I haven't lived in Bozeman for a few years, but most of the big fish I met there and in Boulder, CO, were buy and hold, fully speculative investors who couldn't care less about having to come up with a few hundred bucks a month to cover their investments... because if the market is providing appreciation at anywhere between 10 and 20% (I don't know what it is these days in BZN, but that's what it always was in Boulder and that's what it was in Bozeman and Big Sky when I left), you can do the math and see why they're dumping their millions into it. 

@Quincy LockettCan I ask the math on that?

It's my money so I do a ton of homework before I buy a house.

When you do the math with an average annual income it comes out to be about the same, but you tend to not notice the 4 cents extra on your latte as much.

I was just reading a news story about a large real estate firm that bought a building for $154,000,000 and that the building has a NOI of $10,100,000. So cap rate of 6.6%.I know that this firm most always buys with fi...

So... lets just assume that you did all the math and made sure it cashed flowed with whatever monthly payment you end up with and your total principal is well under the current as-is fair market value of the home.

So you can do the quick math and say, "How many rentals would it take to make how many dollars I feel like I need to be comfortable, as you mention.  

So my advice would be do your homework, crunch the numbers but don't write off vacation rental investments :)

I get a lot of “deals” in my inbox but doing the math the margins always come up razor thin. 

And even if you move out for a year or two you can still take that primary residence exemption as long as the math works out that you have lived in it for 2 out of the 5 years prior to sale.