Location, Location, Location, HVAC?

[Lee G.]

I keep getting burned with the hefty price tag of new HVACs in the first couple of years after purchasing a property.    In my opinion, this is not discussed enough in the various real estate investing resources/outlets I have utilized over the years.  I would love to hear others thoughts on their investment strategies and considerations with HVAC.

I consider myself a buy and hold investor so in some ways I have looked at HVAC over the long term as something that would have to be purchased one way or another.  If you replace it early on then you can plan on having fewer costs for several years. 

Does anyone time their investing based on HVAC...example, buy a property with a new HVAC and then dump in a few years before it needs to be replaced?  That seems like there could be some merit to that strategy or am I completely off base.