All Forum Posts by: Scott K.

I'd suggest just getting a good real estate agent wherever you decide to purchase. One who is involved in the area should know off hand which townships are good and which arent.

It's a business built on ignorance (landlords not knowing how much more money they could make, or how to run the STR themselves) and IMO any business built that flimsily will not last. It's high risk due to regulations and landlords changing at a whim, and it's high effort for minimal payoff. There are certainly some people who are doing it well, with 200+ units 'automated' as they claim, but I truly don't know what payoff they're getting, or how handsoff it is. It's also hard to tell how many years it took them to achieve a full time income. I'd suggest going on fb groups for 'airbnb automated' its a very arbitrage focused group, but has some owners like me just chatting with people about airbnb strategies in general.

Those 'rentalizer' apps or calculators are garbage. Not worth using.

I second what others said above, for a 6 bedroom you NEED 3 baths. Imagine having 16 people in a house and only 2 bathrooms. You literally have to wait for 7 other people to shower before you can? Awful. It also has to do with how large a house is, you don't want to have to change floors to find a bathroom. Or imagine if one of those 2 baths gets clogged and now you have 16 people on 1 bathroom. Instant 1 star review and demanding refund. I've had 16 people stay in my house and if one toilet has a problem, or a sink leaks, they have 2 others and they don't mind at all.

Wholesaling is pretty close to arbitrage... it's not investing, but there's nothing wrong with it. It's just a job like any other.

If you aren't fortunate enough to have the capital to invest, it's a fine alternative until you do.

If you want to learn about arbitrage, this forum isn't great. Look up 'airbnb automated' on facebook.

 My accountant would say otherwise. Specifically an llc incorporated as an s Corp. Also the real estate professional status should help write off losses on income. Why do you say this? 

The way I think about money and my various businesses, is, 'could this money be earning more elsewhere?'. In your case, I don't know what else you have going on, but it may be worth considering what is this money going to be used for once you have it. I'd also say however, if you're only earning 12% and thats including your 20%? That's pretty bad numbers-wise. You could do a long term rental with way less work and earn similar amounts.

Bigger is 'not' always better. Theres a sweet spot in any market. Go too big and you run out of clients. Go too small and you have too much competition. You should really pick an area and do a lot of research on what size house makes the most ROI. Typically, bigger is better as they've said, because 1. less competition 2. less work for you and 3. better clients (aka richer clients make less messes, partiers tend to find cheap places) but still, for instance in my area, the sweet spot are houses that are $300k-400k. More than that and the prices don't rise as fast. ALso keep in mind, STR houses typically need a LOT more rehab than a regular home. People who are STRing want amenities like full basements, pools, hot tubs, etc. If you gave me $300k, I'd do this. Buy 2 $300k houses for $70k down each. Then spend $50k on each rehabbing, and $30k furnishing. They would be 6 bedroom, 3 bath houses, roughly 3500-4000 sqft, and they'd generate about $150k revenue each.

Avoid HOAs like the plague. Avoid neighbors like the plague. I don't know how you think $70k is enough to build a house? Houses cost upwards of $200k-300k to build. Maybe if you built a really small one, but my insurance company has a 'cost to rebuild' that is pretty much equal to the cost it took for me to buy a place out there. Maybe I'm woefully uneducated on the topic, I'd love to learn more about that.

Besides the build cost, remember its going to be another $15-30k to furnish/retrofit the house depending on it's size. Also remember out in the poconos you have to install septic tanks/mounds which are very expensive. Make note of how large your septic tank is with regards to how many bedrooms you want depending on the county you're building in. Each one has it's own rules about STRs and septic.

locust lake is currently in a period of turmoil about strs... they just had an election cycle and luckily we had a few people elected to the board who are favorable, but before that the board had put a 2 week limit on rentals, which was rescinded after the landlords banded together and sent a threatening letter from lawyers. right now there are a lot of strange fees and things going on, but it should be fairly favorable. welcome to the fun!

Am I missing something here? You're promising a 35K investment with $20k return each year? and it's SAFER than airbnb?

How is no one challenging you on this? Show some numbers or details.