All Forum Posts by: Preeti Tibrewala

 Are you in the city limits? 

EDIT: Looks to me that you are not, so you should be able to run an STR as long as there are no County wide restrictions.

From the pictures, it doesn't seem like any major work needs to be done. I'm not sure what you meant by fixing it. You guys can just rent it as it is. 

The violations part though can be tricky though. Also have you checked with Los Gatos officials about AirBNB rules?

@Preeti Tibrewala

What are comparable sales for a 1bd/1ba house with similar square footage in the same neighborhood that are in good/great condition? This will give you an idea of what the ARV (After Repair Value) of the property is.

Approximate how much cash you'll need to put into the property to make it turnkey so that you can get top of the market rents for a 1bd/1ba house. With it being only 1bd/1ba, it'll probably perform better as a short-term rental.

Not very familiar with this market but your ARV and Comps for something like this should be north of $600k.

More info and details would help a lot. Have your agent show you the comps, get bids from contractors, negotiate so that the numbers will work for you after all cost and repairs.

From the pictures, it doesn't seem like any major work needs to be done. I'm not sure what you meant by fixing it. You guys can just rent it as it is. 

The violations part though can be tricky though. Also have you checked with Los Gatos officials about AirBNB rules?

I am a Santa Cruz area investor and Broker. 

If it is on the Santa Cruz County side of the hill you may have some challenges with Septic & Leach Field and Insurance (if not a perimeter foundation). State Farm is the only insurance company not using the California Fair Plan option for fire insurance. See my previous comment about a perimeter foundation though. We had a fire two years back and fire victims get first-in-line status for any permits for rebuilding, remodeling, etc. Not to say you can't get a permit. 

Lastly, $450K may not be a good deal if you are only buying a 1 or 2 bedroom cabin in need of work.  More info needed.

Those are the two main gotcha's to watch out for. 

It has been in escrow twice. Do you have an insurance quote? Ask listing agent to give you prior inspection, they need to disclose.

Definitely a good long term appreciation play. My only concerns would be the potential amount of work needed and how far you are from town. 

If you go STR, make sure there is at least part of the lot that gets some sunshine. Being stuck deep in the forest gets weird after a short while.

Not a lot of info to go off of. Have you run comps to see the ARV? I would get a few bids to see where the scope is. Most people want to be all in of the ARV 70-85%. On the AirBnB side of things, have you peaked at any resources to get an idea of the average nightly rate? I don't know the area but I typically assume 60-70% then times the average nightly rate to get an estimate on the income. Again yours could be higher or lower so do some digging. I also look on AirBnB to see what others are getting and what does well around there. If you are going to have someone manage I would do that during due diligence(if you have one) and learn from them on how this would perform. This is exciting just make sure you have your ducks in a row.