All Forum Posts by: Joseph Bafia

@Michael Baum

Only slight difference is we used to use the Schlage Connect with a SmartHub but now with the Schlage Encode , we don’t use a hub. It connects straight to the router and WiFi.

Just wanted to mention since Schlage still makes both options.

@Muhammad Saad

We use Schlage Encode for ours and love it. We put in the date range of each guest and we label the description with the month and year and then do periodic clean up by deleting old code.

We manage several properties from 4 1/2 hours away and have not had issues. We do have a key lock box for those “just in case” situations where everything fails. Only have used it once and it was guest user error.

Elijah - 

Glad to hear you considering NC. Although I live in Raleigh, I am in the short-term rental game north of Asheville (actually right on NC/TN border).  As some have mentioned, you just need to do your homework and the deals will come regardless of market.  It's ironic because I'm actually travelling to CA mid-March to visit our son in LA and we're looking at property north of LA (and people tell me to stay away from CA!)

I'm a big believer in having focus and just getting a deal done.

Let me know if I can help with anything here locally and wish me luck in CA!

Joe

Christopher - 

There is an entire forum dedicated to STRs here in BP. Many ideas and suggestions on good markets ad how to manage. One of the the new hosts of the Bigger Pockets Rookie podcast is Tony Robinson and he has jumped into the STR game and even offers some pretty cool web calls to help answer questions.

I'm in Western NC and doing well with 4 properties (under contract for #5) Good price points on homes, close enough to Asheville and occupancy has been fantastic.  We self-manage from 4.5 hours away and although its more work, the profits are well worth it now that we have systems in place.

Good luck!

Joe

@Dave Price

I ran into this as well and as others have said, depends on lender. My lender only needed 1 year of income on my Schedule E to qualify that STR income.

As for future vacation home purchases, make sure you check with future lenders to make sure it qualifies for “second home”.

I've already started looking at STR specific lenders who don't look at DTI. Terms are a bit higher but at least you can keep buying!

Good luck!

@Steven Moore

We are on our 4th property in Mars Hill NC and are doing great. Partnered on 2 of them with a buddy and we self manage from a distance (I’m in Raleigh and he’s in CA).

Many areas surrounding Asheville are STR friendly and we are looking to expand.

Let me know if I can help answer anything!

@Scott Winter

Congrats and welcome to the world of STRs!!!!

@James Overton Winston V

Congrats!

I'm fairly new to REI as well (about 2 years now) and my advice is what other have said about networking. Just go to some meet ups, contact some local investors in your area directly and ask them questions. I've formed a pretty great group that just shares stories, ideas and suggestions and we help each other through obstacles.

If you can find someone who is just ahead of you (meaning maybe they've done a deal or 2, then that's who you connect with and ask "how did you do it?" Tell them your story, what your end goal is and just talk through it. You'll quickly learn the REI community is very helpful.

At some point, you need to go beyond the reading of books, forums and questions and just do a deal!

Agree with what others have said. Location of Airbnb will dictate some added expenses not typical for a LTR. We have a mountain home in a gated community. Pay for hot tub maintenance, paper supplies that we provide, how much we pay cleaner, cleaning supplies for our housekeeper, a bit more for routine maintenance due to higher turnover, etc. We are also part of a POA, so we have that fee and we also pay extra for our guests to use our community amenities.

Vacancy can be all over the board.  Our property is a year round property so we do will all 12 months, while others located in seasonal areas may make all there money in a 4-6 month window.

I'd suggest reviewing AIrbnb and VRBO listings in your area of purchase and see how many like properties there are and then sort by number of reviews and see what they're doing for rates, vacancy etc.  

We self-manage so have no PM.  Happy to answer anything else.