All Forum Posts by: Caleb LaBelle

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $473,000
Cash invested: $28,000

My wife and I purchased this as a primary residence and then converted it into a mid-term rental 1 year later. It currently breaks even, but I'm hopeful the cash flow will improve over time!

Oh Amazing!! Thanks @Afoma Okwudiafor. I'm clearly still in the process of learning! Thanks for your help :)

She already booked through July 8th though...

My tenant started a 70 day stay beginning April 29th. She is here in Denver because she is getting special stem-cell treatment for a rare disease that she has and needs to be near the hospital for ongoing appointments. 

On the first day of her stay she told me she will need to cancel early because her nurse needs to move her to a different hospital on the other side of town. Per the cancelation policy, whatever day she cancels, she would NOT be refunded the next 30 days (anything after that she would). She wants June 4th to be her last day, but if she canceled then, she would still have to pay the next 30 days even though she wouldn't be staying there any more. 

Here's the pickle...she seems to be very stressed because she needs to find a new place closer to the new hospital but is worried financially about the expenses for June. One thing I could do to help her out is to have her cancel today and she would pay the next 30 days and then I could have her sign a lease outside of Airbnb that would essentially be FREE (because she already paid for this month technically on Airbnb per the cancelation policy). The other side of me thinks I just need to stick to the Airbnb policy and have her wait until June 4th to cancel. 

What are y'alls thoughts??

My wife and I are converting our current primary into a medium term rental and I need some input. It is a 3/1 house in west Denver, CO. The current plan is set it up for 2 bedrooms and 1 office. It seems like with remote workers we could get more traffic that way. However, when I'm looking at comps on airbnb and furnished finder, it seems like I could rent it out for much more if it had 3 actual bedrooms (I have a master I could put a desk set up in too). The potential issue with that is it seems like most couples and friends traveling together (which is our current tenant pool we were going after) wouldn't want 3 full beds... Thoughts? How would you configure the house? Thanks for any feedback!

@Jeff White Thanks so much for the reply man. There is so much great info here. My partner is out of state and would love to use this place as a vacation home even after I move out, so it looks like my best bet will be Arvada, Littleton or Centennial. (@James Carlson I called the city of centennial and there seems to be no restrictions there either) My main thinking with all of this is that I can only get qualified for a 400k home, but with the help of my partner, we could then get into a more expensive home for still 3.5% down. He will be providing the majority of the capital, while I'm choosing to make the move, managing the airbnb, being the boots on the ground, finding the deal, etc. 

@James Carlson Thanks for the helpful reply my man! Yes, I didn't realize how strict all the laws were...I'm definitely learning a lot already! haha As far as getting pre-qualified, my partner and I are in that process right now. I don't have a number yet, but I anticipate we won't have too much of an issue getting into most properties considering my partner's financial situation. I work down in the Littleton area, so I might consider that, especially since that is one of the only locations that does not require you to have the property be your primary residence. That's also great advice on not being concerned about finding the "perfect deal" I've struggled with that before...Thanks again for all the help! I'm excited to move forward with this!

@Bridget Brazelton thanks for such a helpful response! That's great to know that you can only airbnb a certain amount of days in the year in certain areas. I also am encouraged to know that people are still having success with this strategy in 2020! I will certainly take more time to consider what my exit strategies would be!

Thanks everyone!

I am looking to buy a SFH in Denver or the suburbs, live in a walk in basement and Airbnb the main unit. I am planning on partnering with a family member and using an FHA loan to acquire the property. Here are some questions I have...

1. Has any one tried this in Denver? If so, how did it go?

2. What part of Denver would you recommend?

3. What is the vacancy rate like for Airbnb in Denver right now?

4. Should I expect any challenges to get qualified as an Airbnb host in Denver?

5. Is there anything else that I should know?

Thank you everyone for any advice!!

Hi @Chan Park!

That is so exciting that you want to buy your first property. Way to get the ball rolling man! Is the 45k salary or hourly? If it is salary, you should not have too much of a problem getting a loan (though you will only be qualified based off of that income), but if it is hourly, you typically have to show 2 years of consistent income. Keep pressing on through the obstacles and keep asking yourself "How can I make this work?"

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the great advice and support :) I am definitely excited to start taking some more action!

Love this @Kevin Hunter I appreciate the great advice!!!

Thanks @Brian Gerlach. I love the practicality with this! I will definitely take this all into account :)