All Forum Posts by: Brad Braun

Time for a new PM good luck with your search!

A good property manager should know the market conditions for the properties he's renting.  If he cannot fulfill this basic duty, it's time for a different PM Company.  A statement like his would be a huge red flag that a) he's a crook b) he has no idea what he's talking about c) he's lazy and doesn't check comps.

Condos near the ocean are really good investments in my opinion too, simply because they a much less startup than an ocean front, have a lot of the same amenities, and you can hit a niche of renters.  For example, we have a 3 br condo on Folly River (back side of Folly Island) that has a beautiful dock/boat slip for fishing, they are 2 blocks from the beach, and in the summer months, our rates equal out to $179 per night per couple if there were 3 couples using the home.  That's cheaper than most Charleston hotels and it's a good price point for many budget conscious renters.

If you have the buying power, nothing in Charleston beats ocean front homes for STR's. Our ocean fronts on Folly do really well and we have a couple on Sullivan's that were grandfathered in (they don't allow new STR's on Sullivan's) that do up to $12,500 a week. IOP is great too, I don't have ocean fronts there, I have one ocean view and two behind the Windjammer and they stay booked a year in advance.

I try to keep out of Downtown for the very reason that the rules keep changing and I don't want to ruin my reputation with a few rules violations.  $200 per night seems reasonable.  I would advertise it on VRBO.com as a 2br and put it up as a weekly rental of like $2500-3500 per week in the peak season.  I would personally like to have one set of renters at a time than two, it's just much easier, the logistics are better, and there's less expectations to deal with.

Jay there are still stipulations Downtown besides the owner occupied status, which the way they'll check on this is by your 4% owner occupied tax status. The new rules also state that the owner must be present in the home while their renter is in place, but I don't see how the City is going to be able to enforce this rule. What's from saying the owner wasn't there and at the grocery store when they stop by to check. I personally think that they are only going to enforce issues like this when the cops are called to a residence for parties, too many cars parked in the streets, loud music, etc. The cops will probably be the ones reporting which residents are on premise when they are called to the address. I know there are STR's still going on down there where the landlord is local but not technically a resident of that home, there will always be people who skirt the rules when money is involved, but if you have a day to blow reading ordinances and rules here's the link: Charleston STR Official Website

I have been in several "hot" markets in my lifetime, nothing like Charleston.  Honestly as a resident, I'd love to see infrastructure changes on par with what's going on in Berkeley County, but at this point it's going to take an act of God to get our streets right.  Charleston blows me away at how well the market does here.  It's driven mainly from out of state money coming here in droves, but if you're in real estate, besides maybe LA and Manhattan, Chucktown is where it's at.

Not in my market, we are in a seller's market on par with 2006 levels.  Our seller's market is being driven by lack of inventory and amount of families moving here daily.  We just had the best September on record and are starting October off very strongly due to demand.  Days on market for most areas of Charleston is less than 7 days.

In my market, where multiple offers are almost guaranteed at certain price points, we present offers typically with a 4 to 12 hour window.  Most of the time the seller's agent will abide by this, sometimes they'll call and ask for more time, but I go in with the goal of winning the bid for my client.  I ALWAYS call the seller's agent ahead of time and try to ask them how can I win their grace and what their client's goals are, and what they're willing to take as an offer.  The seller's agent will most likely have a convo with you to help you structure your offer.  The I structure the offer that favors a quick response and I've already alerted them an offer is coming, then I give them 4 hours to decide.  I hardly ever lose an offer to competing offers unless they're already on the table.

Ovens a relatively cheap and to appease a good tenant I would purchase a new stove, you can recoup some of your expense by selling the used oven on Marketplace or just save it for a rainy day.  

Eat it this time, the work's already been done and then promptly find a new PM, one that communicates better with you.