In May of 2012 we found our latest rental property; made an offer that was immediately accepted and began the process that has seen us purchase, renovate, furnish, set up and market six other cottages over the past 9 years. This proven and wildly successful process will be fully explained in my next book, "The Vacation Rental Formula" but for now here's a short summary of what we did.

At the end of 2011 we realized that Osprey Cottage was just about at its maximum of rental potential. Income was paying the mortgage and all expenses with a good chunk left over and our accountant was making rumbling noises about getting that remainder working for us, so purchasing the next one seemed a good idea. The search process kicked off in early March and since spring came early, I was able to see a lot of properties without getting stuck in the mud or wondering what waterfront would be like once the ice was off the water. Pre-planning, thorough research and criteria management made it easy to discard a lot of properties that may have made an initial cut and saved a lot of time.

Research the area

You may already be familiar with the area where you want to purchase, but it's important to look at it from a rental perspective. Rental guests have different requirements (often less demanding than a potential permanent resident) so make sure you have their needs in mind during your research.

Set Criteria

Your research should have delivered information on the type and size of property that is going to work best for rental, so set your criteria based on it. This was our basic checklist:

Select Realtor

A good buyer's realtor will seek to understand your requirements and will be knowledgeable about the rental activity in the area. We looked for:

Budget

Setting a budget means taking into account the purchase price + closing costs + projected set-up expenses so it's important to factor in the following:

This is just a short summary of how the buying process began but gives an idea of how good planning can deliver great results. The book lays out all the costs and return from the first 6 months of rental.

"The Vacation Rental Formula" will be published in March and will be available from Amazon and on this web site. The book covers all the things we have done to successfully purchase and rent six vacation rental properties over the past 10 years. With accompanying checklists, spreadsheets, case studies from other successful owners, video and audio resources, this will be the most thorough and comprehensive manual on how to buy, market, manage and make money from a vacation home.

If I had known when I bought the first property, what I know now, I would have done so many things differently and saved a lot of time, money and stress!

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