All Forum Posts by: Sofia Sharkey

@Charlie Moore hi Charlie, every STR management company offers different services and this largely depends on your goals. A STR management company can potentially make you more money by using best practices and tools to maximize revenue that a newbie in the industry won't know about. If you are exploring self - management, setting up good systems will be key for success.

@Jim K. Yes - it’s a house hack and a multifamily 🔥🔥

@Benjamin Couch I have two different suggestions. Either way, you’re smart for thinking about this. Good luck!

Suggestion #1- After you’re married & combine all accounts, create a financial plan as a family. What are our goals? What do we want to save for? What do we want to pay?. Then, instead of thinking this is mine and this is yours, you tackle goals together. Make sure you educate her on the benefits of real estate. I have been married for 10 years and my husband and I have paid debt together and bought property this way too. I supported our family while he obtained his masters and years later he doubled my income. The key to this is that both parties need to be making money and contributing to what you both feel is most important.

Suggestion 2: You can enter a marriage with split responsibilities. For instance, you buy your property, she pays her loans, and outside of those two things - you combine your finances. You guys are very young and while you love each other, you also need to make smart decisions for your financial future. I’m sure she had a plan to pay her debt when she started school, she can carry out that plan while you focus on investing.

@James Merritt you need three different listings like the person above suggested.

@Montez Blackburn I would start by asking yourself how complex is your REI? Do you have a full business with LLCs and assets that need accounting? I have a business, multiple llcs/assets, two employees and my bookkeeping + tax services runs for $550 a month. This is with a friend (who owns a tax firm) who goes above and beyond to make sure my business runs smooth so $90 a month is really cheap. Before, I had purchased an online service ($75 monthly) to take care of my taxes and bookkeeping and it was terrible. We had to re-do years of taxes filed incorrectly.

@Pam Smith I don’t get the people who say clean up and move on. I’ve had 100% success rate with airbnb paying for damages. They’ve paid me over 15K in damages before. Like a few have said, timing is key.

1. Submit a claim as soon as you can. Take pictures of EVERYTHING

2. Get invoice from cleaner and submit it to airbnb

3. Get quotes for damages and submit those. Look online for any items you have to purchase again and submit those

4. Work the resolution and include your time working this issue and loss of income from bookings you’ll be missing if you have to cancel anyone

5. For the future, make sure you have STR insurance. That way if airbnb ever decides not to pay you don't have to rely on them to get coverage

Last but not least, look into what you could have done to prevent this. Screened guests differently? would cameras have helped you monitor before things got bad? etc.

Good luck!

@Leon Lee I use TaskRabbit to find help to assemble furniture, hang mirrors and all that. You should look into it - you pay hourly but it’s much easier and cheaper than getting a contractor to come just to hang some curtains. You also get someone to come the day of or next day. I’ve also heard of Thumbtack - I haven’t used this one.

Cheers!

Hi Qasim,

I wrote a piece to be able to identify if a STR manager has s proven track record or experience, you can read it here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/... Good luck finding the right person. 

Hi Christian, 

I recommend that you look on airbnb directly at hosts in the area. You will see in their profiles if they manage several properties and message them. It's a great way to find someone with actual experience :). Good luck and congrats on your investment!  

@Al Ahquin not much going on in St Joe. KC on the other hand has lots of growth ahead and there are many surrounding markets that are great.