All Forum Posts by: Elton Tate

Thanks for the response @Lauren Kormylo!

I agree with what you mentioned. I personally like to set the thermostat to 68, because I like it really cold. But in the house, me and my wife slept comfortably at 70. I'm thinking of adjusting my ranges to 68-78, and updating the scheduler to revert the range to 72-74 a couple times a day. It may help with the situation.

Thanks for the response @Chris Watson!

I honestly care little about the savings, and more about the AC turning off due to overheating. It happened a couple times while living there. I believe we resolved the issue, but want to be on the safer side. Before locking the thermostat, I gave guests the option to adjust the thermostat. First thing they did, turn it down to 65 all day and night. Then I locked it at 68 and they did the same. My thoughts were the same as yours, but each guest would continue to set it as low as possible. Now with heat, people do tend to be a bit more reasonsable. With the AC, the goal is to go as low as you can.

Thing I take away from your post is to let the guests know ahead of time. If I need to unlock it so they can set it at a desired temperature, then I need to be open to do so. If the AC goes out, the AC goes out. We will all at least know why.

Hey everyone!

I was hoping to share some exciting news about our new rental home, but that’ll have to wait. I have a quick question for you all: Should you disclose a locked thermostat to guests? If you’re curious about why I’m asking, here’s some background:

Background:

During a recent stay, we had two guests with their dogs in our Airbnb rental. The thermostat was locked between 70°F and 78°F, while outside temperatures were above 80°F. The guests mentioned it was warm inside and requested to lower the temperature to 65°F and unlock the thermostat, noting their dogs were uncomfortable. I declined unlocking the thermostat but offered to lower it to 68°F. They agreed, but the temperature settings reverted during the night due to the thermostat’s learning mode. I adjusted the settings again and reset the learning mode.

Aftermath:

The guests left a 3-star review, citing the thermostat is locked and an unreported problem with neighboring kids wanting to pet their dogs. They marked down accuracy and value. I responded to the review and contacted Airbnb support, who removed the review for being biased.

Next Steps:

I’m considering updating our Airbnb policies based on this experience and any advice you can provide. Thanks in advance for your input!

Thanks @Michael Smythe, I will take a look at those areas.

Hey @Michael Smythe, I should have stated that the person I'm working with is more familiar with the Saginaw market, and not the Detroit market. He is experience, but not in Detroit. I guess you could say he's as inexperienced as me, and not use to seeing this as well.

The areas I'm looking at are more desirable than most. I'm looking in the East English area, since I use to live in the area. The 48235 area, since I grew up in the area, familiar with each of the blocks. And the islandview area, along with the new center area. I'm just looking in really tough areas, that everyone wants to be apart of. 

 Hey @Travis Biziorek,

The homes so far have been between 90 K to 130 K, I think only one was under 100 K. I haven't had too many issues with approaching with finance, it's more so with people not properly updating their statuses. Unfortunately, people are beating me to the punch. Also, I think some real estate agents are holding offers until the best one comees in, which poses another problem.

I don't mean to come here to constantly post negatively about the Detroit real estate market, but I'm learning a lot from these conversations. I was hoping to post a success story of acquiring my second investment property by now, but I am still looking for a way to secure it. I recently observed while trying to put in offers to seemingly available properties. Real Estate agents are not changing the status of the property when they accept an offer. A person mentioned this could be due to preventing others from lowballing if the original offer falls through. I get this, but doesn't this practice seem unfair?

Bonus question: Is it best practice to offer at the asking price, even if you discover issues with the property? I assume it will help improve the success rate of acceptance. If the inspection report highlights issues with the property, then you negotiate the price.

@Michael Smythe, I'm new to all of this, I guess. This will be my second property and the first time I will use a DSCR loan.

Hey @Travis Biziorek, I definitely would like to know your contacts.

Thank you for the info, @Luis Astudillo.

Thank you everyone for your feedback! 

@Philip Polski, I will send you a message.

Happy Wednesday!

I hope everyone's week is either going as expected or better than expected. I have questions regarding the DSCR loan process and the associated closing cost. I'm reviewing the loan document, and I noticed that the total closing cost is $12,374. The lender mentioned he overinflated everything, so there are no surprises, and that I should expect a much cheaper final closing cost. The property is located in Detroit, 48224 area. Out of all the things that trip me up in real estate, I think this is the main culprit. The numbers appear to be double what they should be, but maybe I'm mistaken. I want to be more confident when reviewing loan documents.