Investor · Plainfield, CT · Member since 2016 · 7 posts · 4 votes
Hi everyone. I currently own one rental property (2-family). I am looking to jump into the vacation condo rental market in the Myrtle Beach area (or anywhere that has a large rental market with plenty of golf courses and ocean front properties).
My goal is to create a working formula where I can buy, renovate, hold, and rent a vacation condo with minimum physical work by me (outsource everything, from property management to renovation). As I perfect this hands off formula, I would like to scale it.
I opted out of Myrtle Beach, decided I still wanted golf, so I bought in Ocean City, MD. Plenty of top notch golf, and instead of an approx. 11 hour drive, or a plane ride, I drive a little over 3 hours. Makes for easy weekend trips for golf or QT with the family. All of my Myrtle Beach friends don't rent or only rent to supplement.
Welcome to Bigger Pockets - I wish you the best. Attending a meeting in Manchester might help address some of your questions. I went last month and it was pretty awesome.
I'm no expert, but I've been toying with the idea of vacation rentals as well. One thing I learned that differs from normal rentals is the need to factor in the rental season and weekly vs monthly rent. Can the weekly rent you bring in during say a 12 week vacation rental period cover all of your yearly expenses? Otherwise, I imagine the formula is not much different than a normal rental or BRRRR property.
Good day and welcome to BP, there is a lot to consider with your plan. I to investigated the Myrtle Beach/vacation/golf ownership as a rental investment. This might get long winded, as I foresee many speed bumps along your journey that I do not know if you or anyone else would enjoy experiencing and after you surmount them, would they be worth it financially. First piece of advice I received when embarking on the journey to vacation rental ownership, cash flow positive is nice(I got there in my first rental and second rental seasons), however the real enjoyment comes from the experiences you share with friends and family there. Although I didn't agree with it at the time, I certainly cherish now every moment I get to spend at the beach with my wife and children. That is purely philosophical though, on to the meat and potatoes of your process, if you are in construction, great, if you are not, get educated ASAP on residential construction terminology. Do you have contractors you trust in Myrtle Beach? Remote construction management for the detail oriented consumer will leave much to be desired, i.e. - workers will make design decisions for you if you are unreachable, or if they need your input and you are unreachable, they just leave and send you a bill for their time, which you are obligated to pay since I think you'll agree with the fact that you don't work for free either. I purchased my condo from two young gentlemen who essentially did incredible renovations and when they were finished realized they wanted something bigger and better. So I was able to take the best unit in a 24 unit building off of their hands and be fully rented during prime season in the process. During their construction process, which they commuted from two hours away for, they ran into multiple issues that caused extreme delays. Onto the actual real estate side of things, in Myrtle Beach I believe there are two types of oceanfront properties, affordable high-rise condos and single family homes in the standard price range for Atlantic Ocean frontage($1million+). The issues with buying a single family in this price range, after you rehab, you are now competing with every developer on the eastern seaboard that does knockdown rebuilds. They have massive marketing machines in every high end market up and down the coast. The issues with the high rises, condo fees and condo boards. Condo fees eat into profit because unlike a single family home, once you pay it off your only expenses are taxes, utilities and maintenance. Condos have that extra cost that you have no control over. Luckily for my building, we build a healthy reserve annually and budget appropriately for repairs. We are able to do this because we are only 24 units, expenses run wild in direct proportion for the size of your building. Believe me, I want you to be successful in your endeavors, I also want you to be prepared for your speed bumps along the way. If you have any questions about anything in this post please ask away, and I will assist you in the best manner possible to the best of my ability. Good luck!!!
@Robert S. just curious if you mind sharing where you are in Myrtle. Not an exact address but area. I like surfside a lot. I'm looking more at place not ocean front but within 3-5 miles from the beach. The HOA fees vary quite a bit and it is difficult to evaluate which HOA's are reasonable and which are not since it all depends on what is included.
I opted out of Myrtle Beach, decided I still wanted golf, so I bought in Ocean City, MD. Plenty of top notch golf, and instead of an approx. 11 hour drive, or a plane ride, I drive a little over 3 hours. Makes for easy weekend trips for golf or QT with the family. All of my Myrtle Beach friends don't rent or only rent to supplement.
Thanks for everyone's input! I am pretty impressed at the feedback I received so quickly. I particularly like North Myrtle, but I have chosen a couple properties as far south as Garden City. As my first attempt at a vacation rental, I also figured the worst that happens is I will have a vacation condo that I can enjoy in the off-season with friends and family. However, I still believe I can make this profitable in the end. I am noticing that the summer months alone will not offset all the fees and costs. I will need a solid strategy to bring in some income over the winter to make it work.
Currently, I plan on putting my offers in during the first week of December (which is when I will be in Myrtle next). I am starting to interview property management companies and also learn how to make the most out of social media and sites such as VRBO/Home away.
VRBO/Homeaway/TripAdvisor... Full Disclosure, my property manager uses Homeaway for my property, I use TripAdvisor for my own marketing... Best advice I can give for these services, Google their reviews from both renters and owners on third party review sites, as they seriously censor reviews on their own sites