House has solar panels so PGE in non-winter runs at $30 max.My idea originally when I was single was to keep living in this property until it appreciated enough (eg 5 to 10 yrs) to sell it.However, I realized that the air ducts and soundproofing of the top part of house vs bottom part of house makes it such that it's not a great rental as the way I described.

https://www.gabar.org/committeesprogramssections/programs/leg/upload/Winter-10-ACL-Proposal-Real-Property-Section-Utility-Liens.pdf

There are a lot of older people that come in Spring, Fall & early Winter that are not interested in Silver Dollar City.

The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Winter 2023 Emerging Housing Markets Index put the market as the #1 emerging market in America, classifying it as a hot market. https://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2023/outlook/lafayette.htmlI've worked with a lot of investors who have found success investing in smaller markets throughout the state.

If so, expect to pay an additional 200 a month or more for water, 300 for electric, and a LOT for gas over our long cold Michigan winters.

This is all assuming the property isn’t winterized.

Heating costs go up in winter, as does electricity due to the reduced natural light and more people indoors.

I added a hot tub in a property last spring and my winter this year revenue is up also 70% the first 3 months of this year vs last before the hot tub was in.

And REIs during winter. 

Also keep in mind your septic may pass inspection in the summer when you buy your property, then actually fail in the winter rains.