All Forum Posts by: Hailee Money

I prefer a hotel for a few nights stay, and an Airbnb for longer stays. If I stay in an Airbnb, it is usually to be able to have a kitchen and other amenities that will save me money over the course of a few weeks (having a coffee maker/coffee, kitchen supplies, etc). If I use Airbnb, the Airbnb I book must have those amenities if I am going to book it over a hotel. The con to Airbnb for me is the lack of those "extra" amenities that make it feel it feel luxurious. For example, a hot tub, daily house keeping, continental breakfast etc. 

However, I currently have an Airbnb in Magna, Utah and would much prefer people to only stay a few nights at a time because more bookings = more cashflow for me. Maybe I should start to provide more hotel like amenities like daily house keeping and a hot tub...

@Miles Morrison I just worked with one agent Mike Hancock. I actually met my real estate agent while going through open houses in West Jordan in May of 2019. I asked him a few questions about the property he was showing and he knew from the questions I asked that I was a fan of bigger pockets. He happened to be an investor and bigger pockets fan as well! Both properties I own were purchased with this agent. Since my agent has a good understanding of investing he has been extremely helpful in the whole process. 

@Nicole Droitsch by "outside of Salt Lake City" I mean Magna, UT! With the airport and i-80 only a few minutes away from my property this is a great location for a short term rental. I am looking forward to when we are able to have concerts/events again because the venue The Great Saltire is only a few minutes away from the property as well. Magna has been growing for a while, but since I have been there (Oct. 2020), it has seemed to start booming even more and even faster (extra perk for me!).  Airbnb collects the taxes for me in Magna, it depends on the city though, some cities you will have to collect your own taxes and make sure that the city even allows Airbnb.  

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $326,000
Cash invested: $38,000

This is a 4 bed 2 bath single family home with a full mother-in-law kitchen in the lower level.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This property was really close to my full time job (I was driving 50 miles a day before this). This property already had 2 units set up and was in an area that was growing, just outside of Salt Lake City. My initial analysis was for this property to be a long term rental, but I think I had some rose colored glasses on while I was looking at rental rates in this area.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

This deal was on the MLS, at this point in time properties were only on the MLS for a day at a time in this area. My realtor asked the sellers what we could offer other than money (since other buyers were offering $15k or more above asking) that would put us above other offers. The sellers wanted an extra week to move, that is what we offered and it was accepted!

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional lending

What was the outcome?

After listing this as a long term rental and realizing that I could not charge what I needed to per month for this to be a good deal, I was a little scared I trapped myself in a bad situation. I had recently seen a YouTube video about how to run an Airbnb business, so I thought I could list it to see if anyone even looked at the property. I posted the pictures at 5 pm (they were NOT professional, I only posted them to see what would happen with no expectations).

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I woke up to bookings made up to 3 months out! I quickly changed focus and furnished the unit for Airbnb. I have slowly added amenities as I have been hosting since I had not initially expected to be running it as an Airbnb. I learned that no matter what curve ball the market (or my lack of research) throws at me, there is a way to make it work. Keep an open mind, as something you may have never expected might be the solution to your problems.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in Ogden.

Purchase price: $243,000
Cash invested: $17,000

This property was purchased as a 6 bed 2.5 bath, single family home. The basement was converted into a second unit while my business partner and I lived in it and rented out the top unit as a 3 bed 1.5 bath.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Getting a deal that would provide me and my business partner with a free place to live was priority. This property was perfect because it is in a college town where we were able to rent out the upstairs while we lived in and converted the basement into a second unit.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

This deal was on the MLS, this was the second time it was listed. I have a great realtor who negotiated this deal. Sellers paid all closing, they lived out of state and wanted to get it off their hands.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional lending

How did you add value to the deal?

My business partner and I built a second unit in the basement. We have also rehabbed the yard and plan on adding A/C.

What was the outcome?

This property cash flows very well for my business partner and I, we almost think it was too good to be true.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I learned the reality of "anything is possible if you put your mind to it". I had never even used a drill before this deal, but was able to learn enough from YouTube to build an entire kitchen!! Real estate investing was not my plan, I only learned about it 5 months before purchasing this property. I am very grateful I had to opportunity to work on this property and to learn how easy real estate makes it to invest and become financially free.