This will be our first season as landlords. I'm reading this thread with interest. One advantage we have is that the rental cottage shares the yard/parking/beach with my home. We won't be there for a large percentage of the time, but my daughter will be, and we have neighbors that won't stand for any funny stuff either.
Our rental agreement states very explicitly "No more than 6 people," "No smoking indoors," etc. At this point in time I still have faith in people. My mom rented at Hampton Beach for 30 years and was a model tenant. My best friend and her family have rented the same cottage at York Beach for at least as long as that, maybe longer. They, too are model tenants. There are people in the world like that.
I think between the fact that we have "eyes and ears" on the cottage at all times, and conversations I've had with prospective tenants that we'll come out okay. There will be bumps in the road, but if it means we can pay the mortgage on our little piece of heaven, we'll deal with it.
(I still have a couple of prime weeks available! ; )
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MarieM
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