All Forum Posts by: Rhonda Blue

@Peter Pratti Very nice purchase. We were looking for a multifamily for a while but competition is fierce. 5-plex is awesome. Well done

@Mathew Silva Hi Matthew. I love the Huntsville area. I have 4 SFH. I used Carolyn Dietrich as my buyers agent. I have 2 in S Huntsville Chaffee area and 2 in Madison.

@Kevin Lefeuvre Na... I dont pay for facebook ads. I maintain just a listing page and then guests can contact me personally. I have a lot of repeat guests that just cell me or email me to book.

@Joshua Espejo Welcome to BP. Joining BP was a turning point in my life and Im so glad that I did. Living in CA and wanting to invest can be a challenge but one that you can definitely be successful at. Dont listen to the negative. I started in ST George, UT with Long term rentals and now have 9 rentals in 2 soon to be 3 states. PM anytime You will find investors love talking real estate all the time.

@Deanne Bourne I belong with a group of owners who use an easy service to help out and facilitate bookings reservations and maintenance issues for just short periods to help for this exact reason. We would go on camping trips and have no cell service for 2 weeks. I just had a friend go on a 4 week Alaskan cruise and she used this service easily. I sent you a PM.

Lessons with my rentals

1) When the description says Rustic don't include Resort with pool. Guests expect a fancy resort with pool and then they arrive and find a Rustic cabin in the woods and leave a 3 star review for not being fancy enough. - Make sure descriptions visualize the property and not just describe the elements. 

2) LOVE having adventure properties - I have 2 cabins that are a 4x4 adventure to get to but VIEWS are outstanding. I almost backed out of deal due to road issues. 

3) Lastly STAY on top of deferred maintenance! Do not get complacent and expect your cabin to be in the same awesome condition when you last saw it 3 months ago. Have a checklist of all the little things It really really makes a difference for quality reviews and return guests. 

4) Tip cleaners and make sure they know How appreciated they are for being your eyes and ears on the ground. 

HI @Tate Siemer

I love the St George/Hurricane area. I recommend you give Melissa Bean a call. I can PM you her info! I had 2 rentals in that area and if she doesn't know the answer she will absolutely find it for you. 

I agree with @Michael Greenberg

VRBO/Homeaway don't play well with other platforms. I  receive 20% bookings from Homeaway and 50% from Airbnb. Primarily my guests are younger and we have 1/1 cabins that stay booked. I also receive a lot of bookings via FACEBOOK. Depending on your market some areas are very active on facebook and through word of mouth incentives. 

Airbnb/VRBO/Homeaway lend themselves to new lead generation. The key is to generate a system to save that data and use it to create a following where you have repeat guests booking over and over again. 

@Rubik H., @Tyler Hungerford, @John D.,  We lived in SoCal for the past 15 years. The investor bug grabbed me and I invested in a Desert Town - St George, UT. There are tons of opportunities there and I used Melissa Bean with REMax.

That was 5 years ago. I have since sold those and did 1031 exchange into 4 Mountain rentals. We moved to E TN area. This area is geared toward STR owners and very similar to BIg Bear. I have set up systems, cleaners, maintenance to keep my rentals booked year round.

When checking into new areas it is important to find local people on the ground who have done what you want to do because I have found that there are management companies that sell their services and charge 40% Then you can always go with an online company that only charges 10% for basic online marketing. But I find that the middle of the ground at 15% - works well if not fully self managing which is totally doable.  Because even with Short term rentals utilizing the online bookings through airbnb and vrbo as long as you have an extremely customer service oriented person answering messages and addressing issues, Rentals work and very very profitable. 

On that note I have friends with rentals in Palm Springs, some in Big Bear, and a lot of friends with rentals here. It can become an addiction!!

Devin

This is an interesting deal. Are you familiar with the area. You said that the maintenance will be done by you. The increase in possible rents sounds great. Can you research as to why rents are low now. If it's deferred maintenance or absent owners, having you close will definitely make a difference. If it's high crime area or an area out of the way and not in demand could hurt. Sometimes in order to make a big difference or change is to have the want to move forward with a deal.  I'd be interested to hear what you decide to do!