Market for Vacation Home/Short Term Rental

[Gbenga Okusanya]

My first bigger pockets post! We are considering purchasing a vacation home in the next year that will also serve as a short-term rental when we aren't using it. We live on the east coast and would love something accessible by a short-flight and would be reasonably easy to manage from a distance. We are looking for a beach community. I am hoping to get a recommendation on a market or a turn-key short-term rental property business that I could look into. Thanks.

[Sean Bramble]

The answer to this question changes constantly as real estate values evolve. If you’re investing primarily for return (instead of personal preferences beyond money making) you should choose the market with low priced homes relative to current and long-term revenue/ appreciation potential. Most people on here will recommend a market that worked great for them when they invested 1-2 years ago, but if you bought there now your return would be substantially lower due to massive appreciation that already happened in 20-21 … use mashvisor, Pricelabs, Airdna, Zillow, Rabbu, Google, etc to decide for yourself where is best. Don’t be afraid to get under the hood and get your hands dirty with analysis. It’s time consuming, but not rocket science - all basics arithmetic we learned in grade school. Good luck!