours.com/

Smoke Free Island?

2006-11-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

Sounds like city council is in a battle over making Hilton Head smoke-free in bars and restaurants. It is such a family friendly place that it seems like restaurants catering to families would already gone smoke-free to attract more visitors. But how will the Hilton Head nightlife suffer if all the bars are required to make this move???

2006-10-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

Bluffton police aren't going to patrol 278 going into the island anymore. How many of us have had the unpleasant experience of meeting the Bluffton police? We used to cut through Bluffton to get to Hilton Head from Savannah, but the speed traps were too frustrating. I guess they will have to find another source of revenue now...

Free Parking at Hilton Head Island's Coligny Area

2006-06-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Tourists have been coming to the Coligny area of Hilton Head Island about since the first bridge to the mainland opened fifty years ago, but the area is in for some changes soon. And one of those changes involves getting rid of change, of the dime and quarter variety, that is.The Town Council voted Tuesday to make the about 400 parking spaces at the Coligny Beach Park lot free on a trial basis starting June 15th. That means the days of carloads of tourists scouring their minivans for quarters at the island's busiest beach spot or sneaking their cars into nearby Coligny Plaza could come to an end just in time for the prime summer season.Council members said eliminating the meters at the big public lot and at metered spaces along North Forest Beach Drive is a nice, welcoming gesture for island visitors. The meters brought in about $117,000 a year, which the council members called a relatively small amount. The town will re-evaluate the free parking plan at the end of the summer to see how it works.

Do I need a business license to rent my property?

2006-06-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Anyone who rents out only one property on Hilton Head Island would not have to get a business license under a revised plan town officials are considering.
Property management companies also would be allowed to apply for business licenses on behalf of individual owners.

The exemptions aim to iron out problems with the town's business-license system. The town recently discovered its method of administering business licenses was out of step with the rest of the state and it might have been missing out on key tax money, officials said. Ordinances in other areas of the state, including Myrtle Beach, require that anyone earning income from rentals have a license.

On Hilton Head, rental owners are exempt from a license if they rent out fewer than five properties. Earlier this year, property management companies complained that some rental owners might be bypassing state and local taxes because they rent their properties over the Internet and might not be aware of all the required taxes.

The town responded by saying that all rental owners must get a license. But doing so would have gone further than the town intended, requiring owners who use property management companies to be licensed. Property management companies opposed this, saying it would be too hard to manage and enforce.

Under the new proposal, those owners still would need to be licensed, but the town would allow management companies to apply for the licenses on behalf of the owners.
The new plan that exempts single-unit owners is a good compromise, said Ray Moloney, president and owner of Beach Properties of Hilton Head.

"If they exempt one property, that's a whole lot better than what they were talking about before," he said. "It would be less of an administrative headache."
Town officials said the proposed new license rules would be more fair to owners who only occasionally rent out their unit.

"There's a real difference in having a house and renting it," Mayor Tom Peeples said, "and being literally in the business of owning rental property."

Requiring owners who rent out more than one property to be licensed would give the town a database to check whether all owners are paying taxes, officials said. The change would apply to both short- and long-term rentals, but most of the taxes apply for short-term.

"There's just an equity issue. Every other industry has to have this," town manager Steve Riley said. "We've just been administering ours wrong for a couple of years."

Moloney said rental companies remain concerned that the town needs to step up enforcement to make sure everyone who rents a unit is paying the appropriate taxes.

Anyone who rents a property on the island for less than 90 days is required to pay a total of 10 percent in taxes: 5 percent sales tax, 2 percent state bed tax, 1 percent local bed tax and 2 percent beach-preservation fee.

Hilton Head by Owner

2006-05-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

A good way to save money when vacationing at Hilton Head is to rent directly from the owner. There are many more homes and condos than hotel rooms, so the accomodations at Hilton Head are excellent. To find owners, use sites such as HiltonHeadRenter.com.

When you rent from owners, rather than rental agencies, you can usually get better pricing and more flexible deals. They are willing to negotiate.

Traffic Lights

2006-03-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

I hear they are tweaking the timing of the traffic lights on 278 coming into the island. This will help the flow of traffic onto the island during rush hours!