Hey Patti
 We own a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN as an investment property. DW and I rent and do maintaince ourselves. We also use a cleaning company who cleans after guest leave.
  We used a management company for five years, but dicided we could manage on our own. Also we only live 5 hours away.
  This is a good time to buy in that area because of allot of foreclosers. You can get a good cabin in the $150,000 range.
  Before I retire in three years we will make the cabin our residence for tax purposes.

   www.foxesdenchalet.com

    Wayne

Wayne, I see you are not too far from us (Milford, Oh).  To bad your cabin isn't on Townsend side.  I have my 30 year reunion from Maryville College this Fall.  A group of us are going to rent a cabin.  We always thought we would buy a cabin in the mountains after we retired.  We love it there.  We have camped there many times. 

Bev

-- Edited by Readytogo on Saturday 10th of April 2010 07:58:30 AM

I have several real estate investor clients who live in other states and own investment property in Austin. It completely manageable if you use a good management company. Laws are different in every state, but here in Texas property management companies must be licensed. Beyond that I would thoroughly check them out. A few questions to ask about fees: 1. What is their monthly fee? 6-8% is typical here. 2. Are there any additional fees such as service call fees? 3. What is the renewal fee? 4. What is their fee for finding a tenant? Based on the market in most parts of the country it is a great time to buy property. And here in Austin properties are renting VERY quickly right now. Fewer people able to buy = more people needing to rent. An important consideration is how comfortable are you that you will NOT need the funds you used to purchase the property with in the next 5-10 years? While no one can predict the future, it's important to have some more liquid assets in case of emergency and real estate is not a very liquid asset. At least right now. One option that might work well right now is to put down a healthy downpayment 50-75% and finance the remaider keeping some cash for reserves. Investor mortgage rates right now are under 5% which is incredibly low... Of course paying cash is the best course of action if that works for you. One last thought is that since you are going to be on the road, don't limit your investment property search to your current location. I'd look for an area of the country where the forecast is good for property values over the next decade and buy in that area while prices are currently down. Feel free to PM if you want to discuss specifics. Best of luck, Carol

Carol thanks for the information.. We had discussed  most of what you mentioned so that makes me feel like we are heading in the right track... we have a healthy 401 plan that we do not plan to touch.. We plan to put about 80% down on the rental and bank any remaining money.
Thanks again patti

-- Edited by two travelers on Wednesday 21st of July 2010 07:55:41 PM

Hi Patti, Happy to have some helpful info to share... One other thing... In this area it's best to have your property rented by September or October at the latest. Things really slow down in the leasing arena over the holidays. Safe travels!