First Short-Term Rental/2nd Home

[Seth Wilcock]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment in Granby.

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $145,000

2nd Home/condo that we have set up on a short-term rental basis. Our first mountain property and first short term rental. Fully furnished with purchase.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We've been looking for a place in the mountains for some time as a 2nd home that we could use on a personal basis and occasionally rent out. This property came up, and it definitely caught our interest.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found it through the MLS. Our Realtor had us set up on a search. We used a Realtor for the purchase and paid "cash".

How did you finance this deal?

We have a first lien HELOC on our primary residence, and used the equity in our current home to pay "cash" for this home.

How did you add value to the deal?

It was actually pretty turnkey. We didn't force appreciation into it. We bought the home fully furnished, and the sellers were really great to work with. They handed over the keys to the property, and the "keys" to their short-term rental systems as well.

What was the outcome?

With this being our first short-term rental/2nd home, we weren't quite sure what to expect going into it. I calculated the numbers as best I could, but buying in the middle of COVID-19 was a big variable and we weren't entirely sure how many nights it would rent for. The numbers turned out better than expected, and it hasn't been too time intensive to manage.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was a non-warrantable condo with a rental desk, so it wasn't possible to get a mortgage on it with the purchase, hence using our HELOC on our primary to buy the home. We would be struggling to get it all set up without the seller helping hand over his system for how he managed the property, cleaner contact info, etc. After acquiring this home, I realized that AirBNB isn't as difficult as I originally expected, and it makes me want to buy another short-term rental.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes. I worked with Jamie Gaab at Bring Home Denver. I have worked with Jamie for years, and I can tell you that he's the best. I would be happy to make an introduction as I know he'll do a great job for you.