All Forum Posts by: Miguel Del Mazo

Hi Chris, 

I searched for properties near Eatonton that are available Nov 1st for less than $1200 on furnishedfinder.com and found 3 SE of Eatonton and 1 NE that meet that criteria.

I chose $1200 because FF shares some of their data publicly at furnishedfinder.com/stats. One of the bits of info they share is percentages of listings at various price points, and "below $1200" is one of those break points. That makes me think that landlords see that and are influenced to raise rents to that number. I certainly could be wrong about that :). With that said, 3 of the 4 listing's are for $1200 a month.

It's definitely the off season for Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair, so reaching out to these listings through FF and seeing if they can match your son's budget is worth a try.

Best of luck!

I think one of the challenges of the BP MTR forums is that while all real estate is local, it seems that what is working in the MTR space is hyperlocal. That means, take anything I post with a grain of salt :)

FF for us started off as our bread and butter for lead generation, but as we added more units, we added AirBnB and Vrbo. AirBnB has been a really good source of quality leads. Vrbo has been less productive, and FF remains a staple. All three generate leads from insurance claim residents and traveling professionals (medical and the trades).

One of the advantages of FF has been that it's forced us to have systems in place to create leases, accept security deposits without co-mingling and provide "live" customer service. 

We have not been impressed with Padsplit or Roomster even though we are able to accept rent by the room. We listed without success on Kopa, but they've closed shop.

I've heard good things about Zillow rentals but have no personal experience.

During the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, Gen. Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe rallied his troops saying, "Men, we are surrounded by the enemy. That means we have the greatest opportunity ever presented to an army. We can attack in any direction.”

One of the challenges in the MTR space is that we are nationally surrounded by so many opportunities, but not all of these are present in each region. That's why one poster can adore FF while another sees only a desert on the platform. The same is true for all of the other ways in which we source residents.

So what does mean practically? Take advantage of the need to get new residents more frequently than an LTR by experimenting right after you've filled a listing: change up the description on your platforms, try a new platform, raise the proposed rents, or practice reaching out to those "bad leads" of FF. When you have a lease for 3 months, you are free to "fail". Use the information you gain to narrow your focus for what is working for your market.

Most importantly, if something is working well for the folks you see here or on the podcast, but it doesn't work for you, don't despair. Sometimes, it's just your market. Keep adapting, keep trying, and keep attacking in every direction.

I just set up a new listing on FF today, and I asked myself the same question.  The prices seem steep for a very limited amount of coverage, and we already have a good insurance policy independently of Worry Free Waivers, so I decided, once again, not to bother with them. Our tenants don't seem to mind a security deposit (we charge 1/3 a month's rent), and we've already set up our systems to ensure no co-mingling of security deposit funds and rent (or other personal) funds.

Still, I'd love to hear any experiences for good or ill that anyone has had with their services.

Sorry to miss this when it was first posted.

This type of lease is, by far, my favorite. Business to business is generally the highest paying avatar for us while also being the most professional. Yes, there are more steps to go through (often including sending in a W-9 tax form), but those steps are usually pretty straightforward.

Additionally, most of the folks tasked with finding the housing for the company's VIPs are really appreciative of being treated well by a good property manager, so you can stand above the crowd by simply responding quickly and respectfully. After a good experience with you, who do you think they'll call next time?

The stays at your property are mid-term, but for repeat business, you want to cultivate long-term relationships.

It sounds like you are well on your way to doing that. Way to go.

Jamie and Allen are spot on, as usual. :)

I would add "Is there an ideal avatar that you are looking to serve" to the mix.  If you have a competitive advantage that you can bring to your co-hosting/managing, then I would recommend looking for owners with properties that mesh well with your target resident.

For example, if you are an active duty military servicemember with unique insight into what a servicemember is looking for, lean into that. Similarly, if you are you a medical professional with strong connections at the local hospital, then target properties (and their owners) that would attract medical travelers. You don't have to fit into a traditional "avatar" box to bring valuable insight, so don't sell yourself short. :)

This is especially true if you rely on furnishedfinder.com as your primary lead source (which you shouldn't, but that's another post) as when you make that connection with a prospective resident, you are selling yourself as a landlord as much as you are the property as a place to live. Having that instant connection with prospects is a definite advantage.

