The trick is to buy rentals that make money even after these infrequent, unpredictable but very real expenses.

Steve would have had the ability to settle down his roots here instead of being priced out of the NYC location.I know Investors tend to think of only in terms of Today and find it very unpredictable to think of tomorrow, but please remember that even Squirrels think about tomorrow as they put away their Nuts for the Winter.

This is not a problem with your typical rental property, the rent is pretty much always going to be paid each month with few exceptions.2) Due to these unpredictable fluctuations in demand, it's harder to accurately estimate what kind of cash flow you can expect on a vacation rental.  

I have bought in the east, which is a little more unpredictable, because it is closer to where I live- I have properties in Cleveland Heights and Garfield Heights.

Being in the right place at the right time (see "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell) and unpredictable happenings (see "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb) will have far more effect on any particular person than college.

Unless I could get a townhome/condo dirt cheap I probably wouldn't touch it because of the fees and unpredictability (some will have restrictions on leasing your unit).

Five years ago it seemed more obvious to me where to invest in paper assets but these days the market seems like a roller coaster and unpredictable.

I pity the buyer who believes that only to get caught off guard when a big, unpredictable-but-inevitable expense crops up.

Don't think so, but I don't think we're far from it.I see unrelated, unpredictable events, such as unrest in the middle east and a huge earthquake in Japan, as having as much or more effect than lending guidelines.

Its amazing that water something we love and use daily can be so unpredictable.