All Forum Posts by: Cliff H.

@DeWitt Gibson the worst part is they don’t stop when you delist it. Get a number you can kill when you need it.

@Sean Taylor none of those. We’ve been discussing this for a while here on the forums. More here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/topics/822380

@Nicole Perry

Lincoln NH has been considering it. Laconia as well:

https://www.laconianh.gov/881/Short-Term-Rentals

I’ve skied all over the world and followed a similar path described by a few folks here of moving from over a decade in LTRs to now almost exclusively STRs or niche market rentals (NH and VT so far). Happy to connect you with my superstar Realtor, Richard Dale-Mesaros who’s extremely knowledgeable about the NH White Mountain area being an investor himself. 

My advice advice given the explosion of big mountain prices is to get the list of every mountain on the IKON and Epic passes… then immediately scratch them off your short list for investment. Pricing has jumped the shark and unless you’re investing in areas that ski 9/12 months of the year you’re already in a losing proposition counting on only ski rental, particularly when you, yourself, may be competing for those rental dollars! I actually was curious this past week and went poking around looking at prices around the country at various top tier and second tier resorts, often based off those paid-for “best ski towns to invest in” lists that come out each year. The thing is, everyone else is doing the same thing and many of them deeper pockets than your or I. 

Moreover, you need places that will rent out at least 6-9 months out of the year. In contrast to what I assumed, the majority of my rental income here in the northeast comes from summer rentals since that’s school vacation weeks and no matter what you’re charging on ski weekends it’s not matching the rent from an entire week’s summer stay. 

Start looking at the places you’ve stayed yourself and get to know what those places look like in other parts of the year as well. That’s a far more realistic path to identifying a market you’d be comfortable operating in, which is inherently different based on the goals you’ve written down (or are about to write down after reading this). 

@Brad Spuhler have your guests toss towels in the wash and kick off a cycle before they depart. That leaves only one cycle (sheets) for cleaners, who can always use the second set if there’s not enough time. Also poly dries 4x faster than cotton. Helps on dry speeds significantly.

@Max T. Has a point. If you’re concerned about guests leaving windows open those same thermostat apps/software I mentioned above can auto-set temperature in response to windows or doors being left open. I considered doing that with bedrooms whose doors were left open with electric heaters on, but ultimately thought that was a bit heavy handed. Windows in the winter or summer, fair game.

@Peter Amendola have to agree with what others have said: 10% CoC is low. Everyone makes mistakes on deal #1, but you don't want to tie up all your capital on a property making only $200/night. 75% occupancy is also optimistic. You want to plan conservatively and bank optimistically. CoC is also only one metric and probably not the best when buying such an expensive property. I pull ~30 on my LTRs. One STR pulls 65% given a far lower startup cost.

Keep looking.

@Eden Mendel you should know the market enough to know whether the deal makes financial sense before throwing money at a STR. Book yourself a few weekends in area. Know the towns and regulations.

NH is a 3 season state. I’m father north by Waterville. July, August, October, January, February, & March are insane. Everything else is either holiday week bound and break even months at best. That’s New England. If want 4 season rentability, go south. Not complaining (I’ve yet to find a ski mountain on Georgia I like), just stating the reality of our region.

Good luck!

@Carlos H DeOliveira I have basic wifi thermostats that are programmed on 3 separate schedules: daytime, nighttime, and when the house is empty. All adjust based on time and occupied status through a SmartHub or Alexa, whichever you find easier. Most smart systems like these have simple apps to use to set these routines up. This avoids locking guests out, just resets their setting 2x/day.

If you want something similar without all the tech, I’ve also used this model with a hidden max limit for my my all utilities included rental: BRAEBURN 1025NC Thermostat, Non-Programmable, Heat Only https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00A3LGHJO.

Enjoy!

@Gene Hacker, found your post looking for the same feedback. I'm on TurnoverBnB now and while it's loaded with features, their actual app/website design's pretty poor. Evaluating other options going forward, Breezeway included. I'll circle back here with more once I've had a chance to get hands on with it.