All Forum Posts by: Pablo Flores

Hey Guys,

If I own my home outright and have no mortgage, and I want to tap into some of my equity to purchase another investment property, which of the above would be the best way to do this? My home is worth around 350k, and I only need about 120k for the investment home purchase. I've done a good amount of research but it seems like their are pros and cons to all of these loan options. Please help me understand but wouldn't a HELOC be better here because I could just draw what I need instead of getting a whole new loan on my home. It seems like the only downside is the variable rate but a lot of places let you lock the interest rate. If on the other hand I did a cash out refi would I just be able to pull out 120k from my homes value instead of getting a new loan on the entire value of the home? Maybe I'm not understanding this right so thanks for any clarification!

Sucks but if you have listened to the prior city council meetings this is the direction they seemed to have been leaning towards.

@Mike G.

Congrats on the purchase Mike!! I own and self-manage a few properties in Indio and La Quinta that all gross around 125k. The demand is even higher in PS with a smaller supply because of all the rental restrictions so I can’t imagine a large 4 bed/ 4 bath grossing any less than that, or even less than 150k.

Either way I think hiring a PM for you was the right move, given that you live out of state and all the restrictions PS has. I live an hour and a half away from Coachella and it’s still difficult for me. Ive spent the last year optimizing all my systems to make the business self sustaining but even then I can’t imagine self managing from another state. I do recommend in the future maybe hiring a local person and paying them maybe 10 % to be the local contact person and handle any in person issues instead of paying an all inclusive PM 25%. A lot of the other tasks a PM does you can build out yourself with a good dynamic pricing software, third party management software, and building out a good house manual to mitigate any issues or questions a guest might have.

Just curious how much did you pay for your investment?

@Luke Carl

Listings are matched. Still doesn’t work. Any other suggestions lol?

Anyone having any issues with YP and VRBO integration? I have YP and Airbnb synced both ways and it works flawlessly. But I seem to constantly be running issues with VRBO. Many times the rates that are pushed from PriceLabs don’t sync over onto VRBO. But the biggest issue is that my calendar from YourPorter doesn’t sync correctly to VRBO. It will sync over bookings but any blocked dates from YP that aren’t bookings will not sync over to VRBO.

I have a new listing that I have set up to only allow bookings 3 months out so that I can readjust rates as demand increases. But on VRBO guests seem to still be able to book a year out despite my availability window only being 3 months on YP.

I already contacted VRBO to see what the issue is on their end but I’m wondering if anyone else is running into similar issues.

@Robert Gilstrap

In my area outdoor noise monitoring is more important. Is NoiseAware the only option for that?

@Robert Gilstrap

I have NoiseAware and it works but it seems like I have to switch out the batteries every two weeks. How does Minut compare? Does Minut also have outdoor sensors?

Awesome these are all great ideas!

I have a home in La Quinta, Ca I have been getting ready to turn into a STR next month. City just extended the moratorium on new applications for STRs until Feb 2nd due to the influx of noise complaints during this pandemic. What is the best way to rent out my home for minimum 30 days while this passes over? Advertise on Airbnb/VRBO as 30 day minimum? Craigslist? Rent it to insurance companies in the meantime? I've heard of people doing that and getting a pretty good return. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Pablo Flores

@Rohin Dhar Definitely worth it man. I charge my guests $25/night to heat up the spa and an additional $50/night to heat up the pool. It’s pretty standard and guests won’t mind paying it if you explain how expensive it can be to heat up a pool. I actually end up even or even making a small profit on the spa/Pool heating fees. Your Pool guy should be able to recommend a good pool heater.