Originally Posted by
Fly4FunAA
What about purchasing a house/condo in base and then using that as your crash pad or even renting part of it out to other pilots or people when not there? I understand just getting a hotel every time, but I also don’t want to deal with the hassle of when rooms are booked out or rates for the night go up all the time. Though I would definitely do a hotel over me renting a crash pad, but what if you’re the owner or you have a place in base?
Was very close to doing this when I commuted and was being used little on reserve. I looked at a couple of 4-8 unit apartment buildings where i would take the least desirable 1BR or studio apartment as my crashpad and rent the rest out. The buildings I looked at were already occupied but in need of some TLC. The plan was to renovate/upgrade as older tenants moved out and then sell a few years down the line. Seemed like a good use of otherwise wasted time and an opportunity to dabble in commercial real estate. Once I was a line holder, I had less and less "dead" time in base and eventually lost interest/couldn't square the time commitment. But for the right person, I could see it being a good opportunity.