Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Kimpton and Jonathan Howard.
Melanie and Jonathan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Being from Montreal, I noticed an opportunity in South Florida Real Estate when the Canadian dollar was even and the market dropped around 2009. I purchased my first home in Wilton Manors, a lovely corner property with a private pool I called Secret Garden, as it had lush landscaping throughout and a very calm, zen feel. I met Jonathan Howard shortly after purchasing my 2nd property in 2010. Jonathan moved away from his home state of Florida to Montreal but we continued to purchase in the down market.
By 2013 we owned 5 beautiful properties, all invoking their own mood & ambiance, which kept our clientele coming back, while growing our database, all before Air BnB was in the South Florida market. I stepped away from a Sales Director position in Montreal in which I oversaw sales of 2,500 condos to move back to Fort Lauderdale and become a licensed Realtor along with Jonathan. We married at one of our properties, The Resort, with 50 of our closest friends & family and were able to celebrate for one full week with everyone staying in our properties. As our model was so profitable, we worked with many local and international clients to purchase a home in South Florida and turn them into vacation rentals while the market continued to appreciate. As our competition grew and others lowered their prices, we were able to remain relatively firm due to the love we put into our business, the home away from home we created and the unique qualities of each property. By late 2015, we saw an opportunity to begin selling after years of appreciation. We sold SKY, Atlantis, Palm on 5th Avenue & The Resort by early 2017. We still own Secret Garden and are waiting to see where the market goes in order to strategize our next move.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We performed renovations in each of our 5 homes and as many know, it is very difficult to find a good General Contractor in South Florida. We had issues with delays, going over budget, arguments with contractors & slow approvals by the cities, but in the end, we were extremely proud of the end result we created. SKY was Miami Modern, The Resort was country chic, Atlantis was Mediterranean, Palm on 5th Ave was posh & Secret Garden was zen. Although we always screened our guests, trying to stay away from party groups who would potentially damage our assets, we had a few incidents over the years. I believe in was the communication leading up to their vacation that kept the majority of the bachelor parties & spring breakers away as we have heard countless horror stories by other owners of vacation rentals in our market.
Please tell us about We Rent Paradise.
I have always believed that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in our life. Jonathan & I have a true passion for Real Estate, design and travel so we were able to place ourselves in the shoes of our guests and know exactly what they would want and what would separate us from our competition: thoughtful recommendations for restaurants, shopping, day trips & local activities, fully equipped kitchens, private pools and more. Receiving heart felt reviews from vacationers that knew the passion we put into our business was always a tremendous feeling.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My stepfather was a pilot, so I would often sit in the cockpit overlooking the world it seemed. This lead me to a lifetime of travel and a consistent desire for more.
Pricing:
- $300 per night from May – November
- $400 – $500 per night from December – April
- $6,000 – $8,000 per month depending on time of year.
Contact Info:
- Address: 450 E Las Olas Blvd #140
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 - Website: KimptonHowardTeam.com
- Phone: 772.321.3287
- Email: Jonathan@KimptonHowardTeam.com
- Instagram: Jonathan_Howard_FL
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimptonHowardTeam/?ref=bookmarks
- Other: http://kimptonhowardteam.elliman.com
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