All Forum Posts by: Heather Brown

@Heather Brown just to be clear, I didn't mean Facebook market place - totally agree with you about the riffraff there. What I meant is that there are many pages dedicated to travel workers on facebook, like "travel nurse housing" or "pacific northwest travel nursing" etc where you find travelers looking for spaces and hosts sharing their listings. I've had good success there.

@Bonnie Low Ahh okay yes that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying!

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Quote from @Dan D.:

@Heather Brown

Hey there, Found your listing, Nice Place, Great area!! very family oriented location with great schools and community. My honest opinion your property would suit better for long term rentals. A good target client is maybe a military family which likely would get moving assistance etc and qualify for BAH. Looking for around 2200-2500 for my property unfurnished without utilities included for a comparison (5brd 3 bath SFH 4 miles away).

May work better as a STR for people visiting family as it's fully furnished. I've had friend and family use similar properties as yours in great bridge. Best of Luck!

Hi @Dan D. Thanks your reply! Cool that you were able to find the listing and that you have a rental nearby.

I was definitely thinking of military and healthcare as my biggest potential market. I had planned to do str as part of my strategy but the City has not been cooperative with that. I thought I had done my DD on the local regulations, but lesson learned. Instead of only searching online I will call and talk to people next time. Chesapeake does not permit str's, but that is a whole other story ugh.

Have you been successful with your rental in that 2200-2500 range? That is for ltr I presume? If so, how long did it take to get a tenant?

Thanks again!

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Chesapeake, Virginia

Quote from @Sarah Weaver:

Hi Heather! A few questions and comments to help here:

- The MTR market is not as in line with the LTR market because of employment demand (so it will not see the full slowdown that LTR vacancies do this time of year), but there is definitely a slight seasonal slowdown at play. I have seen fewer leads than usual for my properties, too. I expect that things will pick back up after the holidays.

- If you do not mind sharing the link to your listing, it would be helpful so I and others on the thread can give advice about how to spruce it up.

- Do you have the unit cross-listed on Furnished Finder and another platform, like Airbnb?

- I agree with Dezmon's note about analyzing your listing to see how it stacks up against the competition. Compare your amenities and price to what else is on the market.

I would also encourage you to reach out to other investors who have furnished rentals in the area to ask about their experience with occupancy this time of year.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

Hi @Sarah Weaver, Thanks so much for your reply!

I am a bit relieved to hear that you and others have noticed a little bit of a seasonal slowdown. That could help explain part of it. I'm sure the last thing people want to do is move in the middle of the holidays.

I have listed on several sites so far including; Furnished Finder, Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads, Avail, Zumper, Padmapper, Apartments.com, Apartmentlist.com, and Realtor.com. I also listed on airbnb, temporary housing network, and ale solutions.

I do belong to a couple of FB groups for fellow str/mtr investors in the area so I can reach out to them as well.

I'll post my FF listing if you have time to take a look that would be awesome!

Hopefully the link will post on here. Its:

https://www.furnishedfinder.co...

Thanks again!

I'm reading your book right now and it's great! :-)

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Chesapeake, Virginia

Quote from @Dezmon Robertson:

Hey Heather, there is slower demand. However, there is still a MTR market. If people aren’t renting your property, then it means that you aren’t competitive against the other available housing options. The questions to answer would be why potential renters are choosing another property over yours. It could be price, or it could be a number of other factors which you said you’ve already started exploring some of those.

There is definitely a combination of competitive factors to get your home rented. I always opt to try and be competitive in all other factors primarily before resulting to price drops so that we can get the best price that we can in the homes we manage. With that being said, you can continue addressing those as best as you can or sacrifice revenue to get renters in.

I hope this helps!

Hi @Dezmon Robertson, thanks a lot for your insight! As you said, I have taken care to make the place and the listing as nice, and as desirable as possible, so that is why I'm reluctantly down to considering lowering the price. I think I will likely have to lower for now, but maybe in a few months I can get back up to where I need to be for the cash flow. Thanks again!

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Chesapeake, Virginia

Quote from @John Mausteller:

Hey Heather! I usually just do STRs but I would look at your competition, what are they charging and what amenities they are offering, and if they are booked more. I do also think to some degree, it is always the price - so if you are able to go down more, say $2500 and still make it work for you, maybe do that, get someone in there for a few months and then try for 2800 or 3000 for the next renter.

Hi @John Mausteller, Thanks for your input. Looking at the comps, I did feel like I was competitive based on what I was offering. But like you said, if it's not renting I may have misjudged the market. Right now everything changes so quickly it can be challenging.