Hey Leslie,

I am an Atlanta native who has been buying, rehabbing and managing MTRs for the last 4 years with my wife. Last year (Sept '23), we were considering branching out to a new market within GA. To that end, I made a Google sheets document with every hospital system in GA along with the following data:

City

Zip Code

Rentometer 2/X   (what a 2 BR, any bath) goes for on Rentometer)

Rent Rentometer 3/1+ Rent (what a # BR, 1.5+ bath) goes for on Rentometer)

"Minutes to home"  (how far a drive it is for us)

"Staffed Beds"  (measure of how big a hospital is)

"Total Discharges" (a different measure of hospital size)

"Patient Days"  (yet another different measure of hospital size)

"Gross Patient Revenue ($000)" (you guessed it, hospital size)

Map Searches & Housing Requests (this and everything below was from FF.com stats page)

Furnishedfinder.com Page Views

Total Rooms

Private Rooms 

% Units Hotels

% Whole Place > 2500 

% Whole Place > 2k < 2.5k 

% Whole Place > 1.5k < 2k 

% Room > 1500 

% Room > 1k < 1.5k 

Page view per room

This allowed us to narrow our search to hospital systems near us (less than 2 hours) in a less competitive market (higher page views per room advertised on FF.com) with a significant % of units being rented on FF.com at higher rents (more $).  Looking back, I probably could've added average sale price in the area. This is all public data, except for the rentometer estimated rents (which you should expect to mark up for being fully-furnished).  BP has a good rental estimator that can replace the data from Rentomenter.

So how did Macon turn out? Really well...which surprised me. The 6th, 7th and 8th highest page views per listed properties were in Macon (out of 113 hospital systems in GA, counting ones with missing data). There is demand for MTRs in Macon that is not being met.

However, I feel that there is a reason for investors not meeting that demand. The population in Macon has been decreasing since before I was a kid, 40+ years ago. Decreasing population limits appreciation potential. There is no "good part" and "bad part" of Macon; it's all jumbled together except for a thin ring around Mercer Univeristy. That means that all neighborhoods have some element of "D class", so even if you make your property "A class", it will be held back in appreciation. Many properties in Macon lack central heat and air which I feel is a "must-have" amenity in GA. Adding it is costly, but doesn't have a good ROI which decreases the ability to force appreciation.

So, too long; didn't read: Macon has a lot going for it as market (big hospitals, light competition, reasonable expected rent), but we opted to not invest there because while the cash flow was appealing, we really want to see great appreciation potential in what we buy. Of course, YMMV.

I would definitely get a good look at the neighborhood around your possbile purchase, and see if you think a nurse would feel comfortable finishing a shift and coming from the hospital to your quadplex alone and in the dark.

I'm also in the "never heard of future stay" camp.

We now have 6 units all in the same, tertiary local market in the South, and we manually adjust our pricing based on how close we are getting to a unit coming open.  I think AIrBnB and Vrbo has some automatic adjustment for our listing on the off chance that there is a big spike in demand for a big concert or SportsBall (TM) game coming into town. Still, that will typically be a rounding error over the course of a 30+ day stay.

One of the hardest part of the MTR strategy is dealing with the emotional roller coaster that exists when a listing is about to open up again.  I always feel the impeding doom of "it's not going to rent, it's not going to rent" right before it rents. Throw in a dose of imposter syndrome and fatalism and you have a recipe for some mood swings right before a property is booked again.

From a practical point, I would recommend great photos, a clearly defined target to whom you are advertising and understanding the best pricing of an area really well to ake sure you get booked in a timely fashion.

From a more meta perspective, be aware that these listings don't typically get booked well in advance (families displaced by flood or fire, traveling nurses who need a new contract ASAP, and construction projects that realize they need a speciality engineer on-site RIGHT NOW don't book ahead).  I find that prayer helps. :)

Welcome to the cool-kids club :)

I agree with Allen above.  Since it doesn't sound like you have a property already, that means you can pick exactly where you want to be. Define who you want to serve, and then determine which market offers you the best chance to provide the housing they need. You then need to advertise to the avatar you've identified as your target. 

For instance, a traveling professor from Europe may love the simplicity of a 300 sqft microloft, but a family displaced by a fire will not.  Conversely, advertising a 4/3, beautiful single family home to single traveling nurses (a pretty price-aware demographic post-Covid) may not work as well.

When I go on ff.com to see what is out there in my area, I too often see units that are marketed to "everyone". Since you will only need to fill a unit 4-6 times a year, really focus down on who you are trying to attract. If you don't have the property yet, buy with this end in mind.

Best of luck. There's a great community here in these forums, so always feel welcome to ask questions.