All Forum Posts by: Wayne Kerr

I think we've seen "shine" wear off due to a couple of things - average profit margins are lower than they were several years ago and even compared to a couple years ago, STRs became a lot more mainstream (you can talk to average people and lot have heard or do invest in short terms - or rentals as a whole) - this is due to many varying reasons - social media gurus, housing market getting more popular in the media, side jobs etc. You have companies that are getting very large owning a lot of STRs in destination locations, uncertainty about future zoning due to housing "shortage"...the list goes on

You do have that set of people that are mad that they cannot afford a house due to corporations and STRs driving competition and prices up. This is a minority population as loud as they may seem at times. 

I don't own a STR, but I have several LTRs. The thing for me is I can rehab a house, have some leftover equity and rent it out for pretty close to what a lot of STRs are making these days minus all the risk and the workload.

I still like STRs and I think decent deals are starting to come back - but it is nearly a full time job to get them set up - especially if you're doing a long distance one. Once you get rolling it's less work IF you have a property manager. If you manage yourself you are looking at quite the workload - throw in a couple kids, a full time job etc. The thing is - a property manager likely will not be able to achieve the revenues you can IF you self manage well. And you lose a big chunk to property management in a market that already is seeing tighter returns than it has see in the past. 

In the future I see them being more regulated, more stable, and bigger companies taking over more of the share. 

That being said I still like them and plan to get one in the near future - but it has to be a great deal! 

I am about to form up and put some cement countertops in a couple of my class B/C rentals when a have tenant turnover. 

Laminate goes to crap eventually. Granite is too pricey for the units. I don't think you can really mess up cement, you'd have to take a hammer to it. Stained, sealed and indestructible. 

I don't like this strategy - maybe it makes money, maybe it doesn't - but so many gurus online trying to act like it's the way, the truth and the light. 

You own nothing. You have a "business" that is completely dependent on the landlord - if I'm a landlord I'd probably just copy you after the first year or whenever the contract ended. I'd also make sure I controlled the contract as the landlord because I own the property. You still need money cause you'll need to furnish the place, market it and all that - as well as find the deal. So the "no money" thing is another myth. The strategy is just full of holes. 

It just feels like an unstable, cheap and overall bad idea. 

Hmmm I have a zillow profile and added my properties as "my homes" - it allowed me to directly manage the photos from there

Fastest way is to send the cash to me!

Really though...this is about as open ended question as they get. 

Fastest way is to (1) learn about what you are doing (2) decide what you want to do exactly (3) do something

What have you done so far?

I honestly like something about Alabama the more I look at it 

So, the big question...what do we think it will be like 6 months from now? Or a year from now? And why??

 Sounds like a great question to ask the property manager. As far as I know there are no public records of what management company manages what property. You could look at their listings/rentals available page and inquire about those properties, or look up the owners (since you'll have the address from the listing) and get in touch with the owner and ask if they are willing to sell. 

19 days - that's almost a whole month of vacancy waiting on 1 tenant. My places usually rent out in 2-3 weeks max. 

Good thing is this potential tenant is letting you know just what they will be like prior to renting the place! 

Another thing is we charge an application fee which gives us the right to do criminal, credit etc background checks. This is not a do at your own leisure thing - we get permission, a fee and run the reports ourselves. You can see the problems you run into when you let the tenants run part of your business for you

 I think you can borrow up to 50K or 50%, whichever is less - this is with a traditional and I'd bet a solo 401k has the same rules. This is a loan. Don't withdraw you'll end up with some nice penalties. 

Unless you're buying a super cheap place you'll need to come up with a good bit more. Enter hard money lender or private money. 

The loan would work as a good downpayment for a place you do with conventional financing. Don't be scared to do convention financing - I have gotten several places (with a higher offer) using a conventional loan as opposed to cash buyers who offered less). 

How many offers have you made and lost due to not using cash? My bet is 0