Investment properties in Beach Towns

[Christopher Grgas]

Has anyone here invested in Beach towns in Ocean City, MD , Myrtle Beach, SC or Panama City Beach, Fl ? I'm interested In buying a property in a beach town and renting it out. Can you make a profit buying a property in the $250k range ? I have heard horror stories about people buying properties as an investment but then saying that after the rental management fee and HOA fees there isn't much profit , if any to be made. Can anyone share some advice or their own personal experiences ? Thank you in advance

[Darren Koenenn]

I live in Panama City Beach, and I'm currently building a STR beach house in Inlet Beach which is next to Panama City Beach. There is money to be made, but there are many factors that come into play. I'm not the most experienced person to speak to, but I've done a lot of research on the subject. In addition my wife is a PM for luxury STR's; so, she gets a lot of hands on experience. I haven't invested in a condo in PCB, but for 250k that is probably what you are going to get. However, if you are looking for long term rentals. I believe the world is your oyster in Panama City Beach and you would just apply text book principles. People move to Florida every day. There is no state income tax, and Florida is almost always warm. Working from home continues to get easier with new technology; so, people will continue to move to Florida to avoid cold weather and state income taxes. HOA's have many different flavors. They can work to your favor in some cases and not in others. For example, you may have a place that bans STR. That could increase the value of your home, but make it harder to rent at the same time. Just make sure you know the HOA expectations going into an investment.