I used to live in North Augusta, SC and there were many who did rent their home during the Master's Tournament. We considered it several times but never did because we had small children and no other place to go. I have stayed in some very nice rental homes over the years and always try to leave them like I found them.

Definitely not party vacation spots, but in certain areas a rental home even for a few weeks can pay for itself very quickly. Another example is Augusta, GA for the Masters Golf Tournament. People rent out their homes for a week or so and pay for a few months of their mortgage.

My community has a massive 4 day event every year. Our population goes from 3,000 people to over 10,000! A lot of locals leave town for that week and rent their homes out to visitors. The risk of damages or theft is fairly low though, as it is a sporting event. I suppose it all depends on the vacation environment. I would never want to rent out property in a party vacation spot!

I agree. I have had friends who tried to do short term rentals and it ended up a disaster. The people trashed the place, and he still has not been reimbursed for the damages.

My biggest concern here would be the renters. I can control everything else about owning a rental home, but I have no control over the actions of the people who rent the home. In my opinion, short term rentals for seasonal purposes are very risky as compared to long term rentals for families and with a lease.

Its hard to generally agree with those statements, but if you don't have the experience or time, I would agree with you. Some situations work for people especially if they have the repairs and maintenance experience.

To me the cons far outweigh the pros. There are so many things to take into consideration. My biggest fear is the upkeep of the property. What repairs would constantly be needed, cleaning after renters, a property manager to handle the weekly influx of renters...it just seems like the costs would far outweigh the benefits of having a "free" vacation home.

I have thought of doing that several times in my adult life. In many areas I have vacationed, real estate is cheaper than rental fees. In the tourist town I grew up in, you can buy a nice house for $150,000, but rent it out for $2-$3 thousand a week in the height of summer, depending on proximity to the water. I know many people who pay their mortgages for the year in just 8-10 weeks.

FrankN wrote: I would say it is potentially a great investment opportunity, but you certainty need to know what you are doing. Vacation homes can cause a lot of headache as well, and not all vacation homes are profitable. It all really depends your financial situation and if you can afford the loss if it does not work out.

Agreed. You definitely can't just assume that because your property is on the beach, you'll be able to rent it. It has to be in the right place. This would be a great way of financing a second home for personal use later, though. My husband and I have been talking about buying a vacation home on the east coast of Florida, but we don't have the time right now to get much use out of it. Buying something now and renting it out for a few years may be the smart thing to do.

I would say it is potentially a great investment opportunity, but you certainty need to know what you are doing. Vacation homes can cause a lot of headache as well, and not all vacation homes are profitable. It all really depends your financial situation and if you can afford the loss if it does not work out.

I wish I could afford to buy a beach house. I would certainly rent it out. There are so many companies that do this for you. My aunt owns a rental home on the beach. She has to rent it twice a month to pay the mortgage.

I have always said that property is almost always a great investment, and I still feel that way. The best route of course is a situation where you have a small, or even no mortgage on a rental place, as 'having' to find regular bookings to cover costs is going to be stressful. Still, these days there are companies like airbnb that make it much easier to find people to book it.

Wondered about this ... ?!

I thought about it at one point because I lived at the beach. Renting by the week was unbelievable there. The problem with that is you really need to be close by or hire a management company. Vacation renters are the worst when it comes to taking care of the property.

I have a friend that does this with her home and she is very pleased that she did this. Where I live the tourist season is also really short, but she makes out pretty good around the holidays and in the winter time living near a large ski resort. This works out well for her because she ends up going south for the winter months.