All Forum Posts by: Kristi Kandel

 I think that mattresses are VERY person specific. We use Zinus in every rental and I sleep on a king size one every night and it's amazing. They are more firm which I prefer. However, I have 2 older friends who have horrible sleep on the Zinus mattresses for that very reason. 

I will say we've only received positive feedback from our STR guests on the mattresses including several moms whose kids loved the mattress so much we sent them the link to buy their own.

To solve the "too hard" issue you can always get a 3" topper and that provides the added padding to make the mattresses less firm. 

 There are very limited options on education on commercial real estate. Typically you enter the industry because family or friends were developers and that's how you gain exposure. I personally entered developer via working for a sign company who did CVS Pharmacy signs, built a relationship with their preferred developer in FL, and eventually started working for that developer and opened their first CA office in Southern CA. 

I've now scaled my own development company that I founded in 2015 and we work on nationwide development projects with our core focus being affordable housing and clean energy programs. 

There are so many projects that won't pencil for the "big guys/professional developers" that will pencil for the local community members. We just need to share the resources and tools necessary to empower our local change makers. 

If you have a mastermind that does offer soup to nuts development exposure and resources and it's a field you're passionate about (it takes stamina as the average life cycle of a project is 2-3 years) then by all means make the investment. 

Our team is launching a development 101 course in Q1 2024 "Unlock your city’s potential: your blueprint to becoming a local real estate developer", to help people understand what exactly being a developer. Ideally later in 2024 we'll also be able to launch our first masterclass on RE development. 

FREEDOM HACKER MOVEMENT

We're flipping the script and shifting that spotlight from the big-shot developers to our own local legends, the ones with grand visions and guts of steel. With 17 years in real estate, we're all about empowering those eager to dive into local development. We're launching a movement, democratizing education, and making local real estate development resources accessible in order to turbocharge local builders. Together, we'll spark a wave of community builders and forge epic partnerships. Let's make a lasting impact.

 Exactly. Even when giving our LTR rent breaks (not full market) we are still cash flowing significantly more than just LTR rents would do.  In the early years of owning a property that's really helpful as the cash flow is paying down the debt AND providing us with income. 

In general, the NNN deals have lower returns as the risk to the owner is greatly mitigated. If you have a high credit Tenant on a NNN lease and a very low risk investing profile it's a great tool. It all depends on where you're at in your wealth and freedom building journey and what your current and longer term goals are.

 That's the exact feedback Chad will need to get from contractors that specialize in new construction of multi-family in his market. Many markets the numbers don't make sense but there are some pockets across the country where they do. 

 1. The build time will take a lot longer than buying and renovating an existing 4plex. There is less risk/less variables in buying existing vs new BUT with new you know it's up to current building codes and your insurance will reflect that. 

2. You'll also need a lot more capital to build the 4plex vs buying but talk to lenders about construction loans and refinancing into a stabilized loan after

3. Talk to your planning and building dept to understand their timing to process your permits and the costs associated with plan check AND the utility fees to extend them to raw land (impact, connection, tap, meter fees) 

4. talk to builders to get their per SF costs for new construction, lead times to pull permits and schedule construction and length / duration to build it. 

5. Complete your UW to see if building pencil's in your market 

It really just depends on the size of project you want to take on and how long you want to spend on this project. I've been a developer the past 17 years working on commercial, industrial and residential projects nationwide. Development is the long game and requires stamina and isn't for everyone. 

STRs are great but you're running a business with them. We personally buy multi-family and put at least 1 STR in the building or 1 per every 4 units. That gives us constant eyes on the property and it allows up to keep LTR rents a little lower than market. We also give our LTR tenants other rent discounts like taking the trash to the curb on trash day for the STR units so that everyone is incentivized to help the STRs perform well.

We have STRs in Tahoe, Reno, Columbus, and several in SWFL. I typically like the smaller studio / 2 bed units for STR to avoid parties but I do have a luxury rental in SWFL with all the amenities for a baller stay.

I built out our own in house systems and processes, we've automated a ton of the work, have an electrician and handyman who specialize in plumbing for each market with a primary and 1-2 backup cleaners. We manage everything 100% remote and it works in all markets. 

Just be careful with building for STR only in markets where STR regulations are not completely finalized. South Lake Tahoe was in limbo for years and eventually the locals passed VERY restrictive regulations around STRs severely hurting a lot of the massive home builders who were building properties with the sole intention of being a massive high-end STR now need to compete in a market where the value of the property was only worth what an owner occupied / LTR rent would go for. Needless to say a lot of those guys lost quite a bit on those deals.

On the NV side of south lake we thought we put our issues to bed after a couple years with regulations and just this year one county commissioner decided to try to ban STRs altogether and is actively working on a petition that could put a complete STR ban on the ballot. When regulations go to a vote in tourist communities the 2nd home owners operating the STRs don't have a voice in the vote. Only the local registered voters do and that's how crazy anti-STR policies can get passed.

I always UW for MTR/LTR when considering a STR property (I have 13 throughout the country) and make sure I have multiple exit strategies.

 Thank you! It's awesome when a vision turns into reality!

 Loaded question. 1. make sure the community will allow owner/builder new construction permits. 2. talk to lenders (credit unions, private money, hard money). once you talk to the two parties that can make or break your plan you'll know which direction to take.