Location Advice for Vacation Rental

[Josh Michael]

Hi all, first time posting on the forums. My wife and I own a LTR townhouse where we live in Raleigh, NC. We are interested in expanding with a vacation rental in Fort Lauderdale, as we really like the area. We would stay for extended periods of time (1-2 months Jan/Feb) and then STR when we aren't there.

Ive read around on these forums and understand our initial idea of a condo isn't a good idea due to most HOAs restricting STR. So looking at single family now but I'm not familiar enough with the area to know which neighborhoods we should be focused on. Budget would be $500-$700k so the recommended "east of 1 / Las Olas" area isn't really affordable.

Thank you in advance for your advice and insight!