owning rental property

Greetings Chris...

I own rental property on St Croix, and so far, all is well. I let my agent manage the sites, and have had no mis-understandings, but its a 40 year old relationship going back to my fathers time.
That being said, ask about rental agreements, they favor the resident. Ask about insurance, it could be a lot higher than expected. Have a hurricane plan in place, and a recovery plan as well.
I bought and rent villas that are priced in the "working class" range, therefore, they stay rented year round. You can develop better relationships with someone that lives and works there, and a safer tennent. I also let my agent select the tennents, as he has been there longer than me.
Be careful to inspect the property you plan to purchase in person. One 4Plex I was looking at on St Thomas was a lot different than the pictures. We were worried that if we bought the site, the code voliations would be passed on to us. That would have ment as much as we were bidding on the complex in repairs. With no garuntee that the site would not be inspected after trading, we decided not to buy.
There are plenty of great looking and priced propertys on all 3 islands, pick your favorite make sure you come for a visit.

Andrew McGregor

Thanks for the insight Andrew....i will keep all of those things in mind during my search.
-Chris