All Forum Posts by: Melissa Nash
Melissa Nash has started 15 posts and replied 652 times.
Post: What platform can I use to collect STR payments outside of Airbnb?
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
I love guesty for hosts- it builds out a website and hosts it, collects payments adds insurance. Etc. I highly recommend it for doing it quickly- you an do it in about 10 min start to finish- it just takes your data from airbnb.
best of luck!
Post: How much negative cash flow is too much
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
This might be controversial-- Its NOT all about the cashflow, despite the hype. ESP in a Socal Market. Assuming a loan at 2.5% is a no brainer. Market appreciation and rental increases happen at a very very high rate. Lets work the math backwards...
what would you be paying if the property was a 7.5% interest rate? I bet its close to that $800-1000 month right?
So, I would say do it- but plan out the math a bit more.
What is the average market appreciation rate in your area?
Inflation is over 7%- and you are locked in at 2.5% (win)
And rental increases are?? National average is 3%- assuming yours is higher?
tax benefits (loss on paper for taxes) WIN
And run the math and see what it looks like in 3, 5, 10 years. I am betting you will be ahead with all the things I mentioned.
Post: Out of State Investing
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
Are you looking to do the work yourself? Find distressed properties and hire out the work? That is pretty tough at a distance unless you know what you are doing and have a good team. I did over 50 renovations the last 5 years in another state and got taken advantage of plenty- even from a contractor that I trusted and had already done several of my houses. Its because I wasn't there... and they took advantage and skipped a lot and lied. Even took photos of another roof and just painted my metal roof- so the photos looked good.
My point is if you do the whole rehab thing be prepared to visit the property often and don't trust anyone 100%. Or buy a house turnkey with everything in place already - so you don't have to be there.
Best of luck! Melissa
Post: How to find cash flow markets?
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
The good news is that you can live where you want and invest where it make sense.
I live in Socal too! And invest out of state with passive real estate investments. You have to decide what type of an investor you want to be but not only that what is the strategy that you want for your life. If you want to be an active investor or passive.
Personally I do have a mix with both short-term rentals that are primarily here in CA. And then I have passive turnkey out of state in markets like Bham, Ohio, Memphis. I like having my long term rentals professionally managed and I have never seen any of them in person, and don't need to. Its 100% passive.
I added short-term rentals 5 years ago primarily because I wanted the first property to actually use with the goal to use it when ever I wanted and just have it pay for itself. Then.. I started to actually profit from it and keep buying.
Long story short..What do you have time for and what are your goals? Short term goals, long term goals? You need to sort that out first and then the rest will follow.
Best of luck! Melissa
Post: Real estate professional while using management company for short term?
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
Quote from @Ab John:
Quote from @Melissa Nash:
My CPA sent me step by step the exact requirements to qualify for the STR loophole and I put it into a PDF. Let me know if you want it, message me or contact me via email- happy to send it.
Can you send that to me? Thank you
Post: Experience using Evolve?
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
Quote from @Josef Bryan Gerster:
Quote from @Melissa Nash:
Quote from @Josef Bryan Gerster:
Quote from @Melissa Nash:
I used them when I first got started in my first STR about 5 years ago. They were great to get me started without charging a TON. Because of them, I had the courage to move to self management later- which I now do and LOVE. I am totally automated and don't spend more than a few hours a week on all my properties- but in the beginning I do think they were worth it. Lowered my learning curve! Hit me up if you want to chat more about them & my experiences with them in 2 states now.
Thanks for getting back to me. My business partner has some experience with building websites and SEO so we are starting to lean towards managing it ourselves. It seems like everything can easily be automated. Our plan is to build a complex next which means it would be best to learn how to manage ourselves.
100% you can do it! I am a big fan of doing yourself. And it sounds like you are planning some ads or SEO too. that is great, most new investors in STRs think they can just list on Airbnb and set it and forget it and it will book.... and to be honest, it can be that easy in some markets-if you have crazy demand. But most have to compete and by driving traffic to your own booking site then you don't have to airbnb fees and your guests are willing to pay YOU more and not airbnb. So you boost your $$$. I do that on a couple of my properties and its a BIG difference, Its all about strategy and automations. What you have a plan and execute it ..... it can be passive. I spend less than 2 hrs a week on all 5 of my self managed properties if that... some weeks is like 30 minutes. Anyhow... you got this! and best of luck!
What are some of the softwares you use to manage your properties?
I love guesty for hosts & pricelabs to name a few
Post: Hot tub decision. If so how big and where to put it?
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
as close to the house as possible. No one likes running in the house wet and cold. A hot tub is a TOP 5 airbnb amenity, and does get more bookings and you can charge more. However, no one likes a gross hot tub. My tech goes in after and before EACH guest to clean. Think about it.... who wants a nasty tub? Find a tech that will go after every guest if you can.
Post: What do you with a giant shop to add more value to my short term rental
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
Event center to book out for larger events, Yoga retreats, small weddings, etc.
Post: How to win a claim on Airbnb
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
Not necessarily....... I agree that you can try to save and record everything...but don't assume that is enough with Airbnb. I am speaking from experience, where Airbnb has favored with the guest despite my proof. I always try to work with the guest first, I have more luck with them than airbnb.
Post: What helps your property rent faster, and higher in price
- Rental Property Investor
- Orange County, CA
- Posts 739
- Votes 527
True... decor matters, but not always. Some prefer to discount shop and don't care about decor. I think you are asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking is, "WHO is my guest, and what do they want". Then create the guest experience around that guest- you can't cater to everyone -- that is a waste of time, money & resources. Your property needs to speak to your guest and when you do that you will fill your calendar and make more $