cnelson@thealpenanews.com
News Photo by Crystal Nelson
Margie Haaxma, owner and broker at Banner Realty, recently talks on the phone in her office on Ripley Boulevard.
ALPENA — New Alpena County resident Lyn Loheed hopes her new community doesn’t allow too many people like her in town.
An experienced landlord who spent decades renovating old homes in Iowa, Loheed recently purchased a long-vacant Long Lake home with plans to renovate the home and use her spare bedrooms and several cabins on the property as Airbnb rental housing.
Such properties — the vacation homes, lake cottages, hunting cabins, and Airbnb properties the U.S. Census Bureau calls “part-time, seasonal, and recreational” homes — can be big business for landlords and pump major tourism dollars into a community. Governments also tax such properties at a significantly higher rate than year-round residences, helping fund local schools and infrastructure.