Snowbirding and Sunbirding

[Pete]

Any of you guys own a vacation rental property? I kind of think I’d like to get a place that I could live from November through April where it’s good enough weather to golf and generally be outside during that time, but then rent out the rest of the year.

I am lazy so I would probably want to use a management company to handle all the renting and stuff that comes with that. my goal would be to put down about a 20% on a house with a mortgage, and breakeven after the rental income and expenses. I’d also settle for losing about $5000 a year if the place was rough ridin' awesome.

Is this an amazingly stupid idea? Is this a good idea? I’m out of my element.

[TheHamburglar]

It’s not a bad idea. The question is how big of a place do you need & are you thinking of it being a condo? I’ve heard of people that have condos that love it & others that have horror stories with additional maintenance costs that have made them money pits.

[Justwin]

Any of you guys own a vacation rental property? I kind of think I’d like to get a place that I could live from November through April where it’s good enough weather to golf and generally be outside during that time, but then rent out the rest of the year.

I am lazy so I would probably want to use a management company to handle all the renting and stuff that comes with that. my goal would be to put down about a 20% on a house with a mortgage, and breakeven after the rental income and expenses. I’d also settle for losing about $5000 a year if the place was rough ridin' awesome.

Is this an amazingly stupid idea? Is this a good idea? I’m out of my element.

We have some friends that have done this in Destin, FL. They started out with a condo for them their family to go to over Thanksgiving and then would rent it out throughout the rest of the year. They had a management company and also listed it on VRBO. There was a direct website to book through as well and if you booked through that website, it was cheaper than VRBO.

They had it for a couple of years and then decided to add a second one so that they could more easily accommodate their family (one condo was getting a bit tight). Overall, I think it has worked out for them and they certainly don't seem to have regretted it.

[ben ji]

The GF's parents rented a house on Marco Island for the month of February and I'm heading down the next week.

I'm bringing a collapsible fishing pole in my luggage and will you know what kind of fish you can catch off the back canal.

[wetwillie]

I think renting a spot for a month or two seems way more optimal than buying.  If you just park the 250k into a risk free asset like a high yield savings account or CD or something you can net like 10k a year. That should pay for a few months I would think.

[CNS]

I definitely think the rental might be a better way to go, especially if you don't know of a specific place you definitely want to go to.  If you rent, you could move around winter to winter and see what's the best.  Then you can always buy once you have that all figured out.

My dad is doing this.  He has gone to Honduras, Sedona, Biloxi, and a couple spots in FL.  He almost bought a spot on an island in Honduras(crazy how cheap it was going to be....something like $250k for a 4 bedroom 3000SF with it's own beach), but now that he has moved around I think he prefers that.  This sounds awesome to me unless part of the goal is to get socialized with other folks that live there.


Side note:  The thing that keeps me from wanting to buy and rent out my place is that I would basically have to keep the rental vanilla so that others aren't rough ridin' up my stuff the other 9 months a year.  I feel like if I buy a place, I want it to be mine.  For example, I like to cook.  No way am I leaving good pans, good knives, etc there for others to steal or damage.  Same with a really good bed and couch or anything else that you appreciate and brings you comfort.  If you are going to live in something that feels like a rental, let all the bullshit that comes with ownership be someone else's issue, imo. 

[nicname]

You can get a pretty nice single family house in Vegas for under $400k. One of the easiest places in the country to rent out as well.

[steve dave]

I’ve thought a lot about buying vacation homes places but ended up deciding we like flexibility so have never done it. If I was going to it’d be in Hanalei, HI.


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[Pete]

I will rent before I buy. We’ll try out some places first. Then I’d love to find a spot where I want to go back every year. I just love the idea of being able cover a large chunk of the cost by renting it out.

Places that seem like good candidates for me are spots that have really high occupancy in the summer, but low in the winter….yet the winter is still nice enough for golf, biking, etc. outside. Since I only want to use it in the winter, my hope is that I can cover almost all of my mortgage payments with rental income and still get to use it 4 - 6 months a year. Gulf coast areas of Alabama and Florida panhandle seem promising.

[ben ji]

You can get a pretty nice single family house in Vegas for under $400k. One of the easiest places in the country to rent out as well.

Do you or anyone you know live in Vegas full time? I can't imagine many people would want to rent out a single family house in the burbs of Vegas for any long amount of time when there are so many hotels. No idea though.

I used to love Vegas, haven't been in 5 years but couldn't imagine "sun birding" there.

If you want to sun bird in the desert just go to Arizona is what I am thinking.

