Investment Property in the Outer Banks

I would look near Carova, nice homes but 4WD access only!

If it is truly an investment property then I would buy something that you can rent out all year and make sure the rental income covers the mortgage and expenses. In the mean time just rent a vacation home for a few weeks each summer. When you retire you can then sell the investment property and buy a home in the Outer Banks.

My dad has a house in Hatteras village. He and my step mother stay in it from October through March. As it is a larger house (up to 20 people) and is completely handicap accessable it is a bit pricey. It doesn't seem to matter during peak season, but they had many un rented weeks during the off seasons. Although Sept and Oct are usually pretty good season still as it is one of the best times of the year for fishing, they stay there then to host his army buddies and her college friends at different weeks.
I remember when they built it my father said something about if it was booked for at least 22 weeks out of the year then it would be close to paying for itself.
Good Luck. Its beautiful and I love that it's nothing like Myrtle Beach and other over crowded places like that.
I would suggest looking at houses and checking their "available dates". That gives you an idea of what size and what prices are rented for the most weeks. My dads house is called LZ Hatteras by Midgett Realty and I noticed that next week and one week in Aug and the first week of Sept are not booked. (I was going to ask if I could use it, but none of those work for me :( I didn't count up the weeks that are rented but they do quite well I believe.

I don't know anything about the area but I know a lot about renting out a vacation home as we own one ourselves. We manage it rather than use a management company but we are close by so it makes sense.

Be very careful about leaving the marketing up to a third party company. Often property management companies do not work very hard to fill dates. They may be great at taking care of your property or even handling guest issues but filling the calendar is not always a top priority for them as they may manage hundreds of properties in the area.

We advertise on VRBO.com and Flipkey/Tripadvisor. We're full to capacity most of the year and we do very well. If I was to purchase a property out of driving distance to use for our family and also as a rental I would manage the marketing, calendar, payments and guest communication myself. I would then pay someone local for housekeeping and any guest issues. I would also go on some rental sites before buying and be sure you can make the income you need in the area you want to purchase. Good luck!

My aunt and uncle have done this, as have my best friend's parents and the family I used to babysit for. They must be happy with it b/c two of those couples have purchased multiple properties on the Outer Banks!

The ONLY advice I would offer would be to closely research the various rental companies and use a reputable one with strong recommendations. The bottom line is that you will be "on site" very little and it will be up to the management company to handle the day-to-day.

The couple I babysat for owned three condos in the same building, so their HOA fees covered most of the upkeep, including the actual rental process and the manager's role in that process.

My aunt and uncle and friend's parents both have homes there that they rent out. Those GIANT "sleeps 12" homes within a few blocks of the ocean. They block out their two weeks during the "season" and then have access to it throughout the winter months, which is actually a beautiful time to be there.