Creating an Air BnB Plan

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Creating an Air BnB Plan

Matt J.
Rental Property Investor · Hugo, MN · Member since 2014 · 283 posts · 257 votes

Hey everyone. We currently have 3 long term rentals that have done pretty well for us and for our next purchase, I want to dive into a short term vacation rental.

This will be located too far away from me for me to handle the turns or maintenance issues, so a lot of the operations will need to be outsourced.

Here’s what I believe I need so far.

Financing. Are there banks out there who specifically lend on a BRRRR type basis for a short term rental?

Cleaning company. I believe I’ve read a few posts about using a cleaning company to come in and take care of each turn in between guests.

Licensing with the local municipality and making sure any property is within compliance.

Handyman. Having a handyman on call for any maintenance issues will be key as well.

Furnishing the property. Tv, bedroom furniture, couch, wall decorations, etc. Any go to stores for cheap items that are durable?

Budgeting for cable/internet, utilities, and the other normal expenses involved in a real estate asset. Anything I’m missing here?

Setting up a lockbox paired with an app for guests to do self checkin along with forms for them to fill out noting any issues with the property prior to them checking in.

Amenities like a bbq/grill, patio furniture, etc. Yay or nay?

Professional photographer to really make the property stand out on air bnb and vrbo.

Price out comparable properties in the area to properly analyze deals.

Is there anything I’m missing here or that you would add?

Thanks in advance!

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Michael BaumPro Member
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y

Hey @Matt J., there is a lot that goes into providing a 5 star experience to guests. Here are my 2 cents:

Your cleaner and handy person is your number one consideration. They will be your boots on the ground.

Furnishing the property is also a key area. Frankly we did our house mainly with used pieces from Craigslist, OfferUP and LetGo. Go with USA made furniture and solid wood. They will hold up much better and look great. Nothing screams cheap like laminated particle board. It is amazing what good deals you can find out there.

Always go with new mattresses. I highly recommend Zinus Green Tea or the like. You can get them on sale for under $200 for a queen and under $300 for a King. They hold up really well and everyone loves them. I use a 1.5" memory foam topper and a Serta Black mattress protector over the hold thing. Works awesome. We get good reviews.

Artwork, absolutely necessary. You don't need to get really complicated or fancy. I bought nearly all of our stuff at second hand stores. Goodwill, St. Vincents etc. There are a lot of great pieces out there for next to nothing. We went a bit eclectic with a beach theme for our lake house. Try to avoid having large bare walls. Put something on there.

I have our house setup as a smart home. A simple smart home. I have a Samsung SmartThings hub that manages the thermostat and the lock. The thermostat is a Emerson Sensi and I use the Schlage Smart Connect lock. I can do everything from my couch 360 miles away. Easy to use and setup. You will need to check the furnace and make sure you can use a smart thermostat. If you have a "C" wire, then any unit will work fine. If not, the Sensi works without a "C" wire. We have A/C so it just pulls power from the unit that is not operating. Everything is Z-Wave. The lock uses AA batteries and the last a year or so.

Definitely get a grill and patio furniture. I have a Weber Genesis II 3 burner setup. It's a Weber so it is great. Many on here have charcoal. I have been buying the aluminum patio stuff from Costco. Rust free and UV resistant fabrics (Sunbrella I think). 3 years in and they still look great. If you wait until end of summer, you can get them on clearance.

You didn't say where the property is so linens can be up in the air a bit. Our home is primarily a summer rental so our sheets are a 70/30 percale weave white sheet. I can't stress enough the percale weave over the sateen. Sateen will pill up. We tossed our first set of sheets due to that in less than a year. Percale weave sheets sleep cool and crisp. I am using the Big One sets from Kohl's. They have been awesome. They are also cheap when they are on sale.

For blankets we have a ton. Both small throws for snuggling up as well as king and queen for extra warmth. The primary bedspread/comforter is the Charisma units. Costco and they are the best. They wash up great, sleep cool and hang great on the beds. Not under sized like so many others. 3 years in they still look great. I just buy them when on sale and add them to the pile. We have 4 per bed at the moment. They are summer weight so we have a bunch of generic comforters that are winter weight just in case.

I would make the kitchen the center of the house. If you go overboard anywhere, this is the place. We get rave reviews about our kitchen. It is very well stocked. 40+ spices, flour, sugar etc etc. More pots and pans than you can shake a stick at. There is a wok, steamers, 2 coffee makers plus 2 Keurigs. We provide coffee pods, creamers, Splenda/sugar packs and tea.

All those amenities make for great reviews. There are more things that go into making the place solid, but this is a start!

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  • Jean Smith
    Flipper · Argyle, NY · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 5 votes
    6y

    @Paul Sandhu

    My parents owned a small resort in the Catskills when I was a kid...you just summarized all the things I accidentally saw as a child but didn’t process till I was older. LOL

    1Reply
  • Dan Bryskin
    Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2015 · 252 posts · 263 votes
    6y

    @Matt J. we operate a number of Airbnb's around MPLS / St Paul & a few out of state, some are ours, some we operate for others (an elusive professional host you have been looking for). There are a lot of considerations going into a great airbnb. From the type of remodel - picking up durable great looking finishes to the level of service one needs to provide for the 5 star rating. PM me, I'd be happy to chat.

