Anyone own a second/vacation home in Port Aransas?

[waverider]

Does anyone here own a second home in Port Aransas? If so, would you be interested in sharing your experience publicly or privately? My wife and I are starting the process to find the "right" place down there. We have been visiting the area since the early 90's and we are finally at the point where we are ready to buy a second home there. Here are a few of the questions that I have:

How long have you owned?

Did you build or buy an existing property?

HOA or no?

Pitfalls you discovered along the way?

Do you rent it out? If so, do you manage it via AirBnB or VRBO or do you let a management company handle it?

Any issues dealing with City Hall or the County?

Do you have a realtor you would recommend?

Thanks for the any advise, recommendations or cautions.

[quackadikt]

I can't help with any answers other than the Realtor recommendation.

Coral is a personal friend of ours and I would highly recommend her. She has been voted Realtor of the Year and is very active on the board there.

http://www.southcoasttexas.com/agents/coral-dworaczyk/

[John Paul]

We have brokered some homes down in Port A in the past few years. It’s amazing the rental rates an owner can obtain in some of the newer homes, decent investment with great perks.

[Micahbo]

Great questions. Following. I would be curious what the typical management company cost is and what the average return is for their clients. We have a tiny house on family land toward Fredericksburg that we do our own airbnb. If our place wasn't on family land, I would seriously consider a management company. Our biggest struggle is finding someone to clean the house.

[waverider]

We have brokered some homes down in Port A in the past few years. It’s amazing the rental rates an owner can obtain in some of the newer homes, decent investment with great perks.

Good to know. We looked at a house on Monday that was gorgeous inside, too nice to turn into a short term rental.

[Acameron52]

I don’t know anybody with a place in Port A, but do know several with homes in Orange Beach and Santa Rose Beach. They all use a management company over VRBO. They might make less off of it but it’s way easier from what they’ve said.