My wife and I love to get away to Rockport, on the Texas coast, usually about 2-4 times a year. Typically, we rent a home for a few days to a week, and enjoy kayaking, fishing, and living the slower coastal life. Having success with our two rental homes in Austin, we've been considering purchasing a coastal home that could be rented out to vacationers, and that we could use when we're down there (it's all about saving money, right?).
Rockport is a great little town that has tourist attraction year-round. There's decent, and varied, inventory in the area - some on-water, some off. Rental prices are fairly affordable, and most rentals we've seen appear to be booked consistently. With the houses we would probably consider, nightly rates are around $175-250/night. $250k can buy a decent off-water home within walking distance of attractions, restaurants and shopping. Doing some rough calculations, we could rent a $250k house for $200/night for 90 nights and break even on annual PITI. Of course, that doesn't include maintenance, improvements, or repairs. 90 nights sounds completely doable, and has the potential for some decent income if it becomes a popular rental.
I'd love to hear some thoughts from any vacation rental owners on how this type of situation has worked for you. We have a realtor friend in that area that's keeping an eye out for the right place for us, and we plan to contact some of the rental brokers in the area to review their services as well as get an idea of expected occupancy. Any advice is greatly appreciated!