All Forum Posts by: Peter R.

FROM the Forest Service or FOR the Forest Service?  I had no idea the latter was a thing, do they contract it out?  

The TCL is a great option, as an alternative, Samsung TVs have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO built in, no additional hardware required and it uses the same remote as the TV just like the TCL in some cases.

When I'm furnishing units I tend to watch deal sites like a hawk and grab the 55" ones that come up, I bought the last two Samsung's for $400/ea. 

We do the same thing as a few posters mentioned, guests can log into any of the services they'd like but we don't supply a house account.  Our turnover includes the cleaning person turning on the TV and logging out of any guest accounts that forgot to do that before departure.  Usually she logs into her own account and watches things while she cleans, so if nothing else, happy cleaner! :D

Thanks @Kevin Lefeuvre we're insured, stuff can be replaced, I hope everyone in the path stays safe too.

Some gallows humor, hurricane style, we JUST finished a complete overhaul of one of the suites.  And you can see in this photo the pictures on the sides of the TV weren't yet evenly spaced, if that wall is still there in a few days we'll fix it. :D

Literally finished a few days ago:

Everything was shiny and new and ready for listing but I guess we'll do it all over again if Irma decides to stop by.

Any members here in the path of Irma, either personally or your STRs?

All my renters are out or not coming and have been refunded.  We've been ordered to leave the barrier islands by 3pm tomorrow but I'm already out having done what I can to prepare.  I plan on riding it out in Central Florida.

But with the track still uncertain and seemingly shifting west it's still a guess as to where the worst of Irma will happen.

Best wishes to anyone in the path, stay safe and maybe share what you're doing to prepare if you have a moment.  I'll be watching the security cameras until the properties lose power.

@Angelo Wong @J.Martin ( I can't tag that either for some reason) would you be willing to give a brief primer on what exactly you're doing? Is it master lease then sublease for STR? If so, and you're targeting corporate housing, how do you advertise for that?

I don't do CL @Scott H. but when I do take rentals outside of the big platforms I run the payments through Stripe.  All major credit and debit cards accepted and it appears on your renter's statements as STRIPE*YOURBUSINESSNAME.  Fees are more or less on par with Paypal but more than Venmo. 3-4% ish. 

Are you asking fundamentals of business or more how to actually run the STR side (e.g. What lock should I buy, is Airbnb better than VRBO, etc)

The former is probably the realm of good startup basics and financial discipline. The latter, well, everyone has opinions because it's highly variable on personal preferences and dependent on location and type of STR.

What do you want to know?  We could probably crowdsource some opinions for you. :D

Interesting question @Brandon Stevens I suppose you'd need to start with location. You'll want somewhere that rents year round, so anything that closes for a season is out.

If you want to leverage that $500k you'll need the income to support that, from the Bank's point of view anyway.  You could try to do it with owner financing though, albeit harder to find properties that way.

Combining STR with a place to live could be one option, if running a B&B sounds like fun those are always for sale, but it's a much more hands-on type of business.

I guess if I had to start from scratch with a leveraged $500k I'd still go for beachfront or really close to the beach, multi-family units on owned property only, nothing with a condo association.

Even then, I'm not sure it's possible in 5 years.

@Luke Carl yeah, Kwikset and Schlage Sense advertise Z-Wave ability but neglect to mention that in the fine print, no code setting out of the box.

I am not well versed in the Kwikset but it IS possible to set/remove codes remotely on the Schlage Sense using Smart Things if you're interested in that route. Takes a bit of work to get it up and running but once you do, it works great. 

I've got 7 deadbolts running that smart things setup on the same account as my z-wave Ecobee Thermostats, smoke detectors, leak sensors, etc.

@Valerie Rogers when you say remote code setting, do you mean you get to choose a 4 digit code or do you mean the 10 digit time based code that ResortLock advertises as "time based codes?"

If Broward county is anything like Brevard county, VRBOHomeaway (which is all one site now, with many brands,) will be your best bet, followed by Airbnb.  I have personally not found success with TripAdvisor or booking.com.