All Forum Posts by: Joe C.

Quote from @Gerald Pitts:

Sorry what's this rule? I own STRs and have never heard of this. Is this something between owners and property management?

If your rental is primarily a business then you are allowed up to 14 days personal use without having to allocate expenses towards personal and business use separately. If you use the rental personally more than 14 days then you start allocating expenses based on percentage of use.

Be careful about the 14 day personal use rule in case that applies to you. Just because you aren't personally using it, it is being not rented for personal use by your guests, so technically their usage may use up some of your 14 days allowable personal use.

Another thing to consider is with a property management company usually in the fine print is something about how many personal weeks you may use. They don't want to take on a client where you block off 11 months of the year for personal use, it's not worth it for them. So they may say something like no more than 6 weeks personal use, and they won't care if it's you or your family or your friends, if they are not getting commission then it's personal use to them.

Yes you (they) will pay any fees related to checkin/checkout such as cleaning or linens or trash pickup, etc. but should not get charged anything for the stay.

Not sure of the headcount here, but just you escorting multiple guests is probably going to make it hard to have eyes everywhere they need to be. If you decide to go out and do this yourself, try to have more people being guides/watchers, almost like an RSO. It's very easy to get distracted with one person's problem and forget someone else that really doesn't know what they are doing is not being watched. I would definitely go to the range first and watch them. Let them get yelled at a few times for doing the wrong thing by someone else before you take them out.

Can someone lay out more specifically what is being said here, in more detail?

Is this a Schedule C vs E discussion? I thought if you rent < 7 days avg it was a business instead of a rental.

I have an STR in Miramar Beach with a community pool that's not heated. No gas in the community, 27 LARGE homes. The pool is maybe 30'x90' give or take. I'm on the HOA board and am trying to make a case that the heated pool would more than pay for itself in increased rental income, but I'm not sure and am really just guessing. Since it's not an individual pool we can't turn it off and on for each guest when needed, it would be on all winter.

I'd love some feedback from anyone here that's had an STR in the panhandle / Destin area or nearby where it tends to get quite cool over the winter and added a heated pool option.

Did the increased income outweigh the costs? Do you think it was worth it?

Other options that can handle the cold besides gas, and feedback on those?

Thanks for the feedback!

David, what are the financials like? Expected rent, property management, expenses? Thanks and good luck!

@Lisa Graesser What company do you use for the golf cart insurance?

@Billy-Dee Greenwood Thank you, that is extremely interesting. Doesn't make too much sense to me but a good answer for sure.

Yes but what about BEFORE it is utilized? If I have HELOC in place with a 200K limit but I haven't taken anything out on it, does it affect anything? I could take it at any time but do they only care about what I have taken out?

I've been really confused by how the HELOC affects your DTI. All else being equal, how does the potential HELOC loan amount and payments affect your DTI? Does it factor in at all? It makes no sense it wouldn't affect DTI.