Are you considering long term, weekly, or short term (nightly) rentals? For 15 years I rented a lakeside cabin that I owned on the north part of the lake. Here are some of the things that ultimately led me to sell it: At first it was great fun and I developed many friendships with repeat renters. I used VRBO to find guests and for the first several years I never had a vacancy and my plan was working. The overwhelming number of guests I had during this decade and a half were respectful of the property, and in many cases left the place better than the housekeeper left it when they checked in. But every once in a while, someone would disrespect the property and cause damage that I had to repair. Occasionally unauthorized over-occupancy was also a problem at a place with a marginal-at-best septic system. As time went on VRBO began to conceal the name and emails of the guests and forced me to correspond through them. Eventually they demanded to collect the money from renters and paid me on their timetable. Towards the end, short term guests would expect one or two night stays (airBNB model) which made it very difficult for me as I used the weekend for yard maintenance, repairs, and clean up. Finally, it became evident that the town and the association really didn't want short-term rentals (for a night or two) and as you are aware from other threads on the forum, ordinances began to be discussed to restrict use of properties in that manner. I decided to sell and take the proceeds and put them into my primary residence. The cabin was always intended to be a retirement home on the lake, and I finally made a different choice for that since it ultimately did not work out. Just some points to consider and good luck whichever way you want to go!
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