Does anyone have an STR in Kernville? I'm thinking of investing there and want to explore if it's possible to independently manage the property vs a management company. How is it finding trustworthy and reliable house cleaning and a maintenance person?
I have an STR in Bakersfield (and several more in OC and Los Angeles) that I just got started on and so far it is doing quite well. I have thought about doing Kernville or Lake Isabella or any of the surrounding towns as I visit Lake Isabella quite often. I have an awesome crew of people (cleaning crew, handyman, etc.) that are highly trustworthy and timely. I don't think you'll have any trouble finding help in either Kernville or Lake Isabella. If you need any recommendations, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
P.S. I own an STR company that runs all of our STR's out of Long Beach and OC.
@Rod Oliver I’m highly interested in Kernville as well, planned on starting over there in the next few months.
Kernville is small, but people love the Kern River. It shouldn’t be a problem assembling a cleaning team there, but may be tougher to assemble right now with the unemployment thing going on. Just a guess. But I know they’ve got hard workers over there.. A lot of the Kern River activities are featured there (rafting with an instructor, rafting supply stores, etc.) as well as a brewery.
Do you mind me asking where you’re located? Never thought I’d hear another person ever say they were interested in Kernville as well!
Hi @Account Closed! Thanks for the feedback! I’m in LA. I love going up to camp and fish up there and at Isabella so I want to find a place that I can use and rent it out when I’m not using it. I love it up there! I love Kern River brewery. Check out cracked egg up there too if you’ve never been!
@Rod Oliver Gosh I can’t remember if I’ve ever eaten there or not. Sounds delicious though! I’m in Valencia - we’re pretty close! I agree…actually river ANYTHING is great lol
@Rod Oliver, I have a portfolio of long term rentals in the communities around Lake Isabella. There are only two property managers in the area and I don't think either handle short term/vacation rentals at this time.
We turned one of our homes into a vacation rental this summer and it has done really well. We are going to be converting others as they become vacant. We have a small cabin with the long term tenant moving out at the end of this month. That will be our second short term rental in the area.
It is not easy to find reliable help. I have solid team in place for now but I am dreading having to find other reliable cleaners as we expand.
Thanks for your reply @Gene Hacker! That’s great to hear that they’re doing well. Would love to understand any learnings you could offer about finding a reliable cleaning/maintenance crew!
@Rod Oliver, I had to try many different people before finding people that were trustworthy and reliable. I had supplies and tools stolen in the process. I have projects that are behind because I am dreading looking for another maintenance person to help out. There are cleaning people that advertise locally, but their fees are pretty steep. I try to keep the cleaning fee reasonable.
Hello all. I hope you're doing well. I'm a little late to the conversation, but was wondering if you had started Short Term renting in #kernville. My husband are about to close on a property in Kernville that we will be STR and was hoping to connect with other investors in the area. We love it there, it's a great place and the center of town is really fun. Would love to connect. Thanks so much.
I have an STR in Bakersfield (and several more in OC and Los Angeles) that I just got started on and so far it is doing quite well. I have thought about doing Kernville or Lake Isabella or any of the surrounding towns as I visit Lake Isabella quite often. I have an awesome crew of people (cleaning crew, handyman, etc.) that are highly trustworthy and timely. I don't think you'll have any trouble finding help in either Kernville or Lake Isabella. If you need any recommendations, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
P.S. I own an STR company that runs all of our STR's out of Long Beach and OC.
The short term market has changed a lot in the last year. The number of available units has skyrocketed and demand is falling. I have done well by being competitive on the price and giving big discounts for longer term stays. I have a few friend with STRs that were booked every weekend last year that are basically empty this year. It will be interesting to see how things go as we enter what looks like the beginning of a recession.
I agree with @Gene Hacker. Make sure you sharpen that pencil when doing the math on the property just to make sure your numbers work out. Don't be overly optimistic on the vacancy rate nor on the price per night. Last but not least, one of the Golden Rules of Real Estate is that cash-flow and profit are made on the purchase!
Hello all. I hope you're doing well. I'm a little late to the conversation, but was wondering if you had started Short Term renting in #kernville. My husband are about to close on a property in Kernville that we will be STR and was hoping to connect with other investors in the area. We love it there, it's a great place and the center of town is really fun. Would love to connect. Thanks so much.
I didn’t. I ended up doing Joshua tree like everyone else in California haha
Thanks for the feed back everyone. We love the river so we will be getting use out of it too, when it's not rented. We are excited non the less. We will have to get creative in our marketing. Thanks all.
Hello everyone : i am interested in getting STR in Kernsville May I ask how is the experience of the investors who already have STR there? Is it significantly slower? How to get a good estimate on the ADR and occupancy?
The local market has continued to deteriorate for STRs. Available units are WAY up and demand is down. I dropped my prices considerably and I still have much lower occupancy compared to a year ago. I converted one of my properties from an STR back to an LTR as it will make the same and is so much less work.
Hello! My husband and I are finishing up a remodel that we will use as a short term rental. This will be our first STR. We are really excited about it, and understand that things are slowing down, but with the laws in CA, we still think STR is a better option for us.
Hi @Vera Herlihy I'm super late the the chat, but congrats on your first STR! Do you have an update on how it is doing? My fiance and I have been looking into Kernville as an option for our first STR. We are really excited about is because my fiancé is from the Bakersfield area and we currently live in Long Beach so it isn't a far drive. Any information would be greatly appreciated :)
I changed my STRs to Long-term rentals because of the falling nightly rates and demand in the Kernville/Lake Isabella area. Long-term rent is up enough to close the gap over STR profits. It can still make sense for someone who wants a vacation home and wants to help with the bills. I think it is important to look at current data and not put much weight into the numbers people were seeing during the covid frenzie.