All Forum Posts by: Scott K.
Scott K. has started 16 posts and replied 220 times.
Post: STR Rental Insurance (CBIZ dropping coverage provider)
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
I use state farm, costs about $200 a month per $300k house. It's billed as a str rider on a regular homeowners policy I believe. Seems to be the exact same as anyone else. Includes everything you need.
Post: Airbnb Now Allows Automated Messages
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
This won't help me, since i use vrbo as well and want to spread my automation over both consistently. The automation a PMS offers is way beyond simple messaging as well. Syncing properly, requesting reviews, snagging email information to save for later email blasts, syncing pricing, automated pricing strategies, minimum stay changes based on time out, I could go on...
Post: Bunk Bed Experiences?
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
You really could have combined your two posts into one... But if you get a bunk bed make sure it's metal. Kids love to slam the wooden head boards with their feet and break it.
Post: Where do you keep your tenants supplies?
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
I try not to solve problems before they happen, so unless you've had customers complain about not finding their supplies, I wouldn't try to solve this problem by putting it all in plain view, I'd simply distribute it throughout the house like it should be ( as you mentioned, everything in its useable location )
But hey, if it saves you time to put it one location, why not. Probably no ones going to complain.
Post: Should I light my firepit at an STR apartment complex?
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
If I worked outside all day the last thing I'd want to do is stay outside more, but hey, try it for a week see if people appreciate it.
Post: Scaling with STR Income
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
The moment you quit your job, you will be unable to finance anything except through a hard money lender who will require much more than 10-20%. Usually 20-25%. Also conventional loans on investment properties I believe start at 15% and go to 20% usually.
Airbnb income takes 2 years of tax returns to qualify for a conventional loan. Keep in mind they will average it as well, they won't take the most recent income.
DTI must be about 50-55% ratio or under so do the calculations and it will at the very minimum take you 2 years, if not more, to begin getting conventional loans again.
Also note - lots of hard money lenders are not doing STR's right now due to the pandemic. I'd say keep your day job as long as you can possibly manage.
Post: How to organize/keep track of multiple Handymen
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
Originally posted by @Paul Sandhu:
Originally posted by @Scott K.:
I've rented about 1800 people, and I can count the number of bookings that came from Airbnb on one hand. And yes, I do it with pen and paper.
That's pretty impressive! Can't say I envy that type of work, but whatever works for you
Post: How to organize/keep track of multiple Handymen
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
Originally posted by @Jon Crosby:
I would just caution to not over-engineer a solution to this problem. If you had 30 properties, maybe it would be worth the exercise but if you are like me, you tend to want to use your technical superpowers and end up trying to kill and ant with a hammer. One of the problems with creating a web app, is that your vendors will have to conform to using it (which some may simply not want to), or worse, they will say they are going to, but do not and your have even worse communication loop than you had before. Additionally, I'm not seeing much more in your feature set that you can't do with a simple Google Shared Calendar (maybe throw in a Zapier flow if needed)?
Totally possible I'm missing something there, so apologies if so, just want to save you the pain I have gone through in the past with over engineering fairly simple procedures.
Best of luck!
Yeah good points. I've used zapier and gcal before for this sort of thing. I think my problem with that, is that even using gcal is too much to ask of some Handyman. Having a website they just type in, and use without any login, seems a simpler UI. But perhaps I could have them just enter the gcal link? Not a bad idea.
Sure 3 properties isn't much but I plan on buying 2 per year. I also like to solve problems before they happen. Kind of a fun diversion to me with potential to sell the tool later. Thanks for the input
Post: How to organize/keep track of multiple Handymen
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
Originally posted by @Luke Carl:
Originally posted by @Scott K.:
Originally posted by @Luke Carl:
@Scott Kunz
I have them all saved with first name/market/handyman in my phone so I search for handyman and there they all are.
I’ve got dozens of them saved but I really use two of them. Pretty easy.
My problem isn't finding them on my phone... my problem is when I need a repair done, I first have to check when my STR's are empty. I then memorize those dates. I then reach out to all 3 handymen, who may, or may not have time for those dates to stop by and fix problems. The problem then gets kicked to next week. I have to repeat the process of finding new availability, reaching out to all 3. Then I'm lucky, one is available, they tell me they'll stop by!
The following week I check in, problem isn't solved, they got distracted. I then have to re-check all availabilities, reach out to all 3 handymen again. The process is maddening and a waste of my time. The market is overloaded with houses, and not enough handymen to fix the problems. And yes, I have tried finding more handymen, this is why I now have 3 I work with.
That's the gig though. If you want this off your plate hire a property manager or a really bad *** assistant.
Or I could develop a web app to more intelligently tackle this task? This would help me regardless of whether I switch to an assistant in the future or not. No reason not to automate or organize things using coding and the powers of the internet. You might as well argue that airbnb is useless and we should be using a pen and paper to take down bookings...
Post: How to organize/keep track of multiple Handymen
- Posts 223
- Votes 233
Originally posted by @Paul Sandhu:
I know this guy with 23 STRs in a refinery town. He does most of the work himself. He will not do anything that involves a sewer snake. He doesn't want other peoples ship on his hands.
He posts on here occasionally, he's got dark hair and is wearing a white muscle shirt in his avatar.
Fair enough! I do work myself when I can. But I live 2 hours away and work on my other businesses. Not interested in living the rest of my life doing handyman jobs, tied to one location.