All Forum Posts by: Melissa Nash

Start with your WHY. Why are you wanting to invest? What is it going to do for you? How will it change your life? then the TIME, what do you have time for? STR's/LTRs take time to set up and are not passive, they can be automated but you will have to deal with the guests. Are you looking for the extra cashflow? the tax benefits..... so many things that you might be needing/wanting.

 If you want zero time and want passive then I would recommend total hands off and you can do that in markets like Birmingham, KC, Memphis etc and buy turnkey done for you and 100% hands off. 

Narrow down your strategy/why first. then go from there. 

Best of luck 

Wanting my own vacation house that is paid for by the guests! Then I realized it actually MAKES me money... then I realized it goes up in value crazy fast bc they are in good areas usually and then the tax benefits are insane! Bye bye taxes! 

6... best advise is......get started. You learn by doing. And if you don't have time to take the bumps and bruises and learning curve hire someone to help you, coach, courses or even a property manager that will help you, or hire and agent that actually owns rentals in the area you are looking in. And remember STRs don't need to be all cashflow priority, lots of HUGE other benefits: including the huge tax benefits you get take advantage of for strs owners and equity gain and best of all you can use the properties too, which is what I enjoy most! Best of luck. 

agreed here, don't count on Airbnb for anything--- they will rarely side with you, from my experience they favor the renter. Make sure you tell insurance agencies you have an STR- a lot of them will not cover you. So just be honest with what you have :) best of luck!

currious why you picked those two areas? Denver is not landlord friendly and Dallas has high property taxes making cashflow little to nothing right now. 

Leverage leverage leverage- this is the golden ticket. Real estate is NOT bad debt, and you can use it to grow your wealth- if you can't qualify for loans that is 1 thing, but why not own 3, 4, 5 properties with down payments for the price of 1 that is all cash. 

You grow your wealth with more real estate. And the more you own, the more tax benefits and appreciation... bla bla bla. All the things. Buy more real estate and always use OPM (other peoples money)

Considering CA has one of the highest appreciation rates in the country, owning real estate here is like putting your money in a high yield savings account...it will grow, but you gotta wait. Is there rental control on the property/condo?? If so, that means you can't raise the rents as much or maybe as often as you want. 

I don't mind buying a property in CA if you are not underwater too much. $200 is nothing bc the tax benefits will be way more for you. 

What is the returns for profits in these areas? did you run the LTR cost with rents? You are probably upside down in Kissimmee for LTR. I always run my STRs with LTR rents also, as my back up plan if cities change permits or cause me to switch to LTR 

You didn't mention the demand or amenities. That is the first thing to find out. What amenities can you offer to charge more and which location and size has the most demand to make more?? 

Start there, then work backwards.