All Forum Posts by: Jenessa NeSmith

Backlund is super expensive and I have not had a good experience with them. Try major drain

I can’t comment on the video game system but if you don’t already have board games I would strongly suggest those. We have several reviews mentioning the board games and we just picked them at at garage sales

It honestly depends on your market. Look at what other airbnbs are charging in relation to what their amenities are, and also see how often their calendar is booked. You might technically be able to charge more with a tv in every room...but will the higher cost deter future bookings? Our market is all about price. People would rather have less amenities but be able to stay cheaply. So we provide a middle of the road Airbnb in terms of furnishings and amenities, because we wouldn’t see a return on our investment in multiple televisions. However we spend a considerable amount of time/energy making our customer service and local recommendations stand out.

First off, I think you and your partner need to decide whether you want an investment property or a time share. I would suggest keeping your investments and personal purchases separate. Maybe you guys should partner up on a local vacation rental property, and then that property can pay for both your vacations. For the properties we manage, if our clients want to stay in the unit or have their friends and family stay for a discount rate, they make up the difference in our commission and pay the full cleaning fee.

I think it depends on how you have your STR set up. If you have a conventional landlord mortgage, I would recommend a product like prosper: It was the same amount as our regular landlord insurance, they provided additional coverage for things like lost income and alcohol issues, and perhaps most importantly they do not look like a “commercial” product to your lender. (Not that I’m recommending lying to your lender, but if you are operating in a bit of the gray area prosper will be more discreet) If you own the property outright or in your LLCs name, I would definitely look into a local commercial insurance. However, get a list of all the things prosper covers, and make sure the commercial policy addresses those things as well. For example, if your house had storm damages and was unrentable, would you receive compensation for lost income based on your STR history or on long term rental rates? One other thing to note is that prosper won’t cover your primary residence, even if you use it for Airbnb. I believe that applied to multi families as well, so if you are house hacking you should look at some other options

There is so much more that goes into a short term rentals success than can be put into a calculator. To do a full depth analysis of a property for Airbnb you have to take into consideration: quality of furniture/eventual replacement of furniture, bedsheets/towels, consumables, laundry, cleaning, location of property, high and low seasons, competition in your area, cost of management, what amenities you should offer and eventual upgrades of those amenities... That being said, I do run the BP calculator on my deals to make sure they will work as a long term rental in case I have to resort to plan B. So I would suggest doing an in depth analysis in addition to some various calculator scenarios. My very general rule of thumb is I want my Airbnb properties to gross at a minimum of 3% of my acquisition price (acquisition price including initial furnishings and amenities). But that is in my market, I am sure people in other markets have different standards.

There is a page in our guidebook describing the star review system and how it differs from the star reviews attributed to hotels.  Some people think 3 stars is average and 4 stars is a good review, and I want them to know that Airbnb does not see it that way.  We tell them that we will rate them 5 stars if we would recommend them to other hosts, and that they should give us 5 stars if they would recommend their friends staying with us. (it's worded much more eloquently in the guidebook, but you get the idea)

We ALWAYS check in with our guests - just a quick message to see if they are enjoying their stay, and to encourage them to let us know if they need anything or have any questions.  If the guests do have an issue, we treat it like it is the biggest deal in the world..."Oh my goodness - you found a hair in the bathroom?? Thank you so much for pointing it out, I will be talking with my cleaning person and make sure that this never happens again. I am so sorry, please let us refund you a portion of your cleaning fee for the inconvenience." Refunding a portion of their stay almost always guarantees a happy guest.  Some people may disagree, but I would much rather give the guest $10 off their cleaning fee than have a low review. 

We also always send a message after they check out thanking them for being great guests and that they are welcome back anytime.  If people think they will receive a 5 star review from you, they will be more likely to give you a 5 star review in return.

There will always be those people that leave 4 star reviews for no reason, but with good communication and an accurate explanation of the rating system, you can cut down on them.  Once you have a lot of 5 star ratings built up, a 4 star review won't effect your numbers as much. 

I will also throw in that we flipped a property for Airbnb that was the worst on the block and vacant for a long time...the numbers wouldn’t have worked for a fix and flipped but it worked with STR.

Hello! We found the perfect Airbnb property in Benson - ARV: 110,000, Repairs needed: new furnace and some minor siding for $9,000 total (contractor came and did a bid).

We had it under contract for $99,000, but after the inspection came back we renegotiated it for $90,300, closing on the 30th.

Our original funders said they would give us 100% of the purchase price, but they got freaked out by the need for a new furnace and said they will now only give us $75,000.  Their original terms were a 6 month bridge loan at 18% interest. 

We have been doing Airbnb for almost 2 years, and based on the returns we have been receiving from our other properties we know that we can gross at least $3,000/month on this property.  

I've searched for hard money lenders but most are leery of Airbnb, and we only have $5,000 that we can use for the purchase of the property.  

Does anyone have any ideas, either of other hard money lenders in the area or if someone wants to partner with us to help with the downpayment?

Thanks for reading

What does the upstairs living room look like?  If you already have an area with a big TV/Netlifx/Hulu and plenty of seating, then putting a theatre in the basement would be redundant.  

A game room would offer something different from the upstairs, with a pool table, board games, darts, shuffle board painted on the floor, comfy couches, etc.  Maybe a mini bar with an ice machine and popcorn maker. We thought about putting a keggerator in our beer-themed Airbnb but due to maintenance and liability concerns opted for a wine fridge instead. 

However if the upstairs living room is smaller or you don't have a TV/appropriate seating, a movie theater would be my choice. 

What are your thoughts about a mini-gym? A treadmill, elliptical, and maybe some weights/kettle bells? It's something we haven't done but have been considering for one of our unfinished basements.