[ChiComCat]

I looked at one by where I lived in the Colorado mountains.  I love the summers there and the rental market is hotter for skiers in the winter.  My wife and I both work remote and have friends in both areas so we could easily bounce up there for a few weeks in the summer.  We ultimately decided against it because of the fear of community cracking down on rentals (which is a big concern in a lot of vacation markets).

Rentals can be managed via apps with a couple of good locals to clean and do maintenance.  Once you find a good local team, take really good care of them.  You want to be their priority when something goes to crap.  Be prepared to let small crap go and have a supply of backups.  People go crazy trying to charge for every slightly stained sheet or scratched piece of furniture.  I've worked in property management and have helped friends with some rentals so would be happy to point you in the direction of a few useful tools if you want.

[Pete]

I looked at one by where I lived in the Colorado mountains.  I love the summers there and the rental market is hotter for skiers in the winter.  My wife and I both work remote and have friends in both areas so we could easily bounce up there for a few weeks in the summer.  We ultimately decided against it because of the fear of community cracking down on rentals (which is a big concern in a lot of vacation markets).

Rentals can be managed via apps with a couple of good locals to clean and do maintenance.  Once you find a good local team, take really good care of them.  You want to be their priority when something goes to crap.  Be prepared to let small crap go and have a supply of backups.  People go crazy trying to charge for every slightly stained sheet or scratched piece of furniture.  I've worked in property management and have helped friends with some rentals so would be happy to point you in the direction of a few useful tools if you want.

Good advice. Owning and renting in a big “don’t tread on me” market seems to be a good idea…LOL at the idea of a Gulf of America state or community ever siding against property owners want to make cash renting (all bets are off in college towns tho).

[cfbandyman]

I looked at one by where I lived in the Colorado mountains.  I love the summers there and the rental market is hotter for skiers in the winter.  My wife and I both work remote and have friends in both areas so we could easily bounce up there for a few weeks in the summer.  We ultimately decided against it because of the fear of community cracking down on rentals (which is a big concern in a lot of vacation markets).

Rentals can be managed via apps with a couple of good locals to clean and do maintenance.  Once you find a good local team, take really good care of them.  You want to be their priority when something goes to crap.  Be prepared to let small crap go and have a supply of backups.  People go crazy trying to charge for every slightly stained sheet or scratched piece of furniture.  I've worked in property management and have helped friends with some rentals so would be happy to point you in the direction of a few useful tools if you want.

Good advice. Owning and renting in a big “don’t tread on me” market seems to be a good idea…LOL at the idea of a Gulf of America state or community ever siding against property owners want to make cash renting (all bets are off in college towns tho).

All going to be under water down the road anyways, don't want ocean bottom property

[Pete]

I looked at one by where I lived in the Colorado mountains.  I love the summers there and the rental market is hotter for skiers in the winter.  My wife and I both work remote and have friends in both areas so we could easily bounce up there for a few weeks in the summer.  We ultimately decided against it because of the fear of community cracking down on rentals (which is a big concern in a lot of vacation markets).

Rentals can be managed via apps with a couple of good locals to clean and do maintenance.  Once you find a good local team, take really good care of them.  You want to be their priority when something goes to crap.  Be prepared to let small crap go and have a supply of backups.  People go crazy trying to charge for every slightly stained sheet or scratched piece of furniture.  I've worked in property management and have helped friends with some rentals so would be happy to point you in the direction of a few useful tools if you want.

Good advice. Owning and renting in a big “don’t tread on me” market seems to be a good idea…LOL at the idea of a Gulf of America state or community ever siding against property owners want to make cash renting (all bets are off in college towns tho).

All going to be under water down the road anyways, don't want ocean bottom property

I do worry about that, and about the impact of hurricanes.

Odds are that I’ll just wait and buy cheaper duplex in a 55+ community in New Mexico or Arizona that I will not rent out.

[Pete]

Those 55+ communities are interesting. They have to by law maintain at least 80% occupancy by people over the stated age or they lose their ability to discriminate based on age. I was hoping I could just roll in there and ask them to make an exception for me because I don’t turn the music up loud. Turns out that you can apply for early acceptance if you were under 55, but it’s unlikely that they grant it because they like to save those exceptions for younger spouses of occupants who are over 55.

[Stupid Fitz]

I'm with you Pete. I don't know how i am going to do it, but I don't plan to see more than like 10 days a year below 60 degrees in retirement. I rough ridin' hate the cold and I am hating it more and more as I get older. I don't know that I want the PITA of owning another home though, so I'll prob just find a long term rental every year. Plus, I think it would be fun to go to different places as opposed to the same spot every winter. I've also considered YOLO'ing the eff out of things and just completely cashing out at 50 and finding a non US island/coast to spend the rest of my days.

