All Forum Posts by: Becky Samuel

Any major metro (especially Dallas) will have a lot of demand. 95% of my bookings have not been medical professionals so as long as you're in a good location, know your target demographic, marketing on each channel (Airbnb, VRBO, FF, FB) you'll get booked.

Not sure anyone can really tell you in DFW what the best mid-term market is.

I would think in medical district would be one.....the other near Baylor....think about people with longer term stays like transplants....that can generate 1-2-3 month family stays or longer.....so that's going to be UTSW and Baylor. VA hospital area might be another option, but the area is rougher.

Maybe by JPS in Ft. Worth would be good, but probably the primarily location in/around Fairmont is super expensive, so numbers probably don't work well.  Then when you get much outside that area then it gets bad fast.

Either place might be able to also rent to medical staff, visiting professors and such....but on Furnished Finder I see a lot of backlash.  I see owners charging what I think are pretty fair rents to cover their costs...utilities/washer/dryer/furniture/internet and toys...and such...add in vacancy and convenience and to me owner is not getting rich...but the potential tenants on the other hand feel like they're being gouged....of course they are getting paid 2x probably what permanent staff is making, but then don't want to give that up to pay for increased housing costs.   I get it, but there seems to be some disconnect.

Might also look around the universities like UNT and UTD.   Probably near TCU and SMU the price/rent ratio doesn't work well.

One thing I would suggest is don't just put it on AirBnB or VRBO or furnished finder......put in on MLS with a great realtor. That's where we're looking for property for our clients. We're never looking on AirBnB or VRBO....so you can be potentially missing a lot of bookings of great clients. Of course you are going to have to share profit with the realtor for helping place that tenant...but maybe no more than you would the booking sites.

Hi! I just listed my first MTR in Arlington on Airbnb and Furnished Finder. The Airbnb listing went live Friday, but my Furnished Finder profile has been up for weeks now. The Tenant leads have been very few and none so far that meet my price range at the moment. Check out Jesse Vasquez on Youtube. He has great information on how to obtain your own leads. He wrote the bonus chapter in the 30-Day Stay book. I will keep you updated to see what type of activity or interest I draw with this strategy.

It sounds to me like they are just conducting normal business and describing it in a different way.  All agents look for "off-market" deals.  They are just looking to list them or they have a buyer looking for a specific type of property.

The 6-month commitment isn't concerning.  If I was putting in work to find you an off-market deal, I would want you committed to following through since I don't get paid unless we close.  This is also why there is a 3% fee on all purchases.

@Becky Samuel, "charges a 3% buyers fee on all deals...", is this the case for on-market properties as well? It should not be if so. Furthermore, you need to read the contract and confirm that the real estate agent will represent you for on-market deals as well. I understand the brokerage's strategy, the agency is incentivizing homeowners to sell their property off-market so the seller does not have to incur any commission fees. Ask the broker to present to you past deals to get a sense of how those looked and if they meet your criteria. Off-market deals can be great at times, but if the seller is not being realistic and asking for higher than market value then it just ends up wasting everyone's time. Hope this helps!