Even if the place is new, you must factor in repairs in case a renter destroys the place or something else happens that maybe insurance can't cover.

All these factors can eat into your cash flow and ROI.You as the investor also have to think about what your want in terms of monthly cash flow and how quickly you want to make your initial investment back.

It's all designed to protect the general consumer population.

There was always some other factor in play.No, I don't do that now.

@Florence Oxenham, In light of a recent California Supreme Court ruling admitting an ILLEGAL immigrant to the California bar to practice law, I suspect the same will have to be true for all other state licensed professionals and immigration status should no longer be a factor... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/03/us/immigrant-in-us-illegally-may-practice-law-california-court-rules.html?

So the property owner must make sure they are aware of & are complying with all regulations related to their vacation rental property.It sounds like your neighbor did not conduct adequate research before offering their property for rent on the short-term market or else there were other factors involved which allowed the City to shut down the practice in your neighborhood.

A few other factors are that this is currently a pretty sub-suburban, small town but a TV news report on the local Houston news last night just said it is expected to add about 130,000 people in the next few years!

Escrow funds go into an escrow account held by the designated closing attorney.

A big factor is the area that you will be investing in, but if I were you I would start with multi-family's and migrate to SFR's down the road.

Now, if you plan to resell this house wholesale, you need to factor in your profit as well as the profit of your buyer.