Rental Property Investor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 5 votes
5y
Well this was a good discussion.
If someone is interested in trying out an arbitage model in the downtown Tacoma Hilltop area I have a few apartments coming up for rent that I'd be interested in trying this out. Location is great. let me know.
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
5y
Hey @Casey Boerger. Well it seems like you are going to do it no matter what anyone says. You dismissed @John Underwood out of hand and he is a very experienced STR/LTR investor.
If you are looking at this as a good business strategy, well, it's not. How many businesses don't own anything at all? I don't mean groups that trade mineral rights or air rights. I mean just about every other business. What John say was right on the money.
I wouldn't invest here at all. Western WA is landlord hostile. Not just pro tenant. If you take on some leases, you will be on the hook at an inflated rate. Are you prepared to cover those expenses if the guest decides to camp out? It won't take much on their part to get to stay in your STR for free, for a loooong time.
I don't mean to be snarky, but people come and ask about arbitrage all the time. 90% of the time, it is a bad idea. You are under the thumb of pretty much everyone. The only time I thought it would work was with a forum member who had over 100 doors they owned and wanted to try the arbitrage model. They could absorb any problems without losing it all. Are you in that boat? Do you have a ton of assets to cover thing if they go south?
So many arbitrager's lost their collective shirts this year it's hard to count. And that happened in places that don't hate landlords. Here in Western WA, they hate landlords with a passion.
Buckley, WA · Member since 2018 · 30 posts · 7 votes
5y
@Michael Baum Hi thanks for the reply. I didn’t intend to dismiss anyone. Airbnb arbitrage is something that I am curious about but not something that I intend to do. I just wanted to hear if there are real people doing this around in my area.
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
5y
Hey @Casey Boerger, I hear ya. It has a very appealing allure. Minimal down, what appears to be tons of upside, why the hell isn't everyone doing this!
I just don't think that doing it in our area would be a good idea. Frankly, doing any kind of real estate investing around rentals is a sketchy proposition around here.
Rental Property Investor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 5 votes
5y
Well this was a good discussion.
If someone is interested in trying out an arbitage model in the downtown Tacoma Hilltop area I have a few apartments coming up for rent that I'd be interested in trying this out. Location is great. let me know.
Rental Property Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 4 votes
5y
@Zeeshan Qureshi I would be interested in doing this. I've been looking at buying a condo in Seattle to Airbnb but my god is it difficult finding an HOA who is ok with it. I found one in Belltown but I don't like the neighborhood. Too much homeless activity. If you'd like to connect on this please feel free to DM me.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
5y
It’s a good “business” to try when you are too poor to be sued. Anyone with a good job, credit, or money wouldn’t want to own a “business” that if regulated out of business overnight would result in being liable for a lease with no money coming in.
I won’t say most of these “business” owners regularly lie to their landlord but I’ll say a very high percentage. I don’t know any landlord that would accept an application from someone who put “many different people you’re not going to know about or do a background check on” on the occupants over 18 line.