All Forum Posts by: Roger Vi

thank you all for the replies!

I have decided I don't really want to put in the time/money to replace the glass. This is the second time this has happened to the door, I think we are ready for a door with no glass.

Tenant called to say neighborhood vandals cracked the front door glass. This is one of those expensive fancy glasses that you can't just patch up. Picture is below.

Does anyone know a good/inexpensive way to fix this? It is part of a double door and the other door has the same glass to match. I've been brainstorming and calling around all day I've come to the conclusion that the best long term fix is to buy a new door with no glass.

thank you for all the replies guys! Glad I don't have to return this lock box I just bought.

@Wayne Brooks I am using a flat fee listing service

I am in Washington state (king county). If you sell your home "for sale by owner" and list it in the MLS, do you need to order a certain lockbox for keys? When I look at homes, sometimes I see the old keypad lock boxes, sometimes I see the digital ones where your agent can scan their key, and sometimes I see both. I just want to know if there is a rule for this. Also, if you do the old style lockbox is there a place on the listing where the agents can see the code/instructions to get in?

I am not an expert by any means, but I think if you could show consistent income from your vacation home some bank out there would be happy to take your loan. I would ask the lenders directly, maybe there's a certain method to show this. 

I've never bought a vacation rental but I would imagine the 50% rule would not work very well as a general rule of thumb.

Vacation rentals have many extra expenses than a normal 6/12 month rental. However, the profits come with the extra premiums vacationers pay to be at those properties. I would imagine expenses and revenues to vary greatly from location to location, even more so than they do with normal rentals. 

Hey Mike!

Last year I booked a waterfront home for a group of friends and got the same inspiration as you. After looking at all these overpriced homes, I couldn't imagine that it would be hard to make money off these. After  a few months of research, I still think it is possible but not any easier than any other type of investment. Here are just a few tips when doing your research.

1) Use VRBO, Homeaway, Airbnb to find hot vacation spots. Where I live, there is a popular island that city people like to use to get away from the noise for a weekend. Although there are many homes on the island, certain spots are obviously more popular. Usually location is the deciding factor. There is a ferry that most people use to access the island. Properties close to the ferry were often booked up for months while those farther away had much more availability even though they offer the same views and size of homes. Looking at the availability calendar when you are looking at individual properties can help you find these "hot spots." Right now (May-September) is the busiest season for these homes (and most likely is in your area too). The areas I consider good have no availabilty until the middle of September. They are often this way by mid spring, as many families make it a tradition to get away from the city at least once a year. Other properties have many gaps in their calendar even though July is coming around the corner. Its possible that these properties will get filled up last minute, but as an investor I would imagine it to be a lot easier if I was fully booked for the busy season months before it starts.

2) Management can make a not-so-good property great and vice-versa. On homeaway/VRBO, the managers' profiles show estimated response time (within a few hours/ within a day/ within a week). The managers that claimed to have the quickest response times generally have more bookings. Some manager, especially those who repsond "within a week," will generally see less bookings. I am thinking they just dont care as much about their profitability and maybe use the homes a lot for personal use. This is completely fine, but if you were in this solely for investment I would place a lot of weight on your management strategy. I usually email 7-10 homes when looking for vacation homes myself. Usually about 60% of them reply in time (within a day) and I book with one of them. There are always a few that call too late. Even though they might have had the better property, they don't call until AFTER I've already placed a deposit on another home.

3) Cleaning fees and deposit fees can be the difference between profitable and not. I was looking at two properties that were basically identical. Both $200/night, but one had a $500 deposit + $250 cleaning fee per stay while the other just had a $200 deposit + $50 cleaning fee. It seems there is no rules or guidelines to how much you can charge on these, but I'm sure it makes a difference and would be important to find a balance between charging too much and too little.

4) Regarding your question on summer vs winter booking, this would depend on location mostly but also the rates you charge on vs off season. Some places just won't be visited in the off season while other places are always booked. Back home, I get a lot of choices and cheaper prices when booking in the winter. However, when I went to Hawaii it was considered their off season but the calendar and rates certainly did not reflect this. I am sure lowering prices during the slow season can get you more visitors, but if the location just doesn't get visitors at that time of the year there is not much you can do but move. Again, the calendar on VRBO can help you predict this. 

5) It is true that vacation renters are needy but they also pay a lot more than your typical monthly/yearly renters. We are talking $200-300/night for something that would probably rent for $1000/month. The extra expenses are there but I think the premium that people pay to stay in certain spots should more than makes up for it. From a landlord perspective, I would prefer renters that pay more and expect more than someone who is just looking for the cheapest deal.

Hope this helps. I do not have any real experience buying vacation rental properties but have done months of research and still think it is something I could get into in the future.

Hey for the first time I am renting a home out to a family with 4 kids. Their ages range from 8 months-16 years old. What are some things I should be extra careful about? I am mostly concerned with safety issues. Are there certain things in the home I should have inspected? I do not have kids of my own so I really don't know what kind of odd safety hazards kids can get themselves in. Thanks!

Hey! Everett Washington? We're neighbors!!! In my experience, the lower units get better rents but it really depends on the building layout. With yours, I would say the extra yard space justifies a higher rent for the lower unit. I would just price them the same and have them first come first serve. If one of the units can't seem to get tenants in a few weeks, drop the price.

If you loan any money to anyone, including family and friends, you must charge 2% interest rate. Otherwise, it is considered a gift. IRS just doesn't want people handing large amounts of money around tax free.