All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

Well this is a new one for me so I'm wondering what others have done. I have a prospective midterm guest who is an international bible college student wanting to rent our MTR from July - December. She is in the final year of her ministry program but also is a full time remote worker for an accounting firm in her home country of Colombia. I attempted to do a background check but as she doesn't have a US Social Security number, I was unable to. She did provide me with copies of her bank statements, pay stubs and a letter from her HR department confirming her employment as well as prior landlord references here in the US. I don't have her credit score, eviction history (just WOM form her landlords - all good things to say about her), or criminal history that you would normally get from a background check. Is there a way to run a standard background check on someone without a SS#? Or have you satisfied this criteria using some other method? I'm inclined to improve her. I've spoken to her and her references and everything is checking out, but I'm just trying to do my due diligence and thought I'd ask for suggestions. Thanks!

Yep, you need to cover all utilities, though it's becoming more common to put a cap on certain costs, primarily electricity, although I've seen caps on gas and water in areas where those utilities are very expensive. You don't want your guest putting utilities in their own names because this is one of the items that is part of the litmus test in certain jurisdictions for establishing residency and therefore conveying long term tenant rights. It is also very inconvenient for you to manage one guest putting utilities in their name then within a short time frame having to make sure all of those utilities get switched over to the new guest. And like others said, most people don't want or need the hassle - they'll just move on to the next property. Just make sure you price your place accordingly.

It's really hard to say without seeing your property. I understand the hesitancy to post your listing but for anyone to evaluate it honestly, they'd need to see it. There have been some good suggestions here already. Marketing, photos, pricing, competition. I'm sure you're doing all those things. I know your market and know that $2750 isn't bad for a space in Berkeley, but it depends on the space. Is it a shared home? How many beds/baths? Parking? How clean and safe is the neighborhood? @Jamie Banks and I have recently launched a virtual meetup for MTR operators called The MTR Connect. We have a weekly call and one of the features is called Share My Space. This is an opportunity to share your property on a live call to ask questions, get feedback and suggestions and have others help troubleshoot it for you. You might benefit from that. Let me know if you'd like to participate and I'd be happy to send you a link. We're keeping the group small for now.

Hi Dana and congrats on getting started investing. Also, thank you for what you do as a travel nurse. Travel nurses hold a special place in my heart because my husband was hospitalized for a long time and we met so many special travel nurses and other medical professionals ; )  That said, the niche of medium term rentals is growing every day. Travel medical professionals are just one of the potential targets but it really takes the right property in the right location. The PNW is always a good bet as far as people coming to the area. There are just so many reasons people travel there and there are plenty of hospitals. I imagine you'd find plenty of digital nomads in your area as well. Construction workers and other large employers in need of employee housing, too. The downside to the PNW are the prices. That is going to make finding a deal that makes sense difficult, especially in this interest rate environment. You mentioned house hacking, which is probably going to be one of your better options. If you want to stay local, I'd encourage you start there. If you want to venture a little further but aren't ready to go cross country, look into the tri-cities area in eastern WA. It's driveable for you, less expensive and has some surprisingly strong metrics supporting it. Good luck!

Medium term rentals is a broad and growing niche. There are strategies that fit any of those configurations as well as others. From the travel nurse looking for a 1/1 to the high bed count pad split-type option where it's about maximizing beds for itinerant guests like airline crews. The key is to figure out what is in demand and under supplied in your area and what your particular property is suited to. Make sure to consider the bathroom count, too. I've seen many people put a 3/1 or even a 4/1 into service and wonder why they're not getting any bookings. If you intend to do the rent by room strategy the ideal situation is for each guest to have their own bathroom or, at the most, to have to share it with one other person. But they won't pay a premium for this so price accordingly. If you haven't purchased a property yet, be sure to look at others in your market using sources like Furnished Finder, Airbnb for longer stays and even Zillow and apartments.com which are both showing more and more furnished listings. Look at the properties themselves to see what the competition looks like in terms of quality and amenities to make sure you can be competitive and look at their calendars to see how much demand there is.

Quote from @Michael M.:

Hello, I’m considering turning my primary residence into a rental and moving out of state. It’s a 3000 sf 5 bed 3.5 bath new build (2022) with really nice finishes. We bought at the peak of the market in 22, and can’t stomach the loss in equity + paying an agent to sell. Our plan is to hold the house 5 years + until the market comes back, or possibly just holding it long term. 

I'm considering either the STR or LTR strategy, but haven't quite decided which would be better / less of a headache.

Mortgage is roughly 3250 and I think we could rent for 3450 to 3600. Not sure on how much I could airbnb it. We're located in Buda which is a bit outside of Austin, but still only about 20 mins from downtown, so I think there's still good STR possibilities.

Im curious if anyone has any advice or things to keep in mind when doing something like this as it will be our first rental. Curious if anyone here has gone through something similar and could share their thoughts / advice. 

You're not going to cash flow as a LTR if you use a property management company. There's not enough spread between your mortgage and the LTR rates to leave much of anything after they take their cut. Are you prepared to self manage? If so, it's definitely doable but, again, it won't be cash flowing much and maybe you're ok with that. You're in a great area that will always be popular. I think Austin is pretty restrictive on STR regulations but that might not apply in your area. Use a tool like STR Insights to analyze STR potential in your area. Your property may have potential as an MTR. There's potentially a use case as an insurance placement as this is the type of home that can bring high dollar insurance contracts if done right. 

Quote from @Peter Tomeczko:

@Bonnie Low

Do not use them. Scam. Check their real reviews online and BBB reviews. They steal peoples money.

 Hmmm...they've been around for quite a while and are quite professional. My interactions with them have always been good. Sounds like you had a bad experience. 

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

Do you need to be in Seattle proper or are you open to other surrounding areas? I know James Dainard from Heaton-Dainard likes to invest in Spokane. You may be able to find a value-add property there that gives you an equity option in the short term.

 Sorry - not Spokane. I meant Tacoma!

Do you need to be in Seattle proper or are you open to other surrounding areas? I know James Dainard from Heaton-Dainard likes to invest in Spokane. You may be able to find a value-add property there that gives you an equity option in the short term.

Hi, George. Welcome and congrats on getting started in REI early!