Looking to buy my first Vacation Rental property.

[Ellis Brown]

Hello BP family. I am currently overseas working with the US Military. I am very much interested in buying my 1st Rental property in the Orlando/Disney World area. I contacted a Veterans Affairs loan officer to get the ball rolling and everything turned out to be good for a loan approval. The VA rep asked if I would be the Primary permanent resident and I said no, I'd be using it as an income property. He then told me he couldn't approve my loan because I would need to be in the States and I would need to occupy the home. I'm new to all of this and didn't really know how to argue the point....but I find this a bit confusing. Any advice will be Greatly Appreciated!

[Michael Baum]

Listen @Brenda Whittaker, I am not trying to attack you. What I am saying is that vacation rentals do not impact the overall availability of long term rentals in MOST areas. There have been some studies done in high vacation traveled areas such as Sonoma and Napa. There, STR's do impact the availability for rentals, but the average monthly rate is quite high there so I doubt we are talking about the same folks.

As far as trying to help, you offered no help in your first comment. All you did was come in, say how terrible we all are and that we should be ashamed of ourselves and that the government should get involved and make all short term rentals illegal. Pretty much the same comments you just said. Personally attacking us for investing the way we do.

I am sure you have lots of working homeless folks at your home all the time living rent free. That is great that you do that.

Your ideas are in the socialist arena. When something is going on in the free market that you don't like, you want the government to restrict it or eliminate it all together. That is how socialists and communists do things. Put the government in charge and get rid of free market ideas and work. You might not feel political, but your comments are.

Everyone has the right to live anywhere they want, but they don't have the right to set the price they want to pay. A thing is worth what people are willing to pay for it. If a real estate market is hot, then the price goes up. It will knock some folks out of that market and they will have to seek accommodations elsewhere. What you want is the government to set the prices and that is wrong. Period.

The average home price in Seattle is currently around $750k. It is finally leveling out and dropping slightly. I can't afford to live there. I live 70 miles away. The median home price here in Olympia is $322k. Electricians and other skilled people make $40-$60 per hour here. They can easily afford a home in many areas, if not in the trendy areas of Seattle. You are off base as far as I can tell.

I don't own a Mercedes or a Jacuzzi. I have a decent home in a nice neighborhood. I am not rich by any standard. I see the issues and the people living on the street, but when the city goes and cleans up a drug infested, child sex traffic, danger to society camp with 100 people living there, the social workers are there offering all the things people need to get off the street. Do you know how many took the offer? 9. That's right, 9 out of 100. That happened earlier this year in Seattle. They set fire to a bunch of trash damaging a major freeway overpass. It has to be done. You can offer all the services in the world, but if they can't won't take them, you can't force them. I suppose that you would force people to take the services. Forget personal freedom of choice.

The bottom line is that the  more desirable the place is to live, the more expensive it will be. If you are a lower income person, you will have to find places to live that are less expensive. That is the way it works. If you need a shirt, you buy a 5 dollar shirt. You don't whine about the inequities of life and expect someone to hand you a 100 dollar shirt. You want a better life, make better decisions. Knuckle down and make positive changes. It can be done, people do it all the time.