All Forum Posts by: Aubrey Maldonado

@Kamilla Altunyan Yes, I have and so far it has been a good experience. I bought a new construction townhouse in 2020 that my husband and I lived in for a year before turning into an Airbnb. I'm glad we live in it first because there were several after-construction repairs that needed to be made. It wouldn't have been too much of a problem to schedule the repairs as a rental but I'm glad we were able to see them through. We have another townhouse under contract waiting for construction to complete and plan on renting it out long term, so I'm curious to see how this one goes.

What I like is jumping into a new development early (mainly in Phase 1 of a builder's development) because the builder generally raises prices as they build. In the case of our 2020 townhouse, the market in Sneads Ferry, NC, has supported the price increases to the point that we now have about 100k in equity and it's only two years old.

I've also liked the peace of mind that comes with a newer property because all of the main systems are fresh.

As many have pointed out, with the way the market is right now, it's tough to find on-market deals for long term rentals right now. It's not impossible, but definitely hard to do. I'm in the Topsail area between Jacksonville and Wilmington, NC. The area around Jacksonville, NC, and where I'm located in Sneads Ferry, are growing areas with more affordable prices than what I expect you're probably dealing with in Charlotte. It's still very competitive, but you'd have a better chance of finding something in the $250-300k range in Jacksonville, NC. 

Topsail is great for short term rentals if you decide that's the way you want to go. The price range is going to be a little higher on Topsail but it's a friendly area to STRs.

There are still off-market deals in NC as well. It's much harder to find and multi-family is limited, but it's not impossible. Like many have said, you never know someone's situation. Some sellers want to get top dollar in this market, so they list their property. Others sell off-market because they don't want everyone to know they are selling or to see the condition of the property. Often, if you build a trusting relationship with the seller, they choose to go with you because they trust you to care for their property.

The main thing I'd recommend if you're not sure whether you're analyzing deals right is to define the criteria that would make it a good deal for you or ask other investors what criteria make a property a deal for them. If you haven't already joined a local investor group or meetup, I highly recommend it. You can network and ask people how they analyze their deals. 

Once you have your criteria set (or someone else's), go on Zillow or Realtor.com and start analyzing the opportunities. You can also go on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist to analyze any deals there. I use the BP calculators to analyze and I know others who use spreadsheets to do the same. To me, the BP calculators are the most efficient way to do multiple evaluations quickly.

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $183,265
Cash invested: $16,500

Short-term rental listed on Airbnb near North Topsail Beach, NC. The townhouse was newly built when we bought it as our primary residence in 2020. The use of a VA Loan and being a new build allowed us to put little cash into the deal.

Guests are allowed to use the garage in my STR for now. I've thought about turning it into a game room in the future it's difficult to decide which is more advantageous for the guest experience. Our longer-stay guests have specifically appreciated use of the garage. The BnB is in a townhouse development with minimal parking other than driveway space (one can fit a large vehicle or two small with a tight squeeze) and garage. The rest of the community parking is on a first-come-first-serve basis and fills up quickly.

@Zachary McDonough Love the idea! This is part of my husband's and my vision for our future and it's awesome to see others with the same idea! It's also a good strategy for buying property in a hot seller's market. If you're in the right STR market, it gives you the opportunity to have a better rent-to-price ratio, meet the 1%/2% rule, and higher cash on cash ROI. The downside (as people have mentioned) is STRs are much more hands-on. It's pricier to hire short-term rental property management if you don't want to do it yourself. I have yet to come across a good STR property manager in my area, so we're currently doing it ourselves. We just started with our first short-term rental this month and we are pleased with how it has gone so far. We have a townhouse 5.5 miles from N. Topsail Beach in NC. We used a VA loan to purchase the property so it started as our primary residence before we converted it into a short-term rental.

I know others who have used vacation property or second home loans and they're great options for this strategy. Mostly because they require less cash to get it going. From the lenders I've spoken to, the vacation property/2nd home loan allows you a 10% down payment as opposed to conventional investment property financing where you need 20-25% down most of the time. You do have to live in the property a certain amount of time for it to be considered a vacation home; but with your strategy, I'm guessing this shouldn't be a problem. Hope it helps!

Hey @Michael Spine, It's competitive but not impossible to find a cash flowing property. I'm a Realtor and investor and would be happy to help you with your search. I've made several connections through networking at local meetups in Wilmington that may help as well. Message me if you want to connect and discuss more!

@Patricia Taveras, you're welcome :) it's Wednesday, July, 28, at 5:30 p.m.

@Eugene Rabinovich, I'm on the coast of NC between Jacksonville and Wilmington and expect quite a bit of growth in the next 3-5 years. Maybe longer...we'll see. We've seen immense growth for several years, and I expect more to come. 

Right now, my husband and I are looking at markets we know personally and where the military is located. We like to see a growing population and civilian jobs within reasonable driving distance of the bases in the area. The military and contracting jobs associated with the bases provide more of a stable environment for rental property investors when things go sideways like the shutdowns last year. There's also a good short-term rental market in the area we live and invest currently. We like markets that are friendly to short-term rentals and I know that will be a big part of our decision-making process with future areas we invest in.

Do you have a way of determining markets you want to invest in?