Does anyone own short term vacation rentals on the east coast?

[Michael Wayne Fraze III]

New guy here. While on my third vacation to Hilton Head island SC, something dawned on me...I had paid $1500 for 7 days on the beach with my wife and kids. Being  a versed stock market enthusiast, I began to do a little math one morning for ***** and giggles while I smoked my cigarette and drank the 1st cup of coffee for the day.... I was taken aback by the sheer Income potential that was compounding in someone else’s account while I was sitting on their balcony...the calendar was booked the week before me, and the week after we were set to leave...assuming everyone paid the same rate I did...I was blown away by the $6000/month earning potential...Does anyone here have experience  with this sort of real estate investing? 

[Villy Ellinger]

@Michael Wayne Fraze III If you have selected the area you like for vacation rentals 100%, I can respect that. If not... I would strongly suggest you come down to the Panhandle of Florida and check out Okaloosa Island/Ft Walton Beach/Destin/Miramar Beach. This is a very popular area with year round tourist demand and amazing beaches. Yes, I'm biased, lol. I own three vacation rentals here, I live here and I sell and manage vacation rentals here. That said... look into several areas. Also, I will respectfully disagree with a comment made above about HOA fees. Here's the deal -- yes, condos on the beach can have high HOA fees. But those are not necessarily something to be repelled by. In many cases HOA fees of $400 to $600 per month may actually be a cost saving version of other expenses. With vacation rentals (especially in upscale, high-revenue areas on the beach) amenities such as pools, lazy rivers, landscaped grounds, exercise areas, etc are key in attracting year-round visitors. HOA fees cover for those. Condos with lots of common amenities are a lot more popular with visitors than those that don't have them. On the flip side, if you own a stand alone single family home near the beach and you use it as a vacation rental, you will still need to provide amenities in order to compete. So let's say you have a pool, a hot tub, a landscaper that takes care of the grounds, etc. That can be several thousand dollars in annual maintenance. Not to mention that if the roof needs to be replaced on a SFR you will be the one responsible for $10K-$20K. In a condo development the HOA will take care of roof, walls, grounds, cable, water, wi-fi usually. In short, don't just look at a $500 per month HOA and freak out. Figure out what is covers and what it might cost you out of pocket if you had to cover those same items for a single family home. Also, don't discard the added benefit of free marketing for "well known" condo complexes. Some are so in demand with guests that they look them up by name on VRBO etc.