All Forum Posts by: Richard White

I think it depends on your situation. If you can't afford brand new furniture, but can get by with your mom's old couch or something off FB Marketplace, then go for that. But it better be the nicest, most comfortable 2nd-hand item ever. If you can afford IKEA or Amazon mattresses, get those. The main thing to keep in mind is your reputation is made with your first few bookings. If your guests leave reviews that the bed is uncomfortable or the couch smells or it doesn't look "homey," then you'll have a harder time drawing in future guests.

Michael Frankel I buy $1 bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash at Maxway (or similar), and offer those. You can buy bulk hotel-sized bottles for cheaply also at distinguishedguest.com or Costco. Or install pump units in the shower and fill them up. I use all white sheets and duvets with white covers. Easy to bleach and wash. A colored throw and a couple of accent pillows make it look better.

Tom Carroll Paul's situation is different from most, as his renters tend to be workers coming into town who don't mind sharing a house with other workers. If you're looking for whole-house rentals in a vacation area, and you're just getting started, VRBO and Airbnb are the ones to have. I also have Trip Advisor but have never received even an inquiry from that. My experience: VRBO skews older, larger groups, while Airbnb is younger crowd (mostly), singles and couples looking to get away a little cheaper. Depends on your situation.

Andrew Wong If I had 100 properties, I imagine I would have other people running the calendar for me while I drank whiskey and smoked cigars. You said you had a few units and were bringing on a PM. If you're already taking that step, seems that the PM's duties would include manually inputting into a calendar if needed. Or bite the 2-3% bullet as cost of business in the time it would save you having to do it so you can look for other investments. What's your time worth to you?

Andrew Wong I have two properties on VRO and Airbnb. The two calendars are synced through the respective platforms and also synced to a Google calendar and color-coded. When I get a new booking I add a "Cleaner" reservation to the day of a checkout with a note for which unit. I can share the Google calendar with the cleaner or just use for my own reference depending on which cleaner I book.

I have used Care.com to find my cleaners. Found 2 great ones that lasted a long time, 2 not so great ones. Usually on Care it's college students and retirees, but many of them have cleaning experience. I pay $20/ hour, plus $5/ laundry load if they take it home. I am trying to keep 2-3 cleaners in "rotation" now to cover all cleans.

Hi all. I have only used drop coffee machines in my two units at the beach. These are mostly "true" VRs, however, I still have a lot of off-season bookings as well. We just bought 2 Keurig machines and a few pods, but I wanted to ask what others provide as far as coffee, tea, condiments, etc. Do you just have a large display of various flavors of k-cups, and do you see a large part of them disappear? How many options is too many? Thanks in advance!

I second Home Spectors. Branson and his team are great and easy to work with and give you a solid report.

Jody Schnurrenberger Thank you for your service.

@Julie McCoy I'll let you take all the jobs in LA, how's that??

I originally offered on a 6-plex here in coastal NC, which is why I investigated forming a LLC and working with a commercial lender in the first place. When that fell through, I talked to my CPA and attorney about it, and since my long-term strategy is purchasing other units, we concluded it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and form the corp and keep the commercial loan. Plus, I was already pre-approved by the lender for the 6-plex, so finding two properties that toall a bit less than that wasn't a problem for him.

Properly-run STRs make more money than LTRs. Yes, it's more work, but if you have a good team in place, it's easier to be much more profitable. I have a spreadsheet of % down, all expenses, projected rental income, and NOI that I give the lender each time I find a place and offer on it.