All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Most STR owners avoid HOAs like the plague, for good reason. Even if the rules allow it now it can change at any moment. The only situations where I would consider it is if it is in a vacation area where numerous owners rent their places out and therefore have enough seats on the board, such as in Florida or the Carolina coasts.

Quote from @JD Martin:

Hell, they even make money on the float. 

I think you are talking about the fact that they collect payment immediately upon booking and don't pay the host until the stay? This gets to me as well. I am always getting emails from guests asking if they can pay later, and I explain to them that it is out of my hands. They are basically collecting interest from the guest off of the host's capital. 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Wow @Kristi Kandel, there are some big insurance risks on that list! I would go nuts worrying about it.

 Yeah I was in agreement until I saw Tree House and Zip Line . . . . Cool ideas if liability wasn't a thing. Even the idea of bunkbeds bolted to the studs make me nervous 

Nice property! If you are talking custom purpose built in a great location, especially with construction and land costs from years past then yes, the economics are clearly working for you. My point was that pre-existing 1 bedroom homes that can do those kind of numbers are very rare, and those that do are very expensive because they are in great locations. I found a few 1-bed oceanfront condos on Kure beach that push mid-to-high $60s but those probably sell for half a million. 1 bedroom houses are rare in general. 

Much easier to find a 4-5 bedroom that can do those numbers than invest the time and cash into a new build. I agree with you on 7 beds under $500K being rare, probably more rare than 1 bedroom unicorn properties pulling $80K for that price. With equal revenue I would certainly rather furnish and manage a 1 bedroom. 

Quote from @Bryan H.:

That would be a $300 mean ADR (after fees/taxes) at 75% occupancy to get those numbers. Which for a 1 bed seems only justifiable in A+++ locations, and not something you are likely to buy into for less than mid-to-high 6 figures (minimum), at which point the revenue-to-price ratios no longer make sense. 

If I'm wrong, I would love to know where these magic markets are where I can gross $80k on a sub <$500K 1-bedroom property. Bonus points if actually compliant with prevailing local and HOA regs.

In addition to everything above (especially en suites) be sure to optimize the outdoor and fun space. Covered deck/patio, pool, hot tub, game room- preferably all adjacent to each other. Make it look fun and people will book it!

I've mostly had good experiences with it. Great way to see the market rate range for your area and unit size. Helps you schedule and keep track. 

That said, like everything, you have to periodically check their work or find a 3rd party that you trust to do so for you. Keep an eye on the smart lock or camera in/out times, if it seems too fast it probably is. When these types of businesses scale from Owner Operator to multiple teams then QC becomes a real challenge. The cleaner I found on Turno started out great but after a few cleans she subbed it out to a B/C team who didn't care and overlooked some things. My main cleaner found mold in the coffee cleaner basket because the other cleaner skipped it . . . Yikes! 

@Jason Denny great news thanks for the update. 

Where area of the DR is this? 

There could still be a way to add a thermostat to a mini split I think? You could also do temperature activated wall plugs for the minis, like this: 

https://www.amazon.com/DIGITEN-Thermostat-Temperature-Contro...

You would need to put some kind of lock box over the outlet to really be sure but it should do the trick. 

Either way, approach your guests professionally and politely with some basic reasonable requests (not leaving it on while outside, etc) and most people are willing to be helpful. 

Can you get a smart thermostat installed? Not sure how you would go about getting it shipped and installed, let alone with international internet connectivity, but if it works it would allow you to set some guardrails.