@Joshua Flowers

Or is it just like your regular garden variety rental? 

We are big fans of the team at Freedom Title in Flower Mound.

I tried talking to a few owners about a variety of owner financing options but they were all totally against it.

So here are pros and cons of managing yourself.Pros:  you keep all profits (except 3% to credit card company), get to know guests, create a rapport with regular guests, make it personalized and memorable for your guests (my housekeeping staff was great and would leave flowers for anniversaries and balloons for bdays)Cons: Phone calls late at night sometimes, dealing with guests who are nasty and ignore your rules (ie no pets/no smoking, but it's nice having damage waiver in place), trial and error finding right housekeeping/maintenance/HVAC/plumbing people.Going with a property management company pros and cons:Pros:  they deal with all the issues and reservations callsCons: they may not be as attentive to your property as you would be and don't follow through with rules of no pets/no smoking.

With the BOJ taking interest rates negative and for a variety of other reasons the Japanese people, at some point, have to become leery of JGB's.  

In fact, I'm usually able to get 10% more rent for a unit in the spring - the weather is nice, the flowers are out, and the overall value of the unit seems higher - so they are willing to pay more.  

If things were so perfect where they were, they should have stayed.Move down here, buy your flowered shirts, and enjoy your drinks on the beach...can't beat it.

I think variety and individuality are also good tools.

When you defer taxes (e.g. traditional IRA or a 401k), you end up paying the taxes at your effective tax rate (i.e. in retirement at a variety of tax brackets).