All Forum Posts by: Andrew Steffens

Quote from @Doug Fluckiger:

We have a renter that has stayed in one of our available Airbnb rooms almost since we started renting it. He left once, gave us a good review, and came back a few days later. Just when his contract is about to expire, he extends it; sometimes by a day, or by several days. He always pays his rent. The property's out of state but I've been there when he's there, I met and chatted with him, and he's very quiet, clean, and respectful. We appreciate the reliable income, but this seems unusual. I glanced at his laptop and it appeared older and small, so I'm not sure he's actually working in there; we don't smell smoke, for example, so we've let it go. But should we be concerned?

I would not worry too much about it, however I would be cognizant of your states eviction rules. If he hits a certain threshold he may be considered a de facto tenant and can enjoy tenant rights whereas STR guests can be removed from property at will (in most states).

Quote from @Melissa Nash:

Curious if any one has done this before? I own a luxury STR that is financed and in an LLC. I am doing research on fractional ownership- where I would sell 1/16th or so of the ownership. Has anyone done this and if so I'd love to learn more about it and dive into it more, and see how you actually determine the value, and examples of how this works. The house currently appraises for $1.4mil- I do have a loan on it but only for $700k, so I am assuming this can be done ? Thoughts??

 I agree a lot with @Ryan Moyer above if you are trying to sell your shares on an open market.  I have done this once with one of my shares not to sell of equity intentionally but I had some cash "trapped" in the house so I did sell off 1/3 at appraised value.  The partner is well known to me and he gets 33.3% of the net monthly income of the unit not including the debt service.  For example if the check I receive from my PM is $10,000 even but electric/cable/water comes to $500 even and I had to pay for a $500 repair he would get 1/3 of $9,000 so $3,000.  He does not have to pay 1/3 of my mortgage since I am the leveraged one and he is not.  Taxes and Insurance get assessed once per year from the income as well (which he must contribute to).

This allowed me to have no cash stuck in this property and I went out and got 2 more with the freed capital.

Hope that helps!

Quote from @Steve Bebek:

Recommendations for STR management software please.

I looked at rentredi not sure if that would work for STR management. I will be doing 1031 exchange in the spring of 2023 and buying my first STR.

Hey Steve - We are PM's and use Streamline because we have > 50 units.  If you are on your first unit you likely will not need anything, An account with VRBO and VRBO plus MS Office will suffice to stay organized.  There are some lighter softwares that can make life easier from 3-10 I would say and are affordable.  Then after 10 you can start looking into ownerrez, Streamline, Guesty etc.

That is for PMS, you may want to invest even at 1 unit with pricing software, various automation software/hardware, etc.

Quote from @Tina Tsysh:

Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

Hi!

I would look into the differences between co-hosting and also consider full service Property Management.  Likely a small to medium professionally property management can make you more gross income than self managing which offsets their fee, and most companies take care of everything leaving you free to pursue your job and/or more properties.

 Hi Andrew, 

Thank you for your advice. Curious to see if you have tried or heard of any particular full service PM companies. Let me know!

 I own a full service PM in the Tampa area.  We run about 60 units currently which I feel is the perfect size, because we are big enough to partner with Marriott and have enough revenue to have a full staff but small enough to know all of our clients, some on a personal level.  With smaller companies, the owner may try to do everything themselves or with 1 or 2 employees which is not enough.  With larger companies they give little to no attention to guests resulting in bad reviews and it is hard to get someone local on the phone, and they have high turnover.

I would try to find a local company with 40-120 or so units, find them on Airbnb, look at their reviews and interview them.

I hope this helps!

Quote from @Samantha Chang:

Wanting to update our 1 bed cabin. There’s currently a giant jacuzzi tub in the bedroom and by removing it we can add in bunk beds, but not sure which would be more desired. Extra sleep space that’s not a pull out couch or a jacuzzi tub?

 Hi Samantha

Im a STR PM in Florida who often visits the smokies. I am speaking more of a guest than a PM but I think the jacuzzi tub that is indoors would add less value than additional bedding options. If it were outside that would be a different story as we always book properties with outdoor jacuzzi access. I hope that helps!

Hi!

I would look into the differences between co-hosting and also consider full service Property Management.  Likely a small to medium professionally property management can make you more gross income than self managing which offsets their fee, and most companies take care of everything leaving you free to pursue your job and/or more properties.

Hey @Forest Owen

Medium size PM here from Tampa area.  I am using the app and not able to look up the cases but in 2011 the state of Florida handcuffed all municipalities in allowing any of them to restrict the right of home owners to rent their property for any length of time.  Many municipalities sued and they settled on; if you have a law on the books already you can keep it, but you cannot add one if you do not already have one nor can you amend the current law.  This has been the status quo since.  Indian Rocks Beach had a law but quietly tried to amend it and when they cited a homeowner he sued them and won and now IRB has no law at all.  Hillsborough County made a 7 day minimum but since they have not actively tried to enforce it it is still on the books but the minute they do try to enforce it someone will challenge it and they will lose it too.

I hope this info helps you push back, please let us know how it goes or if I can help further

Quote from @Daniel Murphy:

Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

@Stetson Miller @Daniel Murphy Were you basing pricing off of the ADR provided by AirDNA or are you using AirDNA for pricing?

 No, we originally based our pricing off of what our realtor recommended to us.  In Jan, we drove down with a fully loaded trailer & setup the house. MN to FL with a toddler.  It was crazy busy.  We put more thought into setting up the house than we did into pricing & the mechanics of the business.  We just listed Feb, March & April for the numbers our realtor offhandedly said we could probably get.  

Our property went live while we were driving home.  We were literally at a gas station in Florida when our phones started dinging left & right with booking requests.  I immediately told my wife to go in and shut down April because we were pricing too low! 
As soon as we got home, we signed up for Pricelabs & have been using them for our pricing ever since. 

 Yes you listed right at the peak season and were too low (obviously).  We learned this lesson the hard way too!

Quote from @Anibal Mijangos:

Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

I think it is market dependent.

Our first STR was a beachfront mansion in foreclosure and the owner was happy to oblige and rented us the house for $5,500. It brought in over $30k every month for over a year.

Wow! Incredible find. I can see how it's like looking for a unicorn. That's why I'm thinking I would have to spend a good amount of money on lead gen. Even then it would most likely be a lot of leads but not every one is worth pursuing. 

I'm thinking I'd find a lot of these. Crunching the numbers is going to be huge. 

Thanks for the input Andrew!

 Anytime! If you find something interesting Im happy to look at it for you to make sure you do not miss something. 

I think local PM's are the way to go, though I am biased by being one.  We charge the same as Vacasa in our market and get much better results!