All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

House hacking is a great way to get started and it's even an option at any point in your life (take it from me - life happens!) You don't necessarily need a multi-family property to house hack, particularly in your situation. Some people absolutely don't want others in their personal home, but if that's not an issue for you you could also consider renting out your primary as an MTR when you and your wife are traveling. That's what I'm doing with mine now. I have a primary home in CA, but I'm traveling for the next couple of months so I'm renting it out. It takes a little work to move your personal belongings out (paperwork, photos, special items), but it's worth it to have someone covering my mortgage and then some while I travel. In my case, I have a 4/2. I've put all my belongings in one of the bedrooms, locked it up, and rent the house out as a 3/2. It's working out great. Just something for you to consider if MF is more than you can bite off to begin with. Good luck to you!

It really just depends on what types of travelers you're attracting to your units. For example, travel nurses often sign their contracts less than a month in advance of their assignment and the typical assignment is 13 weeks. Some extend their contracts and will want to extend their leases, others may have their contracts cut short abruptly. Insurance placement guests tend to be very last minute, often will want to sign an initial 30-day contract and then the amount of time they will extend is very unpredictable but can sometimes be upwards of 9 months. For me, managing lease renewals is not a big deal. I put in my lease terms that I'll be asking the guest 30 days before their lease is due to expire whether they want to extend (IF they've been a desirable guest) and give them first dibs. But if they don't, I'll update my calendar availability and open it back up. Given the infrequency of turnover, it all feels very manageable, especially when using PMS tools that help with messaging and reminders. I typically am not accepting far future bookings. I have enough demand in my area that as soon as one opens up, I'm able to fill it. So it's all very situational and market dependent. The great thing is you get to set your own rules and experiment until you find that sweet spot for you. 

Hi, Anastasia. You might want to join a group I co-host with @Jamie Banks called THE MTR Connect. We meet online Fridays at 9am (PST). It's a group of MTR hosts and aspiring MTR hosts from across the country. It's a great place to connect with other MTR operators who are sharing resources, helping each other trouble shoot, providing advice and mentorship. Let me know if you'd like the invite link. 

I use Furnished Finder for posting my midterm rentals. You're not going to have much luck listing your property without photos, especially if you're in a market with a lot of offerings. Make sure you get professional photos because the bar has really been raised for midterms over the last year. 

That's a very broad question. You'd have to provide more specifics in order to get helpful responses. What type of property and what specific market in Colorado are you in? 

Hi, Zac. I have found that a good rule of thumb is $10k for all your furniture appliances and essentials for an average unit, plus another $2k - $3k per bedroom. Because the competition has really ramped up in most markets, you'll need to have good design, good amenities and a good location that is suited to your ideal guest type. You can't get away with furnishing your properties with cheap, second hand goods any more. Some things can be bargains of course, but make sure you don't cheap out on your beds, your living room furniture and your mattresses. 

This is showing in Zillow as Sold. Has it sold already?

Hi, Jacob - to create a lease I recommend you use an online service like Avail.co or Rocket Lawyer to draft a state-specific lease. I have used both and they're pretty comparable, although I lean towards Avail.  You need to make sure that whatever laws are applicable in your state are included in your lease. It literally only takes minutes to create your lease. Most of these services give you the first couple of leases for free. After that you have to subscribe. The free versions aren't very easy to edit so eventually you will want to have a subscription or have a local attorney draw a lease up for you. 

The other things that are different about midterm rentals are that a) you'll want to vet your guests. NEVER rely on a platform like Airbnb's "verification" process. Run a full background check to see their credit score, prior evictions and criminal record. I use Keycheck for this. Airbnb's "verification" process does none of these things. Basically, it just verifies that they have an ID. It's fast and easy and the guest/tenant pays for it. This is one of the best ways you can protect yourself against problem guests. You'll also need a way to collect your security deposit(s) and rent. I use Baselane for this. I've used other programs for it in the past, but I like that Baselane is both a banking and bookkeeping platform built specifically for real estate investors. Collecting rents is super easy and the bookkeeping features allow me to track all revenue & expenses for each property in a manner that makes filing my taxes at the end of year very easy. 

Bottom line: there are similarities between operating a short term rental and a medium term rental, but the differences are significant to your business.

Quote from @Jess Na:

Hi Bonnie, thanks for contributing your experience. It did seem like a problem that just affected my account, which they have now resolved. Definitely was a pain not being able to transfer anything all week but I'm glad to hear it sounded like a one off. I don't plan on switching without finding the same functionality - I was just hoping it existed in a more stable product already. We'll see! 

I'm glad you got it resolved! That would be frustrating for sure. I think it's healthy to keep our eyes open for products that suit us best, especially as our businesses grow and change over time, so should our systems. That said, bookkeeping is a need-to-have from day 1 and switching down the road can be a total PITA. I plan on sticking with Baselane because it works for me now and because I know they're very open to user feedback and are constantly rolling out new features.

"Flip margin" isn't a metric we usually see. What were your expenses?