Rentals include Dr. Oz's beachfront house

When Dr. Oz isn’t in, his vintage Palm Beach vacation house is for rent. And its $95,000-a-month price tag once again ranks it near the top of the listings available for lease during the approaching snowbird season.

Dr. Mehmet Oz and his wife, Lisa, bought Louwana — their landmarked 1923 house on the ocean at 473 N. County Road — nearly two years ago. The star of The Dr. Oz Show and his family are longtime fans of Palm Beach.

>> PHOTOS: Dr. Oz's landmarked $18M Louwana estate in Palm Beach

The Ozes have leased the property for at least part of the season since they bought it for $18 million. The listing, by agent Shirley Wyner of The Fite Group, says a $90,000 deposit will secure rental of the 12-bedroom house, which is directly on the beachfront and has 12,483 square feet of living space, inside and out.

RELATED: Dr. Oz behind purchase of landmarked $18 million Louwana estate

Yet even with its jaw-dropping price, the house is only the second-most-expensive seasonal rental on the island. It’s just behind another beachfront manse across town on El Bravo Way. That one is being marketed at between $135,000 and $150,000 a month — but it has already been nabbed for more than three months of the coming season, according to rental activity recorded in the local MLS.

RELATED: More Palm Beach real estate news

The past few years, in fact, have seen heavy competition for seasonal leases on the island, and real estate observers say they expect a tight market again this season. Experienced renters have learned that late summer can be a good to time to shop for — and secure — house and condominium leases in Palm Beach.

Those perusing the listings as of Tuesday in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service found 77 single-family properties, including townhouses, and nearly 100 units in multi-family buildings for lease. Owners typically want to sign leases for several months running, as town law strictly limits to three the number of times a property in a residential neighborhood can be rented in any calendar year.

The competition is especially keen for the prime leasing months of December, January and February, when the restaurants are as packed as the social calendar. But seasonal leasing rates also typically include the months of November, March, April and even May.

Just take a look at the aforementioned El Bravo Way property. At 100 El Bravo Way in the Estate Section, the furnished 1922 Mediterranean-style oceanfront manse has been marketed at a for-rent price of $135,000 a month, with at least a six-month rental preferred, according to the listing prepared by agent Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group. The price for fewer than six months would be figured at $150,000 per month.

But don’t expect to write a check to rent the house for the most prime dates of the coming season — the last two weeks of December or the first three months of 2018. Someone has already beat you to those in-demand dates. The first two weeks of December, however, are still available for a pro-rated $75,000 for the five-bedroom house with 14,318 total square feet, according to Frisbie. Hedge-fund manager Kenneth Tropin sold the house last year for $20.38 million to a buyer whose identity remains cloaked behind a limited liability company.

Four other houses are priced with seasonal monthly leases of $50,000 or more, although some already have been booked for parts of the season. They include to 7,096-square-foot house built in 1952 at 326 Via Linda. Frisbie is again offering the six-bedroom lakefront home for $90,000 per month but it’s available “for short-term leases only.”

Agent Kim Raich of Sotheby’s International Realty is marketing a five-bedroom house at 234 El Brillo Way at $65,000 amonth, down from its original price of $75,000 in 2016. Built in 1947, the 6,575-square-foot property has a guesthouse.

On the other side of the island and available for seasonal rental, a 1965 Regency-style four-bedroom house with 13,887 square feet and staff quarters at 143 Casa Bendita is being marketed at $55,000 a month, plus minimum renter’s insurance of $3 million, according to the listing held by broker Christian J. Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate.

And agent Cristina Condon of Sotheby’s International Realty has a four-bedroom oceanfront house at 143 E. Inlet Drive on the far North End listed for lease at $50,000 per month, but only two weeks in March are still available. The 1960 house has 5,930 total square feet.

Rounding out the single-family rentals, 17 properties are for lease in the MLS priced between $30,000 and $50,000 per month. Another 44 will go for between $10,000 and $30,000 and 10 between $4,500 and $10,000.

Prices for condominium and co-operative listings for rentals are harder to categorize because of the wide range of advertised annual, seasonal and monthly rates. Leading the listings are five apartments — in in Midtown — priced between $18,000 and $20,000.

Immediately below them in MLS are 18 apartments advertised at between $10,000 and $18,000. Another 31 units carry prices ranging between $5,000 and $10,000, and 44 more are being marketed between $1,300 and $5,000.

One last note: Palm Beach County collects a “tourist development tax” on any short-term rentals of six months or less.

*

Darrell Hofheinz writes about real estate and edits Home & Loggia. He welcomes news items about Palm Beach real estate for this column. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.