All Forum Posts by: Mindy Nicol

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment in St Augustine.

Purchase price: $230,000
Cash invested: $170,000

Two homes on half an acre. Both rented at the time of purchase. Homes were in disrepair and needed immediate renovation. I was able to do gut renovations on both when leases ended. Home and land was owned by a hoarder so major cleanup was needed. Both homes have been renovated. Tiny house is currently a successful short term rental booked EVERY weekend. (Palm Cottage in Airbnb). I am living in the main house while I wait to get into position for my next investment.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Anything with legal 2 home structures 6 minutes from downtown made me interested. The area is in transformation so I knew equity would happen over time as well.

Hi Kristi,

I have had this happen a couple of times. I always call the booking entity first (Airbnb, VRBO etc) and ask them how they would like to handle it. They will reach out to the guests on your behalf and find out what’s going on. If it is a direct booking then I’d definitely reach out to them. If they do not check in in the first 24 hrs and we do not know why I like to cancel their booking (their expense) and get it back on the booking sites as available asap.  Either way I think as hosts we should try to make contact in order to see if there was a genuine reason, emergency etc. 

Mindy 

OK thanks @Michael Baum.  This confirms what I have heard.  

Service animal question for the group.....I have a guest staying who I noticed has large 2 dogs. There were no pets disclosed in the booking and I was surprised to see them. I called Airbnb to see if they are service animals. It turns out they are and the guest requires them to remind her to take medical treatments. I understand they are not considered pets. Questions for the group:

Are we allowed to charge a cleaning fee or not? I do accept 1 dog with an extra cleaning fee but not two. Airbnb has told me if there is an issue when they leave I have to fill out their form to see if I can get reimbursed. Airbnb told me guests can have up to 3 service animals, they do not have to disclose them at booking, and they can be dogs or miniature horses.

• Do you ask up front if they are bringing a service animal? If we can't then how can we provide extra things like dog bowls, water etc if we do not know?
• Does anyone charge an extra service animal cleaning fee or is this a no no?  How do you recoup the cleaning costs?
• Can we see the proof they are in fact service animals?
• Is there any law in Florida that protects the rights of the property owner for rentals relating to animals on property?

I thought maybe someone in the group has come across this. I want to do the right thing but I also want to know in advance which animals are on property and to be able to recoup cleaning fees. Thanks in advance! Mindy

Where is your rental @Jon Martin?

What are everyone's thoughts are on this graph that Airdna posted plus the article here: https://www.airdna.co/best-places-to-invest-in-vacation-rent...

Should investors really be focusing in on these markets?  Or take it with a grain of salt? I'm just curious on your thoughts.

Thanks @Austin J.. I've RSVPed!

I think less about exit strategy and more how you will pivot. ie: move from STR to MTR, or LTR. Example: If there are too many STRs and you can't get the occupancy high enough then you could switch into MTR. If it makes sense financially converting it into a long term rental could be the way to go. People always need housing and speaking of MTR there will always be insurance claims and traveling medical professionals. In the case of a nationwide shut down like we saw, if that happened again, I personally don't think we'd see a such a massive pent up demand from vacationers, and could see people operating as normal if any more mandates are imposed, but it's hard to say. There are places that are constantly popular with tourists. For example here in St Augustine, most of the year is steadily busy. I think you want to pick markets which have a strong following and year round tourism, that you know and have visited and that have clear demand. We have already seen a cull in STR as a lot of people pivoted in the last 18 months, so I think what you'll see in the market now are people that are serious about this business.

Hi @Andrew Steffens 
Thanks. I actually have investors In contract there right now. Good point! 

Hi there,

I'd like to know where are the best opportunities for STR investors in 2024. While much of the US is complaining of saturation, where would YOU put your money?

I have investors looking at building out portfolios and while I am based in St Augustine, Florida (tourist destination and many STRs), I would like to find out from the BP audience where you see the opportunities.  

What cities/destinations are growing, getting visitors and not already saturated? 

Thanks in advance!

Mindy