All Forum Posts by: Nick Bruckner

Pro tip - Don't price your property like a t-shirt: $9.99.

Many sellers list their properties just below a round number. For example, $695,000 or $799,000. They think this looks presents the property as though it's a good deal, but they are shooting themselves in the foot by failing to maximize the pool of qualified buyers.

Most buyers shop a range with round numbers: $700K-$750K. or $800K-$900K. So @ $695K, your property is not showing up in the search of the buyer who is looking at $700-$750K properties online. @$799K, you're missing all the $800K+ buyers. 

You want to list your property on the border of buyers who are shopping properties. So $700K or $800K would be better prices than $695K or $799K, respectively, because you'd double your buyer pool and likely end up with a better offer.

Conversely, if you are searching for a deal - drop $10K below the window you had in mind on the low end of your search. If you're thinking you want a $700-$800K property, put $690,000 in on the low end and you may end up with a great deal that you would have otherwise missed. This concept is one of the best tips I picked up from Larry Kendall's book, Ninja Selling. 

Anyone else have a pro tip on pricing properties strategically?

@Jamie Rose @Tyler Cobb

@Chris Seveney where do you find foreclosure data?

 Do you typically structure your SF deals keeping the deed in the seller's name? 

We have a great property manager in our market. But he, like most property managers, doesn't do STR's because they are so heavy on the time investment. When you outsource the management of STRs the quality usually drops off a lot.

I talked to a potential off market seller last week who owns her six unit apartment building outright. Building is immaculate in Fairview (c+ area) with a strong rental market, but relatively low sale value if she sold it (around $530-$540K) compared to her rental income of $1400/unit. Her building has great cash flows, but isn't worth a lot - so she'd prefer not to sell it in a traditional transaction.

She is a tired landlord, would like to move out of state, doesn't want to deal with capital gains tax, and likes the monthly income (it's her retirement and she's over 60!). I presented her with seller financing as an option - both getting paid over 2-4 years or a long term deal. She could get a nice downpayment to buy a home or another property, and retain monthly income (in the long term option) as well as make money charging interest. Her only concern was she didn't want to deal with a foreclosure if the buyer didn't keep on top of monthly payments. 

In deals we've done, I haven't seen this happen yet. Usually investors with properties that cash flow are pretty motivated to make their payments on time. It's crazy not to. But I realized I didn't really have data to give her about how often buyers default in these situations nationally. I suppose it would depend on the rental market and the property (if it didn't cash flow - could be a problem), but we have a very strong rental market here. I also explained to her that she should vet her buyer (credit check, background check, proof of funds, landlord experience, etc - much like a traditional lender)

Does anyone know if there is somewhere to find this data? It's not publicly recorded as far as I am aware, so I imagine it is difficult to track. Does anyone have experience to share, either good or bad, or any other insights? @Jamie Rose @Tyler Cobb

 What does that expense look like? If you pay them by the hour, how much? Or do you pay a percentage?

I have a cousin who self manages several Airbnbs but he doesn’t have much free time and several clients trying to decide how to use their multi family properties. STRs do well here in Alaska, but that’s also when we want to enjoy the sunshine and fishing!

If you self manage your STR (as most people do) or just set everything up on the front end, do you record how much time you spend on it? How much is your time worth? I'm not asking that to make a point- literally- what number goes into your spreadsheet? .

When trying to decide if you want to use a rental property for a STR vs MTR vs LTR you need to know these numbers, because the time you extra you spend working on the STR could've been spent earning money elsewhere. If you add this time into your expenses for the investment (instead of working for free) it brings the cash flows for STR vs LTR closer together.

When you scale, this becomes an even bigger issue. Also, if anyone on here hires someone to run their Airbnb I’d be curious how they structure their fees. Meeting a new colleague who is just getting started managing and curious how others approach it or think about it. @Jamie Rose @Tyler Cobb @Kaiden Foster

 Likewise Timothy!

It's fun to see investors collaborate and share knowledge on BP and in person. Enjoyed the monthly Vested Alaska meet up at 49th Street last night with investors in South Central Alaska. One investor shared that if you have a duplex or triplex in ANC, and you don't have a water meter, the local water utility will bill you a flat rate of $180/month which is about $140/month more than metered water (if you don't have leaks). The cost to have the utility install a meter is around $1,000. Switching to a meter recovered the $1,000 investment in the new meter installation within 10 months. Another investor shared he has experience installing the meter himself and saving even more money.  

@Chris S. shared some of his experience on tips for being a successful landlord in Mt. View (cameras, taking care the property and being present!), and gave the valuable tip that if your water bill is high, you likely have a leak or a running toilet and she shared wisdom about being consistent with all your tenants with rents and policies for liability reasons. Giving spikes to tenants helps avoid liability claims (in addition to documenting ice and snow removal).

We also discussed the strength of the rental market (stable after a long period of rent growth) and the ADU possibilities and some unique challenges of adding ADUS, even with new regulations being relaxed. It's always fun to see where other investors are at in their journeys and pick up valuable info from one another. If you are in Southcentral Alaska, and want to get on the email invite list for details email me or @Jamie Rose @Tyler Cobb

@Tyler Cobb

Sounds like a good business to be in Kaiden. I'll mention your service to a few people. What is your fee structure? There are definitely folks who want the additional income from AirBNB's in the summer, but they highly value their time in the summer as well, so I think you're going to be meeting a niche in the market and have the chance to do well.