All Forum Posts by: Jo Turner

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Hayden.

Purchase price: $215,000
Cash invested: $25,000

Right place, right time. My business partner Nick Beveridge was offered this opportunity from a wholesaler. The owner lived out of state and didn't want the hassle of listing it or kicking out the tenant. I paid 215k using hard money, spent 25k in renovations, and completed the refinance 6 months later. Successful BRRRR :). It didn't cash flow at first but was essentially a free house with the PITI $1742 and rent at $1700. Recently (Oct 2022) the tenant moved out and the new family is paying $2150/month so now it does cash flow a few hundred dollars - yay! Here's the new description: Completely remodeled 3 bedroom 1 bath home on an enormous 0.34 acre lot in Hayden. Amazing fenced backyard with fire pit and plenty of room for RV parking. New luxury vinyl plank floors, new carpet, new kitchen including quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances. Quiet neighborhood with no HOA.

I am pretty excited and super grateful that the vacation rental I purchased this year has done amazing for the summer. It is close to a ski resort, but the rental activity had begun to dwindle as the weather turned. So I decided to market it as a long-term winter rental. I now have tenants! I would love to hear from someone who has done a rental property as a short-term vacation rental in the summer and then used it as a long-term rental in the winter. What have been your challenges and successes of doing it this way?

Thanks in advanced for your feedback!

With interest rates rising up to 6%, are you still buying long term rental buy and holds or are you hoarding your cash and waiting for the market to turn? 

@Janelle Groenhout Thanks so much! Yes we moved to the area about 3 years ago and absolutely love it! I'm hoping the vacation rental will do awesome in the winter as well as the summer with Schweitzer but no winter bookings so far - my house is about 15 minutes to the base of the mountain so we shall see.  I'm debating on whether or not to get a hottub - I know I personally love sitting in one during the winter and I think it will attract guests but I don't know how much of a return on investment and maintenance headache one might be...

Vacation rental owners! I just bought my first vacation rental in Sandpoint, ID and it seems to be doing really well as is. When I bought it, I originally believed I would need to put in a lot of work in order to make this property profitable. This has fortunately turned out to not be the case! It is a 3 bed, 2.5 bath and I'm asking $250/night. It has gorgeous water views and private access to Lake Pend O'reille. The private access trail is steep and not easy to get down to the water, and getting back up is another beast. I have plans to add stairs eventually. I will also be plowing the steep driveway up to the house consistently.

I am very interested in hearing the opinion of other vacation rental owners in Idaho, Washington and California and what advice you might have for short-term and long-term plans I could put in place for this rental. I’d also really love to hear how other vacation rental owners are feeling about their rentals during this market shift!