All Forum Posts by: John Litz

Could you save your current cash flow to do additional investing in a better area? Could you sell the least performing unit and 1031 into a better area? You could refi to pull equity but does that turn a performing property into an alligator? 

Better areas with appreciation are where wealth will increase more and faster. However higher cash flow is allows you to sleep well at night because your not stressed about you daily expenses. 

I don’t have the data driven information like you do. However it feels pretty standard with inventory. Obviously affordability is an issue but there seems to be plenty of choices out there. 

It's all about the zoning. Many cities have not gotten up to speed with conditional use permits or zone changes. Most still are not doing ADU's either. You will need to go speaker to the planners office and see if your project is even feasible with the current zoning. Don't waste time or money until you figure out this step.

Landlording from a distance should be done with local property management. You manage the manager by having inspections performed. Regular maintanence checks etc. I am sure a management company would know local laws regarding STR and have those stipulated in the lease for protection against the arbitrage folks. If it doesn't cash flow in this scenario then it was a bad deal to begin with. Sounds like he may be getting hit with a stupid tax but hopefully that fee will get mitigated with insurance.

I have a little different perspective. To me it doesn’t matter if your new or if your experienced making a lot of money. Reserve funds should handle a major cap x like a roof, plus money to pay the bills while the work is being done as a tenant likely won’t be paying during this time. Each additional property you own would receive an additional percentage. You wouldn’t double reserves but you might add an additional 30% per property because the more you have the more likely 2 big events happen at the same time. Have credit cards available with zero balances to handle immediate needs paid back out of your actual reserve funds that are in a high yield savings account. Access is usually within a few days. 

I am using a high yield savings account for bulk reserves that has a 5.26% return. It does take a couple days to get the money however I have smaller more immediate reserves available as well. 

 You will be able to come stay in it. This will be my next vacation rental. It will be named The Indigo Keep. But yes I will do pics

I am about to do a build that will have the Swiss coffee white walls dark flooring like dark grey stone, medium wood cabinets and a dark wood countertops with a dark blue epoxy river. The blue is what is going to make thing really pop with the strong contrast of the white walls and dark colored wood. It will have a barn style door that will be dark also but again with the epoxy blue in it. Same in the bathroom and the tile work for the shower will be dark gray stones with splashes of the same blue and the sink will be a the same dark blue bowl style. It is going to be pretty bold and make a statement. Definitely different from what others are doing- that is nice but boring like a hotel room. 

You never go wrong with Swiss coffee white walls. Looks clean, open and spacious. However I tend to like break up the white with some darker choices for flooring, cabinets, or countertops. That contrast makes things really pop. Never been into accent walls that are just painted a different color though. At the end of the day look at what everyone is doing. Change things up so you stand out from the sea of the same things over and over again to get that top dollar. 

I would concentrate on the noise portion of the issue to begin with. If that doesn’t work you may need stronger measures of damage and eviction. Often inherited tenants are going to have to be turned over. They get into bad habits that are hard to break.