All Forum Posts by: Kuriakos Mellos

@Paul De Luca i've used Fixer before for emergencies but trying to be a bit more cost conscious this time around.

@John Warren my main guy is out in South Carolina (who is awesome) for at least 6 months so trying to find someone new has been..um..a challenge.  Everywhere else I am golden but just do not have good luck in the city itself.

Hi all!  I have not had any luck on finding consistent and reliable handy men who are investor friendly in the Chicago area (who will also not drain you.)  Any help?  Thanks!

Monty! I JUST began my journey with travel nurses and have become obsessed with it. It's as if LTR and STR had a baby and you have this great middle tier rental potential. I tried it out with my primary home first and found a great tenant (90 days) in a traveling nurse couple. I was able to cover my mortgage, expenses and still cash flow about $1300 a month. (This is a SFH and was testing the waters to see how it would work.) Just got my second payment from them this week.

I then took a duplex that I recently bought, in which I was going to do a LTR rental for a market rate of about $1400 for the first floor (had active applicants in place) but put up an ad on FurnishedFinder, had a nice steady stream of requests and am now getting $3200 a month in rent. (For a 2/1!) In this strategy I rented out each bedroom for $1600. After taking half of the mortgage of the duplex, insurance, and expenses (again you cover ALL expenses similar to an AirBnb) I am still profiting about $1700 for just this unit. Breakdown below:

Expenses: Mortgage, Taxes Insurance   $940

Electricity and Gas:                            $200

Internet:                                            $60

Water:                                               $60

Reserves:                                            $240

Total costs:     $1500

Now, I did have to buy furniture and rush to get it ready, but after this initial 3 month visit is over, the majority of those costs will have been paid for, and any new bookings after May will just need to cover the $1500 a month or so in recurring expenses. (Again that includes about $240 a month in reserves as well.)

Per your comments on agencies, I attempted to reach out to a few myself. (And spoken to nurses as well to get feedback) A lot of the agencies will usually just guide them over to FurnishedFinder to avoid any liability.  Also, the few that seem to do it charge more to get housing.

Things I have learned in my 45 days of doing this:

- Communication is key - even if it is not a match or you (or the nurses) be respectful as they are trying to find housing quickely.

- Provide a comfortable home like setting.  They want to go somewhere to unwind.

- Have comfortable beds. (All the nurses I have housed texted me saying that their sleep has been great. It is worth investing a little bit more in good mattresses)

- Safety. Sometimes they want to come and see the property and neighborhood before committing.

- Many of the nurses get weekly stipends for housing. I was given an example that in Kansas City, KS for example, the per diem per day was about $107.00 a day. (Sometimes they count weekend days, sometimes they don 't)

- Dont overcharge, I would say you could get anywhere from 1.5 to 1.7 your market rent in traveling nurses but do not get greedy.

- You don't need to do cleanings like you would an Airbnb! it's great. I charge a $150 cleaning fee per nurse on their lease on the last payment - none have said a thing.

- Make sure to dish out any maintenance for yard work / shoveling. (I live in the Midwest and snow is a thing..)

- Still write up a contract to be protected. 

- Shop around for furniture and items, again I was in a rush to get mine ready but go to clearance sections of furniture stores and get accessories from like a Goodwill. You would be surprised how cozy you could make a spot with a little time on your hands.

If anyone has questions on my experience please reach out! I am trying to close on another duplex that I will be using ONLY as FurnishedHousing after my initial excitment and success with traveling nurses.

Joe - not sure what other comps are in the area, but moving large appliances is a burden for tenants.  (And more opportunity for damaging walls and floors).  I get basic fridges (no ice makers) in the majority of my rentals and have been smart about when I bought them. (Thanksgiving day sales are always great to go shop for appliances.)

 As stable as one can hope. Obvioulsy no one knows what can happen tomororw, but will hit my 5 year mark this week. I did think about that as a worst case scenario, and EVEN (which I don't forsee that happening) something happened where the job was discontinued, the benefits (and cash flow potential) from a new property would still overcome any fees that were incurred. 

 that is some pretty serious gains. nicely done.  I think my interest is at 5.25% ((if i took the loan)) but again it builds itself back up so I am all for it.

 that is what I am thinking too ;-) thanks for the response.

Hey everyone,

I recently began toying with the idea of renting out some of my LTRs into more of a flexible STR model (traveling professionals and furnished units.). The cash flow is 3X in some cases of what I could of made traditionally, and I actually enjoy getting the properties ready and enganging with the tenants. I do not have the bandwith, or the want really, to do traditional Airbnb and VRBO - which seems like too much work and maintenance for me right now. Who knows, maybe that will change with time, but right now I like slightly longer leases with furnished units than the thought of having to go in and clean two times a week between guests.

I have some 401 K accounts, that I was thinking might be a good source to pull out some cash and put that money in a new property where I know I could cash flow at least $1400 to $1500 a month on average.  I am 38, and from what I understand, the loan will just be paid back slowly over time from your pay check. (About 5 years?) 

 Why not take that money and make it work for you NOW, instead of waiting till I am 59.5 to pull it out.    I personally feel that the benefits of getting another unit up and running (tax advantages, almost instant cash flow, mortgage pay down etc) would help accelerate further growth for future purchases of other properties and actually get some instant gratification. (Rather than having a sum of about $50 K just sitting in a 401 K account.) The fact that the loan will start being paid back almost immediately as well is a plus - and will allow that to rebuild itself with time as well.

I would love to hear some feedback/suggestions from others that might have done this.

Thanks,

K-Man

@Michael Nowakowski got my start here in IL too. Live in Des Plaines and have rentals in Mount Prospect Arlington Heights and Chicago.  Where you at ?