renting your home/condo in pacific beach? (rentals, insurance)

[wheresraz]

anyone here have experience being a landlord in pacific beach?

I'm in my late 20s and looking to buy something that i forsee myself living in for the next 2 - 3 years before i move to europe for a year or two. i would like to hold on to that property since i like san diego and just rent it out via a property manager or some family help. i like pacific beach since it's fun, you can walk to anything, and it's still rather close to all the good jobs in sorrento valley. however, there are definitely a ton of losers in pacific beach that i imagine trash places they rent. anyone here have any experience with being a landlord in pacific beach? any horror stories?

any other suggestions? i haven't given this a whole lot of thought so just consider me naive on the topic. mainly, i would like to be close to downtown and sorrento valley and in a neighborhood that i can walk to do my errands and be able to rent the place out one day.

what about buying something nice to rent just as a vacation rental. is there a big market for that in SD. if so , where?

[CJeffs]

I'd be interested in finding out as well. I love Pacific beach.

[MsFancyPants]

I don't have a lot of answers, mostly more questions.

First, can you afford Pacific Beach? It's pretty pricy. Also, if you can, will what you can rent it for later on cover your mortgage, taxes, HOAs (if any), insurance, repairs?

There are a ton of vacation rentals in Pacific Beach, and a ton of companies that handle them. I'd call one and ask some questions.

[wheresraz]

theres definitely some places i can afford in PB. i understand taxes, mortgages, hoas, and insurance. as for repairs, no clue. that's part of my question. any help on the type of costs i should expect would be great.

my core question is whether this sounds like a good idea or just a headache. i dont care about the school system etc. i mainly want an investment in some property with my money. i like PB and wouldn't mind living there for a while or renting it to hold on to the property.

my main fear is the simple fact that we all know the type of people that live in pb. and not everyone is like that but i'm just worried i'd have to deal with missed rent, damage, etc. is pb a landlord's headache or is it really no different than being a landlord anywhere else?

[Just1Lion]

i would suggest renting to couples if you can. they tend to pose slightly less risk for damage. obviously if you rent the place out to a bunch of "dudes" or "brahs" then you will have all that shat to deal with.