New STR deal under contract — looking for advice on financing options

[Ariel Reboh]

Hey BP community — can anyone point me in the right direction? Looking for some advice and would love to hear from people who have been in a similar situation.

I'm an STR operator with 4 properties in the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. What I've done with my last 4 deals is structure them as joint ventures — I bring the operator experience and handle everything A to Z, my capital partner funds the deal, gets paid back first from cash flow, and then we split the asset once they're whole. It's worked well for both sides.

I've been eyeing the Clearwater, Florida market for a while and after constantly getting beaten out by cash offers I finally got one under contract.

Here's my situation — the property is in good condition, we're planning a light rehab plus amenitizing the backyard with permits and everything that comes with it. Projected to go live on Airbnb within 4-5 months of closing. Numbers are strong on projected cash flow.

This time around I'm exploring different financing options outside of my usual JV structure — whether that's private money, hard money, or something else entirely.

For those of you who have done deals like this — how did you fund it? What worked for you and what would you do differently?

Any advice or experience is appreciated. Thanks in advance.