If you think about it, your cap ex over the life of the property will be equal to your depreciation due to smoothing/normalization.

There are always exceptions but in my opinion Summer rentals can be equally profitable and people tend to take better care of the properties.

The obvious other remark is to make certain the tenant(s) is taking home a salary equal to 3 times monthly-rent from their jobs monthly.Please let us know how you proceed as this is a great thread and topic to discuss.Talk soon,John Fedro

Currently my mortgage + escrow + HOA + repairs is about equal to my rent.

After getting married in 6 months, I'll be adding my wife to the titleOr will a judge see two people on the title and simply say property belongs to both equally in spite of me being the sole contributor to the down-paymentThanks

I understand that all else equal, a bigger house will have a lower $/sq ft than a smaller one, but if you are looking a good comps - +/- 200 sq ft, same beds/baths/garage, age+/- 5 years, and condition and neighborhood don't you have to plug in sq ft somewhere in the appraisal formula - especially for mass-produced suburban SFHs?

So $1 in equity equals 70 cents in debt.

Because its smaller, the subject is likely worth less than that comp, if everything else is equal.

In spite of considerable due diligence, I have a not insignificant natural gas problem that will equal $$$ to fix.

From the photo, I'd probably spend the 9-10K on vinyl and another 1-2K on low-maintenance landscaping.As a tenant...It's all about curb appeal (all other things being equal of course).