Lake home or condo vs. coastal / canal in Galveston

[Kim Gillihan]

I had tons of great advice last night with my first post.. newbie, thinking of getting into STR with our first vacation home purchase... husband likes lake idea better, I like both coastal and lake ... looking for opinions on best option. I do see lake homes and condos rent well.. down here around Houston we would be buying lake conroe area. Positives of lake, fresh water, no hurricanes! Love the beach and the coast in general though.. its a tough one. I feel like it would be easier to rent a nice canal home vs. lake condo or home... any advice appreciated. KIM

[Kim Gillihan]

Originally posted by @Justin Anderson:

I'd look at insurance rates and regulatory challenges you may run into.  Those are big impact items that people can often forget.

After that, I'd look at occupancy rates and how they'd differ between the two.  Happy butts in beds is what gets you paid and if you're looking to cash flow, that's critical.  Galveston will probably get you more per night for the same house, but I imagine most stays are weekend stays.  The lake house may get more family vacations and mid-week stays.  (Just guessing by how my family travels)

There are some Galveston folks on here that may chime in with actual hard info.

 Thanks for responding... I looked at vrbo calendars for both and I need to make a spread sheet to be more accurate.. and I can only see july august and on... but it seems like coast rents better, more consistent.... the lake houses are also very expensive but I am sure insurance would be less.  As far as weekend vs. week.. not sure I know people do both at the beach as well.  So much to consider.  I will keep researching.. thanks so much!