I have taken the family from Chicago to the "30A" area the last couple of years for vacation and we have thought about picking up an investment property in the area.
We have experience as landlords but not in being owners of a vacation property.
Just wondering if anyone on here has had experience with gulf real estate? If so, how was/is your experience? Were you able to cash flow your property renting it out? Good/bad experiences? Etc...
tia
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The best route to go is thru a real estate company. They rent it for you, see that it's maintained, & you don't have the worry of having to oversee it. If you want to use it, you have to schedule 2 weeks to a month ahead of when you want it.
Kenny
I looked for a while on my own and finally contacted a refferred realitor. He was a very honest man and owned several rental units. He informed me that in recent times you are lucky to recoupe 50% thru rental. Also, be very careful as ***** and freddy do not have to pay HOA fees so if there are a lot of bank repos the other owners have to pay more HOA fees. Be very careful about flood insurance as congress passed reform a few yrs back removing the cap so some flood ins has increased from 1000 per yr to 10000. Congress has a bill to "help". But has not been passed by both bodies yet and then has to be signed by the President. Good Luck. Pm if you want to know more
Flood insurance can be a real problem for some beach properties. Properties lying within a Coastal Barrier Resources Area (COBRA) are ineligible for federal flood insurance. There are properties in both Alabama and Florida that are located within COBRA zones. Flood insurance for these properties can be had through private insurers, but at very high cost. One area of the Fort Morgan Peninsula is in COBRA and some property owners have had to go to an insurance company in NORWAY to get flood insurance! No other companies would offer it.
It used to be that investing in Gulf beach property - especially condos - was a sure thing. Lot's of people around here did well with it.
I don't think that is the case anymore - at least not currently.
I have seriously considered getting a condo for auxiliary income down on the GC, and if an exceptional deal comes along, I may take the bait. However there are all sorts of extra things the condo association can decide to do that can cause your profits to vanish like a fart in the wind.
For now, I'm just happy with my little place 12 miles inland from the beach, without all the worries of what the condo association is going to think of next to sock it to you (if you are the owner).
Much obliged for the info.
Based on what I have read and heard if I could cash flow at 50% I would be EXTREMELY happy. However, I think planning on 30-40% is a better scenario.
I know that over the long run the property should appreciate in value. However, part of me just thinks why not just continue to buy undervalued stocks(which I actually understand) and hold them for the long term? You get an equivalent return without the headache of renter screwing up your garbage disposal.
On the flip side, one of the reasons I do like the idea of buying a gulf property is because it IS NOT a stock.
Oh well, excuse the out loud thinking please. 
