Major city / downtown "OR" Vacation / beach property - Buy & Hold

[Jonathan Lai]

Just curious, if you were looking to purchase a long distance, Buy and Hold, rental property:

Would you rather invest in a property closer to a major city or closer to a tourist/vacation/beach area?

Pros vs cons of each or is there a clear winner?

[Joe P.]

Major city downtown.

The beach calls, and it would be great to have a free and clear, totally paid off home at a beach in 30 years...but who knows if those beaches will even exist as they do today.

I'm not a global warming extremist, but there are towns in NJ investing millions of dollars every year to build artificial beaches washed away from rising seas and erosion. When some jerk says that climate change doesn't exist, and they're from NJ, I remind them their federal tax dollars are being spent every year just to keep up with the problem.

Anyway, besides the environmental concerns, @Jaysen Medhurst is correct, typically you deal with more tourism at the beach, which means shorter term rentals, being more hands-on, etc. I think those rentals are great for two people:

1. An investor buying an established property with long-term rentals and cash flow.

2. An experienced investor willing to put in the time to get to where #1 is.