Vacation Rental to Personal Residence

[Ryan Dossey]

Within the next year or so I would like to purchase a vacation rental in Cape Coral, Fl. My grandparents live down there and my goal (in 4-5 years) is to head that way. My thought is getting a vacation rental and letting someone else pay the mortgage in the mean time. I'm talking about the screened in lanai with a pool. Canal with a boat and gulf access. I would assume as a rental that I would keep the boat off limits. I love the area but prices are only going up. Has anyone had any luck with such a strategy? Where do I start when looking into vacation rental sustainability?