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Big Game Means Big Rental Market For Homeowners

Newschannel 8 photo by PETER MASA

Villa de Lago is ready for a party with five bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half bathrooms.

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By JOSH THOMAS

News Channel 8

Published: January 19, 2009

Now that the teams in Super Bowl XLIII are set, interest seems to have ratcheted up from people looking for a home to rent for the game in the Tampa Bay area.

Wendy Mantell, a real estate broker, said his phone "lit up'' Sunday after it became clear the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers would be battling it out in Tampa on Feb. 1.

"We have had nonstop calls ... and traffic on the Web site has just exponentially jumped,'' Mantell said.

Tickets for the game have long since been sold, and many of those attending already have reserved hotels or rented homes. Plenty of people, though, are still searching, and fence-sitters in Pittsburgh and Arizona suddenly have a reason to make the trip to Tampa.

"We've got ones that are just accommodations for people who just want to come down here,'' Mantell said. "They may not even be going to the game ... but they want tickets to the parties and they want to go to the NFL Experience."

While some people might just be looking for a place to crash at night, others want spacious, high-end houses where they can entertain guests.

Houses like one offered by homeowner Alan Felker.

"We have had a lot of interest in this spectacular house,'' says Felker, who has put his Odessa mansion up for rent. The house has five bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half bathrooms. The home on Keystone Lake also has a two bedroom, two-bath guest house, outdoor pool, Jacuzzi boat house and a dock.

He's not worried whoever rents his home will trash it with a wild party. "I am sure whatever guests come and wants this caliber of home to entertain their guests surely would know how to properly take care of the property."

Mantell also is not too worried about wild renters, noting, "They do want their significant cash security deposit back.''

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