vacation rentals

[Jeff R.]

Hello BP Family,

What are your thoughts and/or experiences with rental vacation property?

[January Johnson]

I posted this on another thread, but it's applicable here, so I'm reposting.

------

I have been renting out my vacation home in Panama City, FL (not on the beach but 3 blocks from a cool marina in town) for about 15 months and have figured everything out as I went. I made $15K my first year in gross income, renting it out only 11 months of the year, using it myself for 20 nights, and letting friends and family stay for just the cleaning fee about another 25 nights. My expenses, including ALL utilities, taxes, insurance, etc. are about $1,000 a month, so I'm more than covering my note even renting it (effectively) about 9 months a year. I only list it on Airbnb (where I get about 85% of my business) and VRBO/HomeAway and have been happy with both.

I'm so thrilled with my success, that in about 3 months, I'm moving to the town where my rental is (from Houston to FL), buying a primary residence there (already under contract), and buying more rental property to build my portfolio since I can afford to do it in FL but not in TX. I have found it relatively easy to manage, and I do about 80% of the management work myself, remotely. (I do have friends and family in the area who can check on things for me if I need it and a GREAT housekeeper, which is KEY.)

HomeAway has a great conference each year in several cities, and I highly recommend attending to network with other owners and get the scoop on tools to make it easy for you.

Happy to talk more about it if you'd like.