[Skipper44]

The GF's parents rented a house on Marco Island for the month of February and I'm heading down the next week.

I'm bringing a collapsible fishing pole in my luggage and will you know what kind of fish you can catch off the back canal.

where on the island is the house? My parents Condo is on the south end and there definitely will be sheepshead and small snappers under the docks and have seen snook, sharks and tarpon swimming in the canals over the years but usually in the warmer months.

I suggests bringing a good real in addition to the collapsing rod as rentals house sometimes have shitty rods that you can will land plenty of fish when paired with a decent reel and good line. 

[Pete]

I'm with you Pete. I don't know how i am going to do it, but I don't plan to see more than like 10 days a year below 60 degrees in retirement. I rough ridin' hate the cold and I am hating it more and more as I get older. I don't know that I want the PITA of owning another home though, so I'll prob just find a long term rental every year. Plus, I think it would be fun to go to different places as opposed to the same spot every winter. I've also considered YOLO'ing the eff out of things and just completely cashing out at 50 and finding a non US island/coast to spend the rest of my days.

If I were single, I’d do the YOLO to Costa Rica or an island

[Pete]

The GF's parents rented a house on Marco Island for the month of February and I'm heading down the next week.

I'm bringing a collapsible fishing pole in my luggage and will you know what kind of fish you can catch off the back canal.

where on the island is the house? My parents Condo is on the south end and there definitely will be sheepshead and small snappers under the docks and have seen snook, sharks and tarpon swimming in the canals over the years but usually in the warmer months.

I suggests bringing a good real in addition to the collapsing rod as rentals house sometimes have shitty rods that you can will land plenty of fish when paired with a decent reel and good line.

That sounds like fun

[ben ji]

The GF's parents rented a house on Marco Island for the month of February and I'm heading down the next week.

I'm bringing a collapsible fishing pole in my luggage and will you know what kind of fish you can catch off the back canal.

where on the island is the house? My parents Condo is on the south end and there definitely will be sheepshead and small snappers under the docks and have seen snook, sharks and tarpon swimming in the canals over the years but usually in the warmer months.

I suggests bringing a good real in addition to the collapsing rod as rentals house sometimes have shitty rods that you can will land plenty of fish when paired with a decent reel and good line.

It's on the eastern side of the island around 2'oclock. From some pictures I was sent over the weekend it looks like they already have some decent rods/reels at the rental house so I don't need to bring my rod.

Any recommendations on bait? I was going to bring a couple soft plastics combo's and spinner type lures plus whatever they already have there. I don't need anything crazy, just planning to wet some lines out in the backyard when there is downtime and see what I can catch.

[Skipper44]

The GF's parents rented a house on Marco Island for the month of February and I'm heading down the next week.

I'm bringing a collapsible fishing pole in my luggage and will you know what kind of fish you can catch off the back canal.

where on the island is the house? My parents Condo is on the south end and there definitely will be sheepshead and small snappers under the docks and have seen snook, sharks and tarpon swimming in the canals over the years but usually in the warmer months.

I suggests bringing a good real in addition to the collapsing rod as rentals house sometimes have shitty rods that you can will land plenty of fish when paired with a decent reel and good line.

It's on the eastern side of the island around 2'oclock. From some pictures I was sent over the weekend it looks like they already have some decent rods/reels at the rental house so I don't need to bring my rod.

Any recommendations on bait? I was going to bring a couple soft plastics combo's and spinner type lures plus whatever they already have there. I don't need anything crazy, just planning to wet some lines out in the backyard when there is downtime and see what I can catch.

i like to cast with 1/4 & 3/8 oz jigs with Gulp plastics and a chunk of live shrimp around docks but small hooks and bobbers like you are fishing for bluegill works best.  I believe Marco Island Bait Co. is the only place to buy live shrimp now and has a limited selection of tackle.
At a minimum I would bring some clear leader material (mono or fluorocarbon) with you or buy it at the bait shop or Sunshine Ace Hardware that is a few blocks up the street from the bait shop.  The barnacles on pilings are razor sharp.

[nicname]

You can get a pretty nice single family house in Vegas for under $400k. One of the easiest places in the country to rent out as well.

Do you or anyone you know live in Vegas full time? I can't imagine many people would want to rent out a single family house in the burbs of Vegas for any long amount of time when there are so many hotels. No idea though.

I used to love Vegas, haven't been in 5 years but couldn't imagine "sun birding" there.

If you want to sun bird in the desert just go to Arizona is what I am thinking.

The only people I know personally are retirees. I know a few people online who have kids and they enjoy it. You’re right that it is very similar to living in PHX, though I believe it is a bit cheaper.