All Forum Posts by: Paul Smythe

@William Leahy @Jeremy Baker @John Underwood Let's say I set both up with Airbnb and VRBO. It looks like I would get different rates with each one (higher for VRBO). Do you run across that often? What would you do in that situation? Would you keep rents the same for both or would you go with the higher rate for VRBO?

@William Leahy I had no idea you can link the calendars. That's awesome.

@Jeremy Baker The property is not in the city. It's in Doraville, so close to the city, but I don't imagine I'd be renting much to people looking to do things in Midtown.

I'm curious what you use to choose your vacation rental site for each property. I have a few assumptions about what you are using to make the decision (such as airbnb is probably better in cities due to a younger target renter), but I would love to hear more feedback.

It seems like it would be difficult to manage a rental on both vrbo and airbnb at the same time, so I am trying to figure out which would be better for my purposes.

I am living in a condo that I purchased a year ago with an FHA loan. One of my marketing strategies is offering a "nothing down" purchase. Because the FHA loan is assumable I am offering seller financing to cover the remaining balance of the purchase price less the loan balance.

I'm wondering how I handle seller financing. Am I able to create a note and mortgage? As part of the agreement do I just detail a monthly payment plan and not mention seller finance? I'm not sure about what I'm able to do because I'm not a lender. Obviously seller financing would put me in second position, but I don't know what is allowed. Thoughts?

@Jem J. I've used cozy and am a big fan. Pretty easy to use and the rent collection is convenient. The funds will take some time to transfer, though, once you've been paid, so I would encourage you to pay the small monthly fee to expedite them.

@Jake Morris commercial properties are valued based off of the income they produce. If you want to find fair market value on a commercial property you should find out the market cap rate (either from a local broker or a market report such as the ones produced by CBRE). From there you would take the annual NOI and divide it by the market cap.

Hey @Ruth Neely I would highly recommend @Mike O'Connor if you are looking for an investor-friendly agent. He knows his stuff and is an investor himself. I've worked with him and have been very pleased.

@Charlotte Parrish I have listed a rental with staging pictures from when I bought it. I stated clearly in the advertisement that the furniture in the pictures was not current. It helps it sell while also being honest with potential tenants.

So we have the obvious neighborhoods like West End, Old Fourth Ward, Kirkwood, etc. where the market is super hot, but the competition is crazy there. What are some less competitive markets where you're investing in Atlanta? I'm looking from a flipping perspective, but I'd also to be curious to hear rental markets you're targeting.

Does anyone have any experience with installing security cameras at homes? I am realizing I need to 1) be able to record things at my houses in case something bad happens and 2) be able to check in to see if contractors are actually working when they say they are.

Any recommendations?