jedivader

I am looking into buying a condo in South Padre Island striclty for investment/rental. I have been to SPI once, about five years ago in the off-season. From what I've been checking online, there is still a lot of affordable property. I'm just wondering if it is a good place to invest in and if rentals come easy.

Anyone live in the area or have property there?

I live in Maryland, so I would be a long distance owner. I've looked in Ocean City but the prices are way over-priced and there is not much to choose from.

A_Traveller

Generally speaking, any investment "return" will come in the form of capital gains when you sell the property, assuming you and the condo association maintain the property properly. If you are looking to make money from rentals that's another story. Most times rental income won't cover your out of pocket expenses for HOA fees, maintenance, upkeep, mortgage payments, furniture replacement, management fees, etc.

LarryRGV

I live in the area and do have a condo at South Padre Island. It's kind of hard to answer your question though. Your best bet is to contact some of the real estate agents there and also search out some of the rental agencies to see what they get for the type condo you are interested in. You really will need a manager and they will take about 40% off the top. I don't think that you could just rent it yourself so you do need that management company. Prices on older units may be reasonable but you get what you pay for. Many of them are very high priced. My condo building actually tries to prevent short term rentals. I would advise you to not rely on your trip here from 5 years ago. Make time to spend a weekend or a week, or whatever, and look at as many as possible and then decide. By the way, rentals during the winter are pretty slow. Most of our winter tourists stay in the other parts of the Rio Grande Valley and don't want to pay SPI prices.

jedivader

Thanks for the info!

Larry,

How long have you had your place?

And if you don't mind me asking...

What is the name of the place where you have your condo?

I have looked at Bahia Mar online.

I have also looked at undeveloped lot/land prices in north padre.

jedivader

Example:

http://www.padrerealestatecenter.com...8/Default.aspx

LarryRGV

My condo, Isola Bella, is not a rental type place. Out of the 64 units only a few people rent theirs, and the association is trying to prevent that. It would be impossible to buy a unit there with the idea of making money off of it. The condos are relatively new. About 2 or 3 years old.

Coincidentally, Bahia Mar was where I owned a unit about 35 years ago. At that time I could not afford to not rent it out, so our enjoyment of the place was very limited. I could not tell you the current condition of the condo development. We sold our place there after about 4 years of ownership.