All Forum Posts by: Robin Searle

@Matthew Dunn I believe that’s where Colorado Springs is headed although we have had no reports of crime or any other code violations according to the city. I guess those of us who hold permits already will be the lucky ones

@Ryan Hall I so agree with you. All of the people saying any city is going to be overrun with vacation rentals obviously doesn't believe in free markets. If every other house was converted to an STR, the rates would be driven down so that none of them were profitable and property owners would start moving back to a long term rental model. My family always stays in STR's when we go up to the mountains. So much nicer than having separate hotel rooms - we are all in a home and can cook meals together while enjoying a great locale. That was one reason I wanted to do this model - it's so fun to read the great reviews about how much our guests loved staying in our property and letting visitors enjoy Colorado Springs!

@Bryce Bender There are several FB pages for Travelling Nurse accommodations that you could advertise on. They are typically looking for several months. There is also a company in Denver called Avenue West (you can Google them) who handle corporate rental placements. I'm not sure if you can advertise with them if they aren't managing your property though. There are also several corporate rental pages on FB including some for owners so they likely have a lot of insight into where to advertise. I would think you'd want to keep the listing for longer term rental off Airbnb from the sounds of the fees. I was planning to use my STR for clients who were between houses (e.g. while doing a new build) but we've been booked solid so that hasn't worked out. The STR definitely been very profitable but I also have long term rentals that are profitable too. I agree with many of the posts on this thread that having a back-up plan is a must. It'll certainly be interesting to watch the legal challenges around the country.

@David Bergmann our Colorado Springs Short Term Rental Alliance leaders have done a phenomenal job of providing the council with stats and helping organize letter writing campaigns, etc. The overwhelming majority who show up at the council meetings here are Pro-STR with a very, very small vocal minority in the anti-STR ring. There are some politically connected B&B owners who have the ear of several council members so I'm not sure if that's what's driving this sudden change or not (they obviously see STR's as competition). I think it comes down to holding politicians accountable for what they say during a campaign and then what they do once elected. COSTRA tried interviewing all running members -one refused to talk which should have been a heads-up to all voters (Really? You're not going to state your position on an important issue?) - and one stated plainly he was totally in favor of STR's and now has completely reversed positions. I feel that's wrong. If he was against them, he should have stated that up front and the council member who refused to state a position at all should have never been elected. It feeds into why so many people don't trust politicians at all. Now that the STR owners in Austin have won a legal fight, I think we will see more legal action happening.

@Chris Mason our back up plan has always been to do furnished rentals to traveling nurses or executives for the 30+ days if STR's were to be completely banned here. Right now I'm not too concerned about ours as it's in an R4 zone (they are only talking about R1 or single family zones right now) and they have indicated they would grandfather in existing permits. But after seeing the situation where the Texas state court of appeals overruled the city of Austin, I was just really curious what is going on around the country when it comes to this situation.

@Russell Brazil Interesting that no STR owners are speaking up. Maybe they are quite happy to convert to LTR.

@Chris Meadors thank you! Interesting how different areas are dealing with the issue!

I've been trying to follow what is happening on the STR front nationwide and would love to hear from BP members about what's happening in your particular city/location as far as restrictions? When we bought our property in Colorado Springs, I knew there was a chance we only had a window to do STR's in as I saw Nashville beginning the start of a ban. A year and a half ago, the city of Colorado Springs was extremely STR friendly. After we closed on our property, we heard about restrictions being discussed and I was very involved in that whole process. The permitting process and rules which were instituted at the start of this year seemed very fair and reasonable to people on both sides of the issue. Somehow in the past several months, all on our city council except for two members have decided they pretty much want to ban any further STR's other than owner/occupied despite the lack of any verifiable data showing any issues (no permits have been revoked and very, very few complaints to code enforcement). I do believe they will grandfather in those who currently have a permit. We had quite a bit of success at the start by banding together and forming an alliance of owners, but that influence doesn't seem to be helping at this point. I did see the Texas State Appeals Court just struck down the city of Austin's attempts at banning non-owner occupied which could mean more STR owners will turn to the legal system if they feel the city isn't treating the issue fairly. If you are an STR owner, I'd love to hear what your city is doing?

@Michael Vialpando have a chat with Rich Dillman over at Caliber Home Loans. Not guaranteeing he can help but he’s pretty creative and might have some ideas from a lender perspective. I love what you’re doing!

@Bradley Damm it really varies by agency. You should pick several and go interview the managing brokers. Check out the culture and education opportunities. Find out if they have a mentor program! Monthly fees can range from $25 to several hundred. Splits vary widely and some offices have a cap and some don’t. You really have to look at what all you are getting for the cost! Good luck!

@Kevin S. - Debby Miller at Phases Accounting