So, the Updated Plan . . . What Do You Think ?

[YOG]

Doodles, and Southern Hiker,

My husband & I have been absentee landlords since July 2000. We live 500 miles away. We have yet to have a problem.
We are onto only our 2nd property manager & they have done everything (e.g. source repairmen), and interview prospective tenants. It has worked beautifully. Friends who live In Aus now still keep their house in Ontario & it is also working like a dream for them. Among other people I have known.

It's a super way to keep a steady income - as long as your house is in fairly good shape to start with!

[SouthernHiker]

Originally Posted by YOG

Doodles, and Southern Hiker,

My husband & I have been absentee landlords since July 2000. We live 500 miles away. We have yet to have a problem.
We are onto only our 2nd property manager & they have done everything (e.g. source repairmen), and interview prospective tenants. It has worked beautifully. Friends who live In Aus now still keep their house in Ontario & it is also working like a dream for them. Among other people I have known.

It's a super way to keep a steady income - as long as your house is in fairly good shape to start with!

Thanks for the good news. I'm glad it's working out for you guys. I wasn't going to tell the others, but despite the problems I may or may not face, I'll be going through with this part (it's the only way I'm going to get to go, so I'll worry about the problems when/if they pop up). I'm glad to be hearing both sides of venture though. I appreciate the encouragement of knowing it works for some out there doing it.

[YOG]

Hey SouthernHiker,

Happy to make you happy!

So, we have just bought a boat - today! - to go on our long-awaited watery dream.
It's a Bristol 40. It took my husband a lot of mental effort to get a boat that's that long. You see, we're going to sail to the Med. and live aboard in various moorings.
He will do a lot of single handing.

After a year of shopping and seeing a lot of cabin layouts, we agreed on the 40 footer. She is big enough to live on comfortably (most of the time! Some winter days may feel cosy...) The husband is a very experienced sailor from a sailing family, and absolutely did not want any more boat than that.

An important point that was made a couple of times in the thread is that anything over 40 feet may be difficult to moor in many marinas etc. There may be many times you need to live aboard and can't find a place to accomodate you - plus, the costs of anything over 40' (I hear even 35') go up dramatically. Services are calculated by the linear foot, as in for hauling out or surveying etc.

I am wandering a bit, but I suggest you consider a smaller boat. Most people we sail with are surprised we bought such a huge boat!

We will work on her & get to know how she sails over the next 2 yrs and take off across the Atlantic spring 2010!

Good luck.
Yog

[YOG]

OOOOPS
I mean spring 2012.
Otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here writing to you from a house on dry land.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by YOG

Doodles, and Southern Hiker,

My husband & I have been absentee landlords since July 2000. We live 500 miles away. We have yet to have a problem.
We are onto only our 2nd property manager & they have done everything (e.g. source repairmen), and interview prospective tenants. It has worked beautifully. Friends who live In Aus now still keep their house in Ontario & it is also working like a dream for them. Among other people I have known.

It's a super way to keep a steady income - as long as your house is in fairly good shape to start with!

Glad its working for you guys and I hope it continues for a long time. I was just providing my experiences which are based on 30+ years of working with many tax clients. When it works, its very nice and convenient, but when things go wrong it can be a real pain especially if you are not nearby. If you are off cruising communications are not what you have in the US. In the States being 500 miles away can be like being next door in some ways, i.e. same time zone, local phone system, same language, etc. We live in Thailand half the year and just sending a fax or an email can be a challenge sometimes not to mention language differences. Anyway, part of my point was why set yourself up for potential problems when the profit margins and risks just don't make sense anymore? As the old saying goes ... "the juice isn't worth the squeeze."