    1Reply
  • Jeff Vesel
    Attorney · MPLS-ST PAUL, MN · Member since 2020 · 8 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    Matt,

    I recently bought furniture for a client from someone moving from Lake Minnetonka who had it listed on Facebook. Much of it was name-brand like Gabberts. For example, I bought a grandfather clock for $50. I have been thinking about how to do a BnB on Lake Minnetonka. Perhaps we can compare notes. [I'm from Stillwater, not far from Hugo.] Facebook had the listing for the high-end furniture.

    1Reply
  • Valerie Rogers
    Property Manager · Aurora, CO · Member since 2014 · 221 posts · 210 votes
    6y

    @Matt J.

    Welcome to the wonderful world of vacation rentals! There are sevaral ways one can go about handling the management of a vacation rental property.

    1. You can hire a full-service property manager
    2. You can hire a service that assists in the management of the bookings & communications with travelers
    3. You can handle all aspects of your vacation rental property yourself ("by owner".)

    #1 A full-service property management company is the option to choose if you don't want to invest much time in the property or bookings. They handle every detail and aspect of offering a property for rent on the vacation rental market, from advertising the property on their own Property Management Company website, to handling inquiries and reservations, key-handling, cleaning and maintenance. Rates for a full-service property manager range on average from 25% - 60% (depending on your area.)

    #2 A marketing/booking service takes care of the most time-consuming responsibilities of STRs: helping owners with the advertisement(s) of their vacation rental property as well as handling all communications with travelers before, during & after their stay, handling payment schedules, sending rental agreements, communicating with the  housekeeping/maintenance staff and following up with the guests to request that they submit a review of their stay at your property. The professional and comprehensive handling of your reservations is critical if you want to maximize your investment in your vacation rental business. Typically the fee for this type of service is not as expensive as a full-service property manager and well worth the benefit of the extra time you'll have for the things that are more important to you. My service VRAssist is such a marketing and booking service for owners of vacation rental properties.

    #3 Self-managing the most time-consuming option because you are doing everything yourself. But you get to keep 100% of the revenue!

    As for furnishings, I've outfitted several of our properties using Wayfair, Overstock and picking up decor and small furnishings at stores like HomeGoods, TJMaxx and Tuesday Morning. In our San Diego property we use a slipcovered sofa purchased from IKEA and I love it! 

    I love the quilts I've purchased from Steinmart. I use 650 thread count sheets from Sam's Club and also use their thick, fluffy oversized bath towels (and hand towels and wash cloths.) We buy almost all of our mattresses from Sam's Club too. My husband prefers sleeping on the beds in our rentals to the more expensive mattress we have at home!  :-\

    Good luck in your new venture! .

    2Reply
  • Matt J.
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Hugo, MN · Member since 2014 · 283 posts · 257 votes
    6y

    @Jeff Vesel that would be great! Let’s connect on here and set up a time to talk

    0Reply
  • Dan H.Pro Member
    Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Paul Sandhu:

    @Matt J. Read my old posts. I've got posts of my STR experiences with rattlesnakes, prostitutes, intruders, more intruders, police, psychotic mutts, one tenant having an affair with another tenants wife, dead bodies, ghosts, wild animals, pellet guns, real guns, check cashing, marriage counseling, trips to the emergency room, drug overdoses, flat tires, kegorators, etc.

    We had tenants at our STR convert the small yard into a mud wrestling pit for the girls to wrestle in. They got charged for damages and now half the yard is deck and the other half is artificial turf. Hopefully it discourages any other tenant from coming up with the same idea.

    We had a neighbor of our STR oogle and verbally harass a female tenant. The male tenant tried to be chivalrous and defend the female's honor and got decked for his troubles.

    This is in a class A area with rent averaging over $250/night (pre-Covid). Fortunately, the PM deals with most of the issues. I have seen her evict an STR tenant in the middle of the night while the tenants begged for one more chance.

    0Reply
  • Alice Collins
    Member since 2020 · 9 posts · 2 votes
    6y

    Checking with your municipality is what I'll do first. It's insane how the STR rules can be so strict in some places. You'll also need extra insurance. Get a few quotes and see if the numbers still add up. Self checkin is definitely the way to go, but I won't use a lockbox. I'll get a smartlock instead.

    0Reply
  • Reese Newell
    Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2019 · 124 posts · 68 votes
    6y

    Amazing thread. I am highly considering doing a STR, for those who manage remotely, do you believe it is possible on the first one? I am in South Florida and think the best plan of attack is to manage one locally while this covid situation dies down and learn the systems while developing my plan to scale to other locations that can be even more lucrative.

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