All Forum Posts by: Anne-Marie Singer

@Mike Grudzien We are thinking of moving out of our home and turning it into an investment property as a short term to mid-term rental. I am trying to understand how refinancing from a primary into an investment property mortgage affects the numbers. Assuming this is the correct thing to do if we’re planning to rent it liability wise because our insurance is so for a primary owner occupied and that would have to be changed as well. Are these assumptions correct?

@Myka Artis thank you for your response. I have been comparing Guesty, Hospitable, Hostfully and Lodgify so I appreciate your insight having used most of these. Lodgify mostly because they seem more specific to homeowners like me managing one property (for now) rather than property managers however you bring up an important point with the Marriott Homes and Villas. Do you know anything about Plum Home?

Hello! Newbie here! I have one, high-end ,beachfront short term vacation rental that I am about to list on AirBnB and VRBO. This is my first property and foray into vacation rentals. I have been researching PMS for single property managers of STRs and would love to know what software platforms experienced property managers recommend to people like me. I am considering: Guesty, Lodgify, Hostaway, Hospitable, and Hostfully. Open to other recommendations as well and one more rookie question:  do I need to create individual listings for each platform (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com) and link them to the PMS afterwards, or is there a PMS feature that lists your property on each of the platforms for you? Thank you!!!!

How much higher are mortgage rates for short term investment properties than typical primary home rates?

Does this change in different markets?

Mark, thank you. This is all very helpful. A few couple follow up questions for you if you're willing:

On Listing Ownership: with respect to VRBO and not losing reviews, can you explain how that can work? You mentioned transparency on the managers part from the start, what exactly do you mean?

On Fee Transparency: Are you saying the 22% fee should include just the nightly/listed fee and exclude all the other fees (admin, amenity, booking, cleaning, etc.) charged to the guest? In at least one of the Agreements I am reviewing, 22% is on the 'rental rate' which includes all of these fees. Seems to be exclusive of only tax.

Aside from the baked in fees, it doesn't mention explicitly if they markup maintenance, repairs, supplies, cleaning, etc..

Is this typical? Thank you!!!

Newbie here. First STR property about to go live; just finished renovation. I am ready to list the property and have interviewed a couple of vacation home property managers who are pursuing the listing. They both charge 22%, which is typical in our market for high-end beach vacation rentals. I would love to hear any tips, insights, etc, from those who have worked with property managers. For example, I want to ensure that the listings on VRBO, Airbnb, and other platforms belong to us and not them, so that if/when we terminate the contract, we retain the history, reviews on our property. I don't know what I don't know, so I appreciate all of your feedback. Thank you-