All Forum Posts by: Luke Carl

@Matt Hoiles I’m not looking my man! I’ve found. 

Http://smokymountain.life 

“The cabin was too far from town”  

3 stars. 

The first word in the headline is “SECLUDED” 

Also distances to all area attractions in the listing. 

I agree with Paige Kelsey you don’t need it and you’re just asking for trouble. We have 5 VRs 10 hours away round trip and I self manage. They stay booked 90% year round and bring in big numbers. We do put out a little basket but it’s more like just a cute greeting with an envelope to tip the housekeeper. Hand sanitizer. Whatever the house keeper finds for next to nothing. We don’t pay for the items the housekeepers do. One of them has a Girl Scout. We buy $100 worth every season and put out one box per guest until they’re gone. Many guests don’t touch them. We think they think they’re ours and we left them there lol. We have Kuerigs and Drip makers in all cabins. We don’t tell them we have keurigs until we send check in instructions. We tell them BYO Kcups. They’re expensive and one more thing to deal with. Besides if they get dunkin doughnuts they’re complain they’re not krispy kream. If you promise them things other cabins don’t have they’ll expect you to come over and wipe for them. And hold their hand. And brush their teeth. Then leave 4 stars because you used the wrong toothbrush.

AirBnB: Got a 5 star review that gave 3 stars for cleanliness because of “Soap scum on the shower curtain” I saw it coming a million miles away and gave the guest 4 stars with 2 stars for Communication because she was silent and cocky due to her 7 other glowing 5 star reviews. After she received her 2 stars for communication she flipped out and apologized profusely and was begging to book the cabin again. Seemingly to make it up to me lol. I said.... “Dear madam, with 10,000 cabins in the market I’m quite certain you’ll be able to find one that’s deserving of 5 star cleanliness” Good luck finding one cleaner than mine it won’t happen.

Wendy Schultz we flew down and looked heavily at PCB and Destin and the numbers couldn’t touch what we’re putting up in the mountains so we just bought more cabins. 250k cabin will gross 40-50k so closer to 20%

@Wendy Schultz the other option is Evolve at 10% but then you’re dealing with a company based out of Colorado and what do they know or care? I bought one that was managed by evolved and the owner was sinking. Fast.  They owned it less than a year. I turned it into a 45k property in a weekend. I paid 190k. 

Even the local PMs are shotty and most of them don’t use AirBnB and some don’t even use VRBO they just rely on yourgrandmascabinrentals.com where they don’t have to deal with reviews. And the real reason they don’t use the platforms is because they’re lazy and stuck in the past. Yet they do well because of volume and he fact that people have been renting cabins in the mountains for as long as a hammer and nails has been around. Today there are around 10,000 cabins in the market which is the most visited national park in America 3 times the Grand Canyon

As you can see we saw a big opportunity and we took advantage of it. @Avery Carl will close 4 million this year. All to out of state self managers using our system. 

I would approach this as a job no different than managing a bar or a restaurant. If the gig sounds appealing, take it. And fake it till you make it. Then stack up that cash and buy your own damn VRs and retire. Good luck!

Don’t let Paul scare you Lol. There’s big money to be made in this business in the RIGHT MARKET. First thing to do is check if the area is vacation rental friendly. If you saw several AirBnB’s in the area it probably is but again quick google search. Next.... run the numbers. If you’re dealing with condos on the water the returns are generally small if anything. The HOA will be high and the terms on your loan will be outrageous because you can’t get a conventional. If you pay cash you’ll avoid the high dollar loan and make money. I would start by messaging the owner of the place you have already rented and ask questions. If they actually own it (which is not likely) they will probably be more than happy to answer questions! There are some money maker markets in Florida and others where you’ll be struggling to tread water. I do want to point out that if you go and stay there, you lose money, and is that really any different than spending money? The dream of having a place to go stay in is not realistic because whether you’re staying in your own place or renting someone else’s it still costs you the same amount. However, it’s the difference between spending $xyz of the money you make now and $xyz of your future income so it’s a good problem to have. If you’re barely breaking even every month you’ll feel like a chump sleeping in your own house having created a new job for yourself that Costs you money! In my market a 250k 2 bedroom will gross 40-50k per year depending on who’s managing. Then again if you don’t self manage in my market you lose money because PMs charge 40% I self manage 5 cabins in the mountains from 10 hours away and I do 90% of the work from the can in the morning. I also have a day job and I’m a moron. Ask a Ton of questions and you shall find answers. Good luck!

@John P.  I have 5 of them and it takes me about 5 minutes per day. General from the can. And I do my spreadsheets on the first of the month. I guess I better get to work on those lol. We have lots of CA friends and clients that’s have several cabins each. @Julie McCoy is the expert on that. 

@Tyler Mau  you’re about 7-8 years too late. A 400k house near 5 points will rent for what.... 3000?? You’re losing money in Nashville if you want to rent. You can build and make money but there are very big fish already crushing that area. 

It’s not impossible but it is VERY difficult and you’ll need a lot of cash. Not sure why you picked top 5 hardest city to make money lol. I do feel Nashville is somewhat crash proof and that means a lot to some folks! Don’t get the wrong idea it’s not like it’s San Francisco but I am seeing 2/1s in not so desirable areas sell for 150k cash and they need to be gutted in most cases. The same house rents for 1200. Why are they selling for 150k cash? Because they’re getting torn down and 3 are built in their place. 

I’m sure @Avery Carl can find you some things with a little patience and I’ve got the numbers of plenty of PMs that do good work. 

Good luck!