Anyone own a property in Cinnamon Shore in Port A? I've taken the fam once and enjoyed it and seems like a successful development so the idea of buying something there as a rental property (with occasional personal use) has been floating around in my head.

The listings typically include annual rental income figures which seem like it could pay for itself but not sure how much the maintenance, insurance, HOA, mgmt. and other fees cut into that number. Also curious how much I would/should put down and what financing looks like on a rental.

I'm sure I can get estimates on all this from them directly but wanted to get some first hand accounts and better understand the issues so I know what other questions to ask before contacting them.

Sidenote: I'd be interested in finding something similar in Galveston if anyone has a suggestion there, too

TIA

We have been looking at other places and were told that CS is expanding. It will be YEARS but it's supposed to be HUGE.

Just an fyi

Keep in mind financing properties that allow short term rentals is pretty tough and very different terms then financing other investment properties. A lot of these type of properties are bought with cash in fact.

We own a house there, but are not in the rental pool. Every other homeowner that we've visited with that was in the rental pool had significant damage to their house, and have since stopped renting. We've heard stories of furniture being broken (all four legs off the dining table!), furnishings stolen, and one incident of all of the downstairs furniture and kitchen items being moved to another house!

The rental office requires a credit card to be on file to cover damage, but we're not convinced that it's worth the hassle. Plus, the office insisted that the broken furniture be replaced by the owner with identical items. Well, the furniture had been purchased several years before, and that was impossible. They paint a glowing picture of the rental opportunities, but we didn't bite.

If you're considering purchasing a resale property, I would suggest that you rent it for a few nights and check things out for yourself. We did that with a house we were considering, and found some serious issues that the inspector had "missed". We felt that our rent money was a good investment on that one.

Our house was purchased new, and the sales office really pushed to close with "substantial completion" at the end of the year. We had already been down that road with our previous home in Austin, and it was a nightmare getting the builder to finish everything. We suspect that they had a bonus riding on getting it done before the end of the year, but we just stood our ground.

If you're considering the rental income in your decision, I would suggest that you look at the calendar for that particular property on their website. You can do your own calculations, based on how many nights the property is "unavailable", to see if the income numbers that they are quoting you sound right.

Cinnamon Shore is a really nice property, and we enjoy having a home there. There are a lot of amenities available, and it is especially nice to have that good stretch of pristine beach there! Sales seem to have really slowed down, so you might be able to get a good buy if you choose to go that route. I hope that these comments will be helpful!

Thanks for the feedback, y'all. Wow, wouldn't have expected CS to have issues like that - seems like a tamer, more family oriented place but I guess that doesn't really mean anything. People don't care since "it's just a rental" or "ain't mine".

I've seen the articles about the planned expansion(s). Seems like private resales may be competing with the developer new builds for a while, too maybe keeping prices down a bit.

There is still quite a bit of new building going on, but it's primarily on the last undeveloped street. There are still a bunch of condos to be built toward the front.

The new development is going to be in two phases, and is about a half mile south of Cinnamon Shore. The part on the Gulf side has a lot of the dirt work done, and the lake has been excavated (and is full). The Bay side hasn't had much work done, yet. I suspect that it will be a while before any homes are available in either one, and that shouldn't compete with the existing development for at least several years.

I don't know why new and resales have slowed down (oil prices?), but there is still a lot to choose from in Cinnamon Shore. I think the developer and builders might have gotten a bit greedy with the pricing, and that could be a contributing factor, as well.

I didn't intend to be a downer, just wanted to give some honest feedback from what we've heard from several of our fellow homeowners.

The slowdown in sales is the result of the decrease of disposable income in the oil and gas industry.