@Chris MurrayWhen deciding between vacation and long-term rentals, consider revenue, flexibility, management intensity, and local rules.

However, it might also be worth exploring ways to increase your income, whether through side hustles, certifications, or career changes, to give you more flexibility in your investments.Ultimately, it’s about aligning your investment with your goals.

These areas tend to offer slightly more flexibility, and depending on the size of the property you’re looking for, you might find larger units than in Portland.Also, as Scott mentioned, increasing rents in Portland can be a slow process, especially with the 10% cap or 7% + CPI limits, whichever is lower.

There are definitely pros and cons to each so I figured I would just lay out a few benefits and personal thoughts: Small banks/brokerages:Pros:- Some regional knowledge of the market- Possibility of more creative lending guidelines with bank specific programs- Sometimes they have competitive rates for their areaCons: - weak balance sheet (more strict on some guidelines, no wiggle room, inability to be flexible or grant exceptions because they cannot afford to hold less than perfect loans)- Can't scale with clients to different markets- Usually limits exposure to individual investors (they don't want one investor to be too big of a portion of their balance sheet)- Lack of experience with multiple solutions (tend to have 2 or 3 loan products they sell and are too niche to provide tailored solutions)Large banks/brokerages:Pros:- Large compliance departments that understand individual market guidelines (typically each state has specific lending guidelines that augment the national baseline)- Ability to scale into multiple markets with same lender (licensed in many states)- Impossible for individual investors to "outgrow" a large bank's balance sheet (not concerned with one investor's concentration)- More lending solutions available for different scenarios- Often comparable or better rates given the game is volume basedCons:- Can be more difficult to get fast responses if the bank/brokerage does not have good follow up systems in place (or if the underwriting/processing staff gets overwhelmed)- Bad large banks can feel less like a relationship and more like a cog in a factory (less personal)Overall, I have worked from both and worked with both as a loan officer, branch manager, and as an investor/client myself. 

Typically they involve higher leverage, faster closing time frames, and more flexible guidelines, but at the cost of higher rates and shorter term loans.  

@Andrey AndronovichThose expenses usually don't have that much flexibility. 

If you have no skin in the game, you'll usually start at 50% equity and work your way from there depending on what you can offer.But doing 10 deals a year with a partner is much better than doing 1 or 2 deals on your own. just be open and flexible to make a deal that's mutually beneficial

We specialize in providing quick and flexible financing for investors like you.

I think from an investor stand point if you can just rent as a normal LTR and be flexible with subletters in the summer months that is the easiest way to go. 

But as a previous post mentioned if you have some flexibility in your profession (time) and the personality to engage with tenants daily then it is truly possible to run things remotely when you go abroad.