Newbie from Delaware County Pa want shore house in Ocean Pines Md

[Benjamin Bardo]

Hey folks, 

     My name is Ben and I currently reside in Delaware County Pa, right outside Philadelphia. I currently own a home and I’m striving to achieve my goal of purchasing a shore house in a couple years. I’m looking for opinions on my current strategy and any advice you all could offer. Currently my goal is to save up a large lump sum of about 100k to put down on a home in Ocean pines MD (180k or less). If I can get the shore house mortgage payment to about 500-700/month I would feel comfortable. I then would like to rent out the property during the peak season (May-Sep) in order to pay off the rest of the property. I guess my questions are; 1) Is this a good strategy or a rookie one? 2) Should I just pull the trigger on a property when I have 10-20% to put down and hope summer rentals cover the higher mortgage payments? I have a family to provide for so the second option makes me very nervous. Thanks everyone and looking forward to learning from you!

[Charles McCabe]

@Benjamin Bardo Of course, @Rich O'Neill makes perfectly valid points, but don't forget that there are costs beyond the mortgage.  I don't know anything about Ocean Pines, either, but taxes are killer in many shore areas.  And for seasonal rentals, you're paying utilities and cleaning costs.  Don't forget about home owner's and flood insurance.  And maintenance.  And if your primary residence is in PA, I'm guessing you're going to have to pay for property management, as well, which is higher for seasonal rentals than for long-term.

I've done a fair amount of research and calculation on Jersey shore rentals and I've only found a couple where the numbers seem positive.

DIG has a subgroup dedicated to vacation rentals:  http://www.memberize.com/clubportal/EventDisplayNe....  NB: There is no 21Mar meeting; that meeting will actually consist of a field trip to Brigantine NJ on 24Mar.