All Forum Posts by: Dina Schmid

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

I agree with Greg. Security deposits are fully refundable. If you call it a Holding Deposit, you can keep it as damages if the renter fails to meet certain obligations.

I would not agree to hold the property until they pay the money in full. 

If they are willing to pay a deposit a year in advance, you are not charging enough.

Where my daughter goes to school it is quite common to sign leases over 1 year in advance. Most students have signed a lease for their junior year before they've moved out of the dorms Freshman year. I hate the practice. Lots of parents do, but the madness continues. There are always parents of students who have failed out, transferred or chosen to study abroad offering discounted subleases every semester.

Peace of Mind.

I'm rather risk-averse myself. Wouldn't be considering getting into the STR world if I was still carrying a mortgage on my primary residence.

I know your mind is made up on this but I still suggest you look up "planned obsolesence." Today's appliances are designed not to last long. I've had several in my house have issues and most recently replaced my built-in microwave. The control board went out on it, just like the control board once went out on a relatively new front load washing machine. I can guarantee you that neither of those was caused by neglect or misuse.

Quote from @Keagan Scott:

Quote from @Dina Schmid:

The Nashville area is one that my husband and I have been interested in for a vacation home/STR but with all the restrictions on STRs in Brown County we've mostly been looking elsewhere. (We did put an offer down on a property that was just outside of Brown County but lost out on that one.) Does this place have a STR license or can it get one?

This exact home is too close to an existing STR. The rule I was told from the planning folks is at least 0.25 miles from existing STR and at least 250ft from nearest residence. It's a great area, it's just difficult finding the right home

 I'm pretty sure I know exactly which one you are talking about. I shake my head at the 1/4 mile restriction because the idea that you can be prohibited from doing something with your home because one of your neighbors is already doing it doesn't seem right to me. I really think that regulation is ripe for a legal challenge. 

The Nashville area is one that my husband and I have been interested in for a vacation home/STR but with all the restrictions on STRs in Brown County we've mostly been looking elsewhere. (We did put an offer down on a property that was just outside of Brown County but lost out on that one.) Does this place have a STR license or can it get one?

I don't know of any online forums specifically for those severely allergic to pets, but there are for those who have fragrance allergies. We haven't had success buying a place to have as a STR yet, but when we do I'm going to try to make sure that only fragrance free products are used. (I myself am allergic to fragrances, but not to the degree that others in the forum I'm in are.) So if you're looking for allergen friendly, I'd suggest you consider fragrance allergies as well.

Is it a vacation home that you also rent out, or is it a business that you stayed in for 14nights or fewer last year?

I think the 10,000 millionaires Dave Ramsey is talking to are the "Millionaire Next Door" types. There's a lot of them and they didn't leverage debt to get there. Sure, they may have taken on debt at some point for a mortgage, but it wasn't how they grew their assets. They had a career (possibly dual career family), lived below their means and invested. Engineer, accountant, teacher, management and attorney are the careers most likely to produce millionaires. 

It's all in his study of millionaires: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-stud...

Quote from @Toni Escuder:

We've done deliveries in Hocking Hills before. The location can certainly be a challenge and something to think of for sure. Things I would think about when considering furniture deliveries and larger trucks: Are there paved roads up to the house? How sharp are the turns? Would at least a 16 ft truck be able to get to the property? Are there any weight restrictions along the way (i.e., bridges)? We've had FedEx freight refuse deliveries up a mountain before and leave the load at the bottom of the mountain so it definitely can happen. Highway trucks do not have 4-wheel drive (actually had someone ask me this recently) and are not made for off-road environments. 

Also, someone else mentioned it, but I would reconsider a home that made you feel uncomfortable getting to in an SUV. Your guests will complain and that is not something I would want to deal with over and over again. 

So my concerns about getting deliveries weren't overblown and the worst-case scenarios running through my mind are real!

I would never buy a property I wasn't comfortable driving to. The one I mentioned in the original post was one we never even went and visited because the initial approach to the property scared me. I just checked and it's still on the market with the pricing having been dropped over 30% since its initial listing. I have a feeling I'm not the only one who looked at that drive way and said "heck no!"

I'm sticking to easy-ish access properties because peace of mind is too important to me.

Thanks everyone who responded. It sounds like getting furniture and appliances to these places isn't an impossible task, but for my own peace of mind I think I'm sticking to places that aren't that difficult to access.