Well I've known people who have lost money on housing and some who have made good money. I sold my place last April and broke about even, maybe a little ahead after owning for about 6+ years. That includes furnishings, vehicle and miscellaneous. The last 3 years or so I used the place 4 - 6 months a year and rented the other months. The rentals helped with expenses a lot but I don't see how you could cover all expenses only renting on less than high demand months. The last few years I purposely came down after the first of the year because Christmas and Christmas week was really lucrative but still those rentals wouldn't cover all year expenses but they helped.

The value is having a nice place and if you can help cover expenses then ok but I think you are looking at pie in the sky to think you would make money unless you rented all winter. I know a few people who did this and they grossed 35-65K USDA a year on short term rentals but that is gross and they worked hard using VRBO. It was really just about a full time job for them. I know these numbers to be correct because I was part of the organization. The rest of the owners did much less than this.

shyboy, invested in some commercial properties if I remember correctly and I believe that is what he is talking about. I think he probably is doing OK. I owned some seasonal rentals in Florida and after a few years I converted them to annual rental and I'm finally cash flow positive after converting. Seasonal rentals are tough even though the rates are much more than annual because you have to pay for management, utilities, taxes and such year round and summer rentals in warm climates don't usually do well. The seasonal renters are tougher on the property and very tough on utilities. Seasonal rentals here are about the same in my opinion.

I think it is very good advice to research your real estate broker as well as the project. (I bought pre-construction in a very successful project and had an excellent broker) When all is said and done I about broke even minus air fares and regular living expenses for almost 7 years of a great place to live. I'm satisfied and would call that a success but I never envisioned making a lot of money on my place in Belize. Of course don't forget I owned it through this last great economic downturn and many in the USA lost tons of money in real estate. One of the places I bought in Florida the owner was in big trouble because he owned several and he actually had to come up with more money than I did to settle up with the bank at the closing. I felt bad for him but that's business. Another property there I bought from a foreclosure from Fannie Mae and the person who had owned that one paid 3 times what I paid for the property when he bought it. Both of these properties are worth about 35% more than I paid and are both cash flow positive today.

Hope this helps.

Jim
Formerly from somewhere on a beach in Belize