I've rented to about 2500 refinery contractors.People base their housing budget depending on their per diem. 

What in your opinion would be the best areas to look for with a minimal budget?

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.

My recommendation to help you figure out what your first step is: figure out your budget (which is usually your down-payment budget x 5).

Your line of questioning has changed from what possibly could the condition of a townhouse that has been vacant for 8 years (dunno, you have to budget as if you have to rebuild from studs since you cant see inside and determine if that level of effort/cost is still worth your time) to what should be a good purchase price.

But if you're spending too much buying unnecessary junk, it doesn't matter what you do or where: odds are you'll keep doing the same thing and end up with a mess.Let's get back to basics:1) Are you doing a written monthly budget and living on less income than you earn?

Hey Account Closed, when you are budgeting for that townhome, are you setting aside $$ for mortgage, tax, insurance, HOA, vacancy, repairs/capex, management?

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.

In looking for a vacation rental property there are several things that one should consider, some of this is very unique to a vacation property ....First is obviously the price and this of course isn’t unique to this type of property but you should have an idea of what your budget is and what you can afford to pay for out of pocket costs....For this particular home, it had to be a fixer upper, because I wanted a deal and I was working with a limited amount of money....Proximity into town was also on my list, this was very important as I wanted ppl to be able to go into town and enjoy a beer or good food or whatever, my place happens to be within 10-15 minutes of several small and very quaint towns.