All Forum Posts by: Bruce Woodruff

If the monthly NET profit is truly -$100 (I would bet that it's actually less than that), then I would sell and move on. UNLESS.....you can see a serious amount of appreciation coming up in the next 5 years or so. Like enough to double the value......?

Quote from @Paulina Le:

Thanks Bruce! Here's a link to my listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1455945416456118650

Yes, I have checked my competitors and updated my pricing to be lower than them for the next 30 days. 

Good to know about Vrbo - I will dedicate some time this week to focus on that.

First of all...beautiful place you have! Congrats!

Second - For me to book it for a weekend in early August, it would be $265 per night. Based on a (admittedly quick) search, it seems you are on the high side... I would drop it even lower for a while and garner a few 5 star reviews.

Just my $.02

What condition is it in that you think it needs a steam cleaner? If it's that bad it might be better to just replace it? Pictures?

As a GC who used to work with the occasional investor.....I found them to be cheap and picky....they usually did not have enough budget to do what needed to be done and still make a profit. They wanted Tier 1 work for Tier 3 dollars. Plus they usually wanted no permits of course.

I started to avoid these like the plague and would urge every GC to do the same. Unless you can identify, right up front, that the Investor has deeper pockets and is fair to Contractors...

It always makes me chuckle when I see the phrase 'Investor friendly Contractor'....that means that the investor wants someone who will do what they want for less $$. You will only get that from a) Unlicensed Contractors, b) Brand new Contractors c) Contractors that are desperate for work. 

No one would want to work with any of the above....right?

Single piece tub for sure. Iron is better, but fiberglass is fine too. $100 at Home Depot. Tile the walls with larger tiles for less grout joints. Put in a wall niche for bottles, and a tile ribbon for eye candy. Easy peasy....

Quote from @Xavier Robinson:

I've been thinking about after graduation and I don't know what I'm gonna do I want to know what route would make me the most successful and would benefit me the most, I want to know if most people go to college to get there degree or start on real estate right after they graduate highschool

The trend now is to forego the traditional college route and enter the 'blue-collar' market. Same pay (generally), easier to get going, you don't waste 4-5 years of your life......and most importantly, you don't accumulate massive debt.

For someone wanting to enter the REI market, it is almost silly to mess with College (IMHO), if only because you give up those 4-5 years obtaining a degree you will never use, while your competition is busy snapping up properties and learning the rules of the game.

Of course, you will need money to play this game....either yours or someone elses. So...identify a good career path (I'd go with Electrician), start saving every penny you can, and get busy on this Forum asking questions and learning......

Yeah, ya can't put implied/potential risk into a spreadsheet.....

James, buy more or larger magazines...

I like your thinking.....but not sure if it is any more legal to require them than to ban them.....call a local Firearms Attorney and ask the question.

Quote from @Mailyn Lee:

Hmmm, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I have a part time job right now, I hopefully found someone that can guide me but what does it take? I haven't seen the whole process, I haven't got my license. 

 As @Sean Smith said, it depends on your ultimate goals...

If you want to actually WORK as a Realtor, then you need to get your license. But if you are going to be a RE Investor, then it is a huge waste of time and money. You have almost zero pluses and a bunch of negatives. I had a RE license years ago, along with my GC license. Never needed or ised the RE license. Do a search here, there are many posts abut this and the answers are all the same.

I used to have a couple of STRs in the Prescott area....Thoughts - 1) Give us a link so we can really help. 2) Have you manually checked your competition to see what they offer/how they're priced/how booked they are 3) Definitely use VRBO! I got (at times) about 1/2 of my listings from them. I prefer their kind of guests and they can be a major player, don't neglect them!