All Forum Posts by: Julie McCoy

@Louis Barkhuizen An appraiser may only consider real estate when evaluating the value of real estate - furniture is not considered "real estate" and therefore it should never be considered part of the value of the home.  Lenders will only lend on the value of real estate, they will not lend on the value of furniture.

But let's be real, furniture does indeed have value and nobody wants to pay thousands or tens of thousands out of pocket for someone else's furniture.  So  in vacation rental markets like the Smokies it typically gets rolled into the purchase price and, as @Thomas Dulin described, documented on a separate bill of sale for a nominal amount.  

When you start peeling the layers it definitely gets fuzzy, but that's basically the workaround for it in vacation rental markets.

If you're interested in writing off the expense of the furniture, talk to your CPA about a cost segregation study.

Honestly I'd say consult an attorney to be 100% sure.  The language I have in my listings - which I obtained directly from AirBNB - is that I do not allow animals of any sort due to family members with severe allergies.  It is my understanding that ESAs are not recognized by the ADA and therefore do not fall under those guidelines for short-term rentals.  

It is a good sign that these guests are asking.  If you determine you have legal standing to refuse, I would recommend being completely honest with these guests that you have a legitimate health concern due to your daughter's allergies, and hopefully they will be understanding and the dog can stay at home.  

@Jon Lostetter The appraisers in the area typically use other cabins as comps to appraise cabins, they are not going to comp a cabin with a ranch house that's the next street over and the same square footage. 

An income based approach can be part of what an appraiser takes into consideration for value, though the potential income an appraiser might use is a very conservative average based on broad data, not the individual cabin's past performance.  It is up to the appraiser to consider this method or not, though it can be requested by the lender. @Parker Borofsky can shed more light on this.

This is indeed a red-hot market and lately it's been common lately for sellers to ask buyers to waive appraisal contingencies, as properties are receiving multiple offers (sometimes more than 20) and getting bid up well over list price.  As these properties close, they will become comps themselves, pushing values up.  That said, I have 14 properties currently under contract for clients, the majority are past appraisal and we have not had any shortfalls with those.

Purchase price is one of many factors that goes into an appraiser's assessment of value (after all, the whole concept of comps is a property is worth what people in general will pay for it).  If value is otherwise reasonably close to purchase price, it is typical for appraisers to give the value as the purchase price, as nobody wants to deal with the hassle of arguing over $1000 shortfall or something similarly ridiculous.

My cleaner sets up artificial trees that I bought for the cabins with some decorations and some lights and ribbon etc. on them.  The decor is confined to the tree. Going to have to buy some stuff for my new ones!

There are certainly times when seller financing makes sense (and can be quite profitable) for the seller as well as the buyer.  I have no argument with that.  However, the advice on this thread consisted of offering terms of anywhere 0-3% interest, with nothing down, on a $700k+ property.  That is the part I was disputing.  If the potential buyer wants to approach in a way that is likely to get a conversation going, my advice is to offer better terms and to understand that seller financing is almost always going to carry a higher interest rate than a conventional loan.  Who knows, maybe he'll get lucky and have a unicorn seller who is fine with 0 down 0% interest but since he asked for advice on how to approach the deal, my advice is not to expect a unicorn seller.  

Assuming the property is owned free and clear, why would the seller finance to you for terms better than the bank?  What's in it for the seller?  Looking at it from the seller side, it's pretty much a losing proposition UNLESS the property can't be conventionally financed at all due to its conditionand it's actually necessary to do creative lending to sell it.  

Frankly, if someone offered me terms of owner financing like have been suggested in this thread, I'd not even bother to respond as clearly it would be a waste of my time.  

@Joseph Cameron head over to the Notes and Paper forum and you'll find people who actually deal with owner financing on a regular basis. The fact that you want the property for an STR is not particularly relevant to the discussion; you need to talk to people who buy and structure notes to actually get a good sense of what a not-insulting offer is going to be.

@Tim Grillot What I admire about you and Patti is even with these crazy hard knocks you're encountering, you have a great attitude and you keep moving forward!  We're going to find you somewhere awesome in the Smokies, and hopefully like @Nancy Bender said the worst thing you have to deal with is bears. You're both badass yourselves and are going to be great STR owners!

Everybody's dryer has lint in it.  That is why you TAKE IT OUT AFTER EVERY CYCLE.

I love @Parker Borofsky's recent spate of guests who apparently need clean towels for each and every time they shower.

@Brent Huling That is precisely why I have $25 simple coffee makers in all my rentals.  I've personally had issues with Keurigs (never mind anything more complicated) being temperamental and that's a call I don't want to deal with.  Though I did recently spring for a drip/Keurig combo in one cabin... and most guests will still ask me what kind of coffee maker I have, even though I list it in the description AND have a photo of it.  People. What can you do.

 That is correct.  Unless you plan to spend at least a couple of weeks locally, be prepared to offer sight-unseen.  Sometimes, if the property is rented out on the day it's listed, it will have multiple offers on it before anybody has had a chance to view it!  So you definitely want an agent who knows the market, who knows the vacation rental market specifically, and can give you good feedback on a property's location and viability as a rental.  Once a property is under contract, yes, you'll want to hire a home inspector to inspect it on your behalf.  

It's super competitive out here right now, same-day multiple offers are common, so just be emotionally prepared to not necessarily get the first one you offer on, and get used to moving quickly!  Sometimes it takes a bit of time to really get the hang of the rhythm of the market here, but persistence will pay off!

Oh, Avalara does that for me too.  The monthly fee is billed separately.  But I have four properties, the taxes aren't separated out into four separate bills for me, it's all one bill.