All Forum Posts by: Julie McCoy

You're going to learn more from reading this forum than you will from any book, honestly.  The information will be more up-to-date, full of real-life examples, and varying viewpoints instead of one person's perspective on how it's done.  

I learned just about everything I know from this forum/the people I've met here, and I now own 4 STRs (soon to be 5) and was grossing >$100k in my second year.

What @Bill Goodland said.  And forget driving them to/from the game, they can Uber/Lyft!  Overall my thought is, if the setup is good for it, why not?  You can always try it for a couple of games and if you hate it, pull the listing.

Re: sales price, while the sale of the comparable unit in your complex will definitely be helpful, that's not going to be the only measure an agent will have when doing a CMA for you. So don't get too hung up on that. If you aren't ready to enlist an agent to do a CMA for you, you can get a better idea on your own by looking for similar units recently sold in nearby buildings.

Otherwise, sounds like you've covered all the major considerations, other than the biggest one - if that's the route you want to go. :) 

Definitely not.  Also, $500/mo??  What is that, access to every single market?  If you must, target a couple of key markets and just buy those for a couple of months.  Don't rely too much on AirDNA's numbers, as their methodology and data isn't that great, but it can be useful for looking at patterns in a market.

@Paul Sandhu Sounds like the best possible result for you all!  It's too bad about all the wasted work, but I'm glad to hear it wasn't necessary.  AND you got to pick up a new renter!  (I'm surprised it was only one!)  

Fingers crossed you all continue to stay safe.

I think it's going to depend on the market, and individual tolerance/desires for return, when you start looking at cap rates and so forth.  Generally speaking, I want to see $1k cash flow per property per month before I'll consider one, and I buy fairly inexpensive properties (<$200k).  I want to see cap rates that begin at 15%.

One of the things that creates a variable is the cost of furnishing/setting up a new property.  In some markets it's easy to buy furnished properties, in others you're starting from scratch.  

In your particular situation, my first question is if STRs are permitted by the HOAs.  It's PCB so they probably are, but you definitely want to know that first.  

Next question is: is the unit already furnished?  If not, how much money/time will it take to furnish it?  

Next question: Would you self-manage or hire a property manager to oversee STR turnover? If a property manager, how much will they charge? If not, how much time do you have available to self-manage? Once you get up and running, it's not difficult, but it definitely requires more time and effort than long-term rentals.

Finally, unless the STR returns are significantly higher than LTR or mid-term, I'd stick with the lower-maintenance mid-term/long-term renters. A way to determine this is to get a feel for local occupancy rates - PCB is a big tourist destination, but there's also a ton of STRs already there, so see if you can get a feel for a typical occupancy rate. You can do this by looking for comparable properties on AirBNB, VRBO, or local property manager sites and checking their calendars (though that's going to be most reliable for the next couple of months, less reliable for dates further out). You may want to call a local PM or two and get their insight, as well.

Good luck!

@Jon Crosby you read my mind, I was just coming in to see how @Paul Sandhu is faring.  Hope all is well, give us an update when you're able!

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that flooding is imminent!  I hope it doesn't end up being too bad, but the way things have been going lately, I'm not going to hold my breath.  

If you advertise the extra beds as free/bonus, I wouldn't change your format.  If you don't and there's no reason for guests to expect that the extra beds are free, by all means charge for them!  And props for not jacking up the price per bed just because you can.

I've almost never had a problem with destructive guests, or even accidental damage, but AirBNB is notorious for being terrible about reimbursing hosts for costs like that.  What I do personally incur I write off as the cost of doing business, and of course I have a great insurance policy just in case the damage is of greater cost.  (fortunately my insurance company - Proper - has been awesome about honoring any claims I've had)

Re: requiring a deposit from the guest directly, I suspect that would be a violation of AirBNB's TOS.  I'd recommend looking closely before trying something like that (and in any case, you'd have to confirm the booking before you could ask for CC info, which puts you in the position of having a high cancellation rate against those who refuse to give you their info).  

I've started looking into whether I can purchase Accidental Rental Damage Insurance for my guests and just bypass worrying about the deposit altogether, but haven't gotten very far in my research, so can't state if it's worth it.  

I think you would find that most renters are not familiar with bidets and would not use them.  

At my properties that are on septic (all four of them) I only provide TP and have little signs posted by the TP saying that as the house is on septic, please do not flush anything except TP.

Never had a complaint or an issue.