All Forum Posts by: Jean H.

@Zazenski Garrison I’d tell the tenant that the lease came with a working washer/dryer installed and that when the lease ends, there needs to be a working washer/dryer of equal or higher value. Whether they want to store the old one and pay for the re -hookup, or just leave their (presumably) nicer washer/dryer there when they leave and get rid of the old ones now so they have room in their garage, I’d leave up to them.

And of course, as everyone says, you should have them agree that they are now responsible for repairs and maintenance of the ones they purchased.

@Lucas Carl Just to clarify, while it was 4am in Hawaii, it was 10am on a weekday in Florida where my property was, so the guest was perfectly reasonable to expect it to be taken care at that time.

I agree that I probably need to to tweak my system, but setting up/tweaking those systems do take time and energy that I’d prefer to spend elsewhere—e.g. being a mom or buying and renovating property. I’m more than happy to pay a little something to piggyback on somebody else’s system, as long as I’m still making money.

@Amy Canfield I totally understand about not wanting to self manage. Ever since I had to call ATT to deal with a guest’s downed Wifi, at 4 in the morning in a hotel bathroom (to not disturb my sleeping family) while on vacation in Hawaii, I decided self-management was not for me. I still liked the Airbnb model though, so I hired a property manager and a designer to furnish my next property.

However, 30% is ridiculously high. At those numbers, it would make more sense and be less risk for you to just find an AirBnb arbitrager. You would charge a higher than LTR rent/month and they would pay for and deal with furnishing the property, all the utilities and repairs, and all the interactions with the guests. This is even less of a time and financial commitment from you than a property manager since you wouldn’t have to deal with the added time and expense of furnishing the property.

@Cedrick Pierre if you have multiple rooms to househack, maybe furnish one room, and leave one unfurnished and then see which gets more interest.

@Brian Ellis

Could you park an Airstream there and Airbnb it? This way, you don’t have any permanent structures. With a location like you described, on the beach and close to everything, you could make a killing.

@Brandon Metzler Try bnbvestor.com. It’s got good data for short term rental investors. Still need to pay for a subscription though, like Airdna

@Brittany Tompkins Rates in Miami range from 18-25%

@Alejandro Arciniega Oh, I forgot to mention that I am now Airbnb’ing out my guest house. The rent I get from that pays my whole mortgage.

@Alejandro Arciniega I would do it, but get an FHA loan (3.5% down payment for owner occupied property) and then a 203(k) loan for the rehab. If you get that type of financing, you'll be able to breathe easier.

I did a similar deal in Miami with a 1920’s fixer upper with a guest house that is my personal residence. It’s great that you have that bungalow option. What I would do is first focus on fixing up the bungalow, then move in there with your wife and baby so baby is in a safe, baby-proofable place and not exposed to all the construction debris and noise. Then you can take your time with the rehab of the main house, as finances allow.

I did this with my house and 3 years later after putting in $200,000 in rehab, took out a $650,000 HELOC on top of my mortgage. I am using this for my war chest for investing in more real estate.

I’m also from SoCal so I know that getting a house by the beach for less than a $1M is a super sweet deal.

I totally think this deal is doable and that at the end of it, you'll be in a great position. But you need to get that down payment lower so only do it if you can get that FHA loan. If you can get the 203(k) loan, even better.

@Stephen Glover It’s Podcast Episode 314 with Andresa Guidelli.

From the Show Notes: “Andresa also shares a killer tip about challenging low appraisals she’s used successfully three separate times.”