I was thinking of the exactly the strategy you mentioned. Maybe lowering the price to 2400-2500 to fit into more searches that people do. I know they'll put filters on price so I may not even be showing up to a lot of people. Then when it is not "slow" season and depending on the market I can bump back up to 2800.

I'm also in the Outer Banks so nice connecting with you here. Thanks again!

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Chesapeake, Virginia

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

If you go to the GSA website and search travel nursing contracts you can get an idea of the per diem for your area. This will give you some idea of what nurses/travel med professionals are being paid but bear in mind that they must have a permanent residence in order to qualify for the out of town per diems so they're usually supporting more than one residence on their pay. Generally speaking, if you're not getting any interest there's usually one of 3 reasons: hospitals in your area aren't using travelers as much or at all, you're asking too much, there's too much competition, or the price isn't appropriate for the finishings of the property. Allowing pets definitely helps. Having one bathroom per bedroom is a plus also. If you haven't already, get on some facebook pages for travel pros in your area. Share your listing. You'll find out right away what the issue is because people don't hold back with their "advice." Good luck to you!

Thanks for info on the GSA website Bonnie. I was not familiar with this at all. I looked for my area and it appears there is a monthly per diem of 2900-3000/month so that tracks with my listing.

Yes, to be honest, I have avoided posting on places like fb marketplace or craig's list because there is so much riffraff but maybe I need to suck it up and do it lol. Thanks again!

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Quote from @Chris Webb:

Put yourself in the renter's shoes, how would you go about making an offer on your place? What comps in the area justify your rental price from a renter's perspective?

Thanks for the reply Chris. I looked at the comps and unfurnished ltr's go for 1800-2100/month, so with the utilities at ~ $500 and the entire place furnished, and the benefit of not being locked into a yearly lease, I came up with the $2800. Trying to hit that sweet spot between being competitive but still have some cash flow. Maybe I missed the mark though.

1 Vote

Quote from @Patrick O'Shea:

It seems there is a Tier 1 hospital in the area, Norfolk General Hospital. I've heard Tier 1 and 2 hospitals are better for getting traveling nurses. Have you listed on Airbnb? 30% of their rentals are 30+ days. If your struggling to get rented going to one of the largest market places might be a good idea. I've been doing mid-term rentals for 6 months and they don't seem seasonal in my area. I 2 new tenants moving in this month until spring. Searching for mid-term rental on YouTube can get you plenty of results for people sharing their expectations and experiences.

Thanks for all of your thoughts on things Patrick. Appreciate the help. I have listed on several sites so far including; Furnished Finder, Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads, Avail, Zumper, Padmapper, Apartments.com, Apartmentlist.com, and Realtor.com. I also listed on airbnb, temporary housing network, and ale solutions.

Yes there are several hospitals in the Chesapeake area, and there is also a huge military presence as the world's largest naval base, so lots of need for transient housing. That was why I thought it would be a good market for mtr.

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Looking for some feedback on rent amount. I have a property in Chesapeake VA that I am marketing as a MTR; however, it has been on the market for over a month now with no real bites. I have tried lots of things to help; posting on additional sites, opting to allow pets when I didn't initially, lowering the rent by $200; lowering the cleaning fee, etc.

Opinions welcomed and I know this is dependent on a lot of factors.

It's a 2BR 2.5BA townhouse, lakefront, convenient central location, safe neighborhood, completely and newly furnished, TV's, W/D, fully stocked kitchen, king size bed, deck and balcony overlooking lake, professional photos, video walkthrough.

Utilities all included along with furnishings.

MTR, so month to month leasing option.

I initially listed it for $3000/month, then lowered it to $2800 a few weeks ago.

Is it too high still do you think? That's why it's not renting?

Or is this just a slow time of year?

Thanks for any insight.

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Opinions welcomed and I know this is dependent on a lot of factors.

Utilities all included along with furnishings.

MTR, so month to month leasing option.

I initially listed it for $3000/month, then lowered it to $2800 a few weeks ago.

Is it too high still do you think? That's why it's not renting?

Or is this just a slow time of year?

Thanks for any insight.

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Chesapeake, Virginia

All Forum Posts by: Heather Brown

Heather Brown has started 4 posts and replied 38 times.

Post: Chesapeake VA Is my rent ask too high??

Post: Chesapeake VA MTR Input on Rental Amount

Post: Chesapeake VA MTR Input on Rental Amount

Post: Chesapeake VA MTR Input on Rental Amount

Post: Chesapeake VA MTR Input on Rental Amount

Post: Chesapeake VA Is my rent ask too high??

Post: Chesapeake VA Is my rent ask too high??

Post: Chesapeake VA Is my rent ask too high??

Post: Chesapeake VA Is my rent ask too high??

Post: Chesapeake VA MTR Input on Rental Amount