Covid-19 Uncertainties Keep Some From Booking Vacation Rentals In Mass.
BOSTON (CBS) - It's been a season of fits and starts for Westport rental agent John Gifford. A clipboard with a jigsaw puzzle of about a dozen Westport summer rentals shows they are now nearly full, but he's been booking and re-booking amid the pandemic.
"I've got people coming forward with deposits, some held off waiting to see where we're headed," said Gifford of Even Keel Realty.
Short-term rentals between one and four weeks will be allowed under phase two of Governor Baker's re-opening plan. But he is waiting until June 6 to set a date and that has also created hesitancy.
"I am planning July or August, what's going to be open, what are the rules, regulations and restrictions going to be," said Jim Reese of weneedavacation.com of the questions many potential renters have been asking.
Pat Long and her extended family from upstate New York have been vacationing in Westport for at least 50 years. They booked back in December and are now in a holding pattern. "We will not give up until we hear it's impossible. We're still hoping and praying we'll be able to continue the tradition we've had in the family for so many years," said Long.
Short-term rentals have been up in the air, but there's now hope. It seems to be a question of not if, but when. Lt. Governor Karyn Polito says when the green light is given.