All Forum Posts by: Peter Laurina

Same boat as Asury, have 130+ reviews.  The occasional non-5 gets lost in the mix after a while.  Had one give a glowing commentary but put 1 star for everything.  I responded asking why the low rating and her daughter profusely apologized for her mom's "computer illiteracy", unfortunately, once it was posted, not much you could do.  I've been a Super Host since the first review period 2 years ago.  The lower rating would hurt more initially (when you only have 10 like the OP has), but after a while, a mistake like that doesn't matter.  We contacted Airbnb and they basically told me "too bad".

Just keep up the service level and it'll wash out. I've never had a 3 star, just occasional 4 for something random.  One person was adamant that my queen bed was only a double. Reviews don't allow you to post a picture of the invoice from when I purchased the bed though... not much you can do, I'm not going to argue with the guest and make it look worse.  Just move on to the next guest experience and make sure they are happy.

Some guests just want something to complain about in life. I figure it must be what gives them joy, so I'll let them do it and I'll focus on what I can control.

Go negotiate the best deal you can, get it under contract, but leave yourself an solid out.  Something like "contingent on investment partner's approval" or try to put a 20-30 day inspection contingency.  Then hit the pavement and start trying to find investors.  If the deal is good enough  and you are motivated people will want in on it.  If you ask around and can't find anyone, then maybe it's a blessing in disguise and the reason other investors haven't tried to buy it?

Trying to resurrect a thread for us "boring" people.... 

I'm in the early stages of being boring, with the exception of my primary home. I rent out my primary as two separate Airbnb listings that cover all expenses (PITI as well as utilities and landscaper). I think the cool kids are calling it "house hacking" now, but it gives me a free place to live and leaves the vast majority of my income to invest.

I own a property I bought with cash that I call "a structure" and the fiancee calls "the crack house" that is undergoing renovations, but was only $25k to buy it and should be worth $85k after about $20k is put into it. It has a great location to be a student housing unit for UTK, being only 2 miles from campus and along a rec path that leads straight there.  I'm cash flowing the rehab from my primary job.

I sold my old primary home that was in the Denver CO area after that market went crazy the past 5 years and am turning that money around and buying a property closer to where I live now with cash. I came across a deal because my parents happened to be talking to the owners and they mentioned wanting to move but a Realtor told them it would be best if they could sell their home first so they could make a non contingent offer. I got in touch with them and negotiated to buy it and rent it back to them on a month to month basis. It's a good deal, not a grand slam, but will give a decent ROI on day one (literally on the day we close on the house they'll pay me rent). When they move out a few cosmetic things like cleaning, new carpet and fresh paint will boost the rental income substantially. Turns out, as this process has been going on, they were talking with friends who told them to let them know how it goes with me because they might be interested in doing the same thing. Now... if the price is right for the next deal, maybe I'll simply wholesale it since I likely won't have the cash.

To make people's lives a bit easier: To make people's lives easier: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/636886-east-tn-bp-meet-up-for-november

@Derek Tellier Thanks for the tip, I'll do that.

I was apparently late to the game seeing this post as well... I'll keep my eyes on the event forum, but figured I'd reply here as well so it's a bit easier to find if someone responds/posts about it again.

For me it would really depend on the numbers for that property and what I intended to do with it later.  For instance, if you're getting $1500+/month in rent, I would probably go for the new system.  If you're getting $500/month in rent, then I'll probably be going with the wall unit replacement instead.  I just don't think you can blindly choose one vs the other without knowing the numbers behind the rental currently and what you plan to do later (is there a larger renovation upcoming?)

Just curious, is that a window unit shoved in the wall type "through wall" or do you mean a mini-split system?

@Collin Corrington  Thanks you for those responses, they definitely help a lot.

In this case I am selling to an investor, but I had not thought about how Dodd Frank might have affected this kind of thing for us small potato investors. I'll definitely get up to speed more on that so I have a clue.  I'm the oddball in the market that doesn't use debt and does buy, fix and hold.  Plus this is actually the first property I'll have ever sold, so all that Dodd Frank stuff has just never really pertained to what I do.

I was worried that for the small amount that it would be, and being my only one, that the accounting upkeep would make it not worth my time.

@Karla Talancon  I am in the process of negotiating an owner-financing deal (I'm the owner), so I hope you don't mind if I pop in here and ask some questions that might help both of us and maybe spur new questions from you that would help us also.

I'll use generic/random numbers since the deal is still being negotiated, but here's where I stand. I own the property outright. Lets say: $50k down, and $50k in owner financing at 8% interest, amortized over 15 years with a 36month(3 year) balloon. (They are doing the BRRRR method it appears). I'll register a first lien for $50k on it. I have used a realtor to market the property and help with the negotiations. The realtors are experienced flippers themselves, but using this community to gain more experience and knowledge on my part is always good too.

So, I have a few questions / would like some confirmation on what I believe would be typical.
1) I assume it is typical to pay my realtor the full commission on the total $100k at closing.
2) Do you typically send an invoice/statement to the buyers monthly? quarterly? (did you outsource this?)
3) Are there any year end tax forms I need to prepare and mail to the buyers?
4) Did you typically escrow taxes like a bank or did you just require the buyer to pay them?
5) Did you use you CPA, accountant, or any specialty software to track the payments/interest/balance? Did you just use a spreadsheet? 
6) I assume I'll pay to register the lien on the property because it is in my best interest to do so, would you typically put that the buyer will pay any fees associated with removing the lien (settlement fees?) since it is in their best interest to get it removed?
7) What is considered reasonable recourse on the loan if they fail to pay the balloon after 36months?  increased interest rate for a specified period of time in case they cut their refinancing too close or does that cause repossession of the property (obviously following whatever is required state law in terms of contents, timeframe, etc)
8) Anything you would add? Things you added after your first few deals that you overlooked the first time? etc