Montaluce featured in Buyer Spotlight

Owners: Bill and Gina Frisbey

What: Three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath cottage at Montaluce Winery and Estates, a 400-acre Dahlonega community with 300 Tuscan-style homes and 35 acres of vineyards. Lots range from the $70,000s to mid-$600,000s, cottages from the mid-$300,000s to high $400,000s, and villas from the high $700,000s to more than $1.3 million. Their 2,000-square-foot home has details including 15-inch-thick stucco walls atnd an imported barrel tile roof from Italy. In the kitchen, there are a Wolf range and a SubZero refrigerator. The master bedroom has a walk-in shower and claw foot tub. Two porches overlook the vineyard, and there's a gazebo and a courtyard with a stone fireplace.

When purchased: They just closed last week. Their primary residence is a 24-acre farm in Hiawassee. "We enjoy food and wine, and this is just a very sophisticated Italian neighborhood with a lot of just regular kind of folks," said Bill, who is a real estate broker.

Rental or not? The couple is planning to rent the home, which sleeps six. In fact, a wedding is already booked there. "We love the Italian architecture and the quality of the homes, and we thought, 'Well, this would be someplace that someone would want to rent,'" Bill said. He expects it will command average rental rates of about $350 a night. They plan to use the home a couple of weekends a month.

Financial strategy: The couple, who have owned other second homes, are financing about 25 percent of the home. Even with that, Bill advises that people shouldn't expect rental income to pay the entire mortgage and expenses. "You should be able to make your mortgage payments and cover your expenses if you've never rented it a day. If you can do that, you'll come out way ahead," he said. "You've got to say, 'This is something we want to do as a long-term investment in real estate. By renting it, we can defer some of the expenses, certainly not all of them,' " Bill said. "The most important thing is I'm going to enjoy my investment."