It’s Time to Accept That Florida Is the Best Place for Your Vacation Home

A new study on second homes also says avoid Colorado

March 12, 2018 9:00 am

Guess it’s time to stop making all the jokes about Florida.

Rented.com, which helps homeowners earn rental income from their properties, just released its third annual report on the 150 Best Places to Buy a Vacation Rental Property.

The report focuses on profitability and return on investment (ROI), and is determined by comparing costs of home ownership to short-term rental potential. Some influencing factors include purchase price, insurance, taxes, maintenance costs, popularity of the destination and local rental rates.

Panama City Beach in Florida topped the list (it was also number one in 2016), followed by Chicago, Napa, Tulsa and Memphis.

Some trends:

  • More cities and areas not usually considered “vacation destinations” made the top of the list (see: Chicago, Memphis, Tulsa)
  • Fifteen of the top 25 most-profitable short-term rentals were in the Southeastern U.S. (Florida, Tennessee and Texas are your places to start)
  • The worst places to buy a vacation rental property? Areas with housing shortages, tough rental regulations and high costs of living. So, surprisingly, don’t invest in second homes in Aspen, Palo Alto, Martha’s Vineyard, Naples or Park City … if generating profit is your biggest concern.

Photo by Brent Moore

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