All Forum Posts by: Collin Hays

I have always favored buying a property that, with a little polish, can achieve much higher rents. Over the weekend, I looked at a property that could do probably 30 percent better in annual rents just with some new photographs!  

Back in 2010, I bought a very old (circa early 1800s) cabin right on the Roaring Fork in downtown Gatlinburg that was an absolute dump.  Junky furniture, soiled carpets. It was awful.  I bought it for super cheap.  We brought in a dumpster and tossed the entire contents of the house and stripped out the carpet to find these amazing, 100 year old hardwood floors.  We refurnished the cabin with functional antiques and played up the "oldness" of the cabin.  It took us about 60 days and $30,000. Rents doubled in year one.

You would be far better off doing just about anything than hiring Evolve or Vacasa. They offer the worst of both worlds - you will still be managing your home, and they will be taking 40 percent of your revenue (despite what their marketing materials tell you).  

Self manage if you have the time, interest, and energy.  But I wouldn't buy anything where the numbers don't work if I had to hire a local PM.  You may get sick of managing and want someone else to do it, at some point.

Why not just self-insure?  Collect the "premiums", and when you have a cancellation, reimburse yourself. You probably can't call it "insurance" in your state, but you could call it "Cancellation Protection" or similar.  Same for "damage waiver".  Both of these are huge profit centers for management companies (although my company offers neither).  

I would be looking in the southern Appalachians. North Georgia, Western NC, eastern TN, even possibly southwest VA and a part of West VA. Favorable destinations, and healthy tax and STR climates.

 Taxes taxes taxes.  The property taxes in Texas will eat your lunch.  Ask me how I know.

You are attempting to kill a fly with a sledge hammer. I agree with John. 

 I am assuming there are go-to retreats within a couple of hours of Chicago.  Find those!

It is one thing to breach code on your own investments, and quite another to advise someone else to do the same.   

I wouldn't hang my hat on that. Just because code isn't being enforced doesn't mean it isn't enforceable. Counties and municipalities have unfettered ability to zone and re-zone areas as they see fit. There is a mountain of case law behind that, too.  It is their sandbox. 

Is it even possible to run a business in California these days?