All Forum Posts by: Mike Shemp

@Marc Winter - Thanks so much for that information.  No this is nothing like 50 doors.  This is only 1 door (well, two if you count the back door....LOL).  This is just a single family vacation rental property.  I will look into just doing the trust.  

Do you know of any disadvantages or shortcomings of just doing the trust?

Thanks again for the great information.

SG

1.  Set For Life and Rich Dad Poor Dad

2. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

3. Hiking, kayaking, and oudoors

4. Mindset.  If you go into this with the wrong mindset, it's going to be a constant struggle.  I think it's important to have the mindset of there will be issues that come up, and most of them can be dealt with, or you can pay someone else to deal with them.  Always ask yourself "what is great about this situation" even if on the surface it seems like a bad one.

HI @Luka Milicevic

Here are some things that we did that help increase the revenue.

1. Pet fee on AirBnB.

2. Invested in the property and updated the siding, windows, and other appearance related items.  This helped justify higher rate.

3. Used Instagram and Facebook to build a following.

4. Also used paid ads in both to drive traffic to AirBnb to increase off-season rentals.

I think #4 has been the best for us.  

There is a part of me that thinks the guest might feel they are being nickled-and-dimed if there are extra fees on the amenities.

Hope that helps!

SG

Hi All,

I am looking for any thoughts or guidance on setting up an LLC.

We have a rental property in North Carolina that has a mortgage. We would like to move it into an LLC. We spoke to one asset protection attorney and asked about how to avoid triggering the "due on sales clause" if we moved it. Here is what was suggested:

1. Setup LLC in North Carolina.

2. Setup Wyoming LLC. This is the member/manager of the NC LLC.

3. Change ownership of title to be a land trust via warranty deed. Beneficiary of land trust should be the Wyoming LLC. Changing title to be the land trust should avoid the due on sales clause.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this structure? Does it sound right? Not right? Overkill?

Thanks!

SG

Hi @Brian Buchanan

Just following this thread, and curious if you ever bought a place in OBX?

Thanks!

SG

Hello,

I am looking at a property that needs some cosmetic repairs, but also has a cesspool.  Does anyone have any ballpark estimates on what it would cost to remove a cesspool, and replace it with a septic system?

Thank you!

SG

Hi Janessa,

Haha - yes definitely....even if people aren't searching for Airbnb, everyone loves puppy and baby pictures.  Every time I post a dog picture I use hashtags like #airbnb #dogfriendly and things like that in case there are people using Instagram to scope out new place to stay at AirBnB.

So to answer your question about the tags, we have mentioned to our guests via our Welcome Book that if they tag a picture on Instagram during their stay with us, we will repost it on our Instagram feed.  A few guests have done it and we have reposted those pics and they have all been of pictures from in and around our rental...so far it has worked out nicely for everyone as we get additional content, and they get additional exposure.

The other thing we are going to implement this year is having a Welcome Card with a gift card inside of it or a welcome basket for when the guests arrive.  It seems like a win-win because the guests walk in and immediately get a gift, and that may create an "instagrammable moment" where they take a picture of the gift and post it on their own feeds.  Everybody wins!

Hope that helps!

SG

Hi Todd,

I think the first thing to do is ask yourself "For what purpose would someone want to rent my house for the short-term?"  For example is it in a tourist location and would be for a vacation? or weekend getaway? Is it located near a train station and might be used for that purpose? Is it located near lots of corporation and may be used by corporate travelers?  I think you need to be able to clearly answer why someone would want to rent it.    You can also go on AirBnB and search the city you are interested in to see how other people are positioning their properties, and if their properties have lots of reviews (so you know people are booking them).

You also need to make sure you have a good reliable cleaner lined up.

Also figure out how you will do the guest turnover and getting them access to the property.  We have a lockbox and change the combination in between guests.

Hope that helps!

SG

One thing to check out is to see if there are any local taxes you have to pay associated with your short-term rental.  

For example we rent our property in North Carolina on AirBnB, and there are Occupancy Taxes as well as a Sales & Use tax we have to pay every month that it has revenue.  And for months if there is no rent we still have to file the paperwork and indicate $0.00 tax bill.

Just something to research in the Philadelphia area to make sure you follow all the rules.

SG

Hi Jenessa,

We have a beach house that we rent on AirBnB and we have a web site, Instagram page, Facebook page, Twitter account, and Pinterest page.  We primarily post new content and pictures on Instagram, and Facebook.  For Instagram we post 1x to 2x per day and are building up a following.

For the type of content we put on Instagram we are varying it.  We post pictures of the outside of the house, inside of the house, attractions in the area, and pictures of our dog to help emphasize that our rental is dog-friendly.  

We also post pictures of individual decor or items in the house, especially if they are eclectic, or quirky, or have a story behind them.  We also try and post pictures so that the guests can visualize themselves in that same situation to see the benefits they may get from renting.  For example we have a rooftop deck with amazing sunsets, so we have some pictures of coffee cups and donuts in the morning while the sun is coming up.  Something that helps them visualize "that could be my vacation".

I think the other important thing is that you need to personalize it a bit.  I think that potential guests can only get so interested in house pictures....they need to see the people behind it all so more and more we are sharing pictures of ourselves, our dog, and other tidbits about our life within the Instagram pictures.

We have received booking requests and inquiries from Facebook and Instagram but I believe the majority of people are just finding us on AirBnb.  I have also been playing around with Facebook and Instagram ads and those do seem to drive up the AirBnB inquiries.