All Forum Posts by: Steve K.

How about this one: “Can I sell my Airbnb property for 50% over direct comps because I want to use the income-based approach valuation?”

I just got done with my required annual commission update for 2024 (I know I’m a slacker, I waited until the very end of the year lol) and the teacher of the class said that a high percentage of the number of agents who had their licenses revoked in 2024 were the result of being involved in subject to transactions that went sideways. His recommendation was to not participate in subject to as an agent. His advice was that if you have a client who wants to do a sub to transaction, to bow out of that deal and recommend they do the transaction with their attorney instead of representing them. I would think that participating in a sub to deal as a principle poses an even higher risk. Keeping your license and avoiding any legal issues is probably worth more than this one transaction. Good luck with whatever you decide! 

We’ve had a lot more turnover and higher vacancy rates across the front range than in previous years. It’s not just you, it’s across the board. I’ve had more success filling vacant units by word of mouth/ networking with other agents in my market recently than I have through the typical advertising methods. For the first time in years I’ve noticed many of the larger apartment complexes even offering the first month free to fill vacant units, so it’s clear that demand is down. Several factors at play: the sales market has been slow so many would-be sellers are converting houses they can’t sell to rentals, lots of new construction units have been completed recently, and in-migration has slowed down a bit. I think the market will pick up in 2025 as a whole but 2024 was a big dud. Perhaps reach out to local agents who work with a lot of buyers in your market and see if any of them need a place to rent while they house shop (inventory is still low). Many of the local agencies collaborate with each other to help each other’s buyer clients find furnished MTRs and this is how I’ve been finding tenants for my MTR’s this year. Sabbatical homes dot com and furnished finder have been good in the past as well but I have not used them recently. Facebook marketplace has also been good for me, although I’ve heard that others have not been as happy with it (lots of spammers/ flaky people). My Boulder units have still been 100% occupied, while Longmont and Denver units have had much higher turnover in 2024 than the previous 5 years. 

Being 3 units, the valuation will come from comps not from cap rate/ income based approach. What are other similar triplexes selling for in the area? That is what yours will probably sell for. Income-based valuation only comes into to play once you get into commercial property (5 units and up). 

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Jack Schwartz:

Welcome aboard. This is yet another tale of a building inspector who feels the need to assert his authority by constantly reminding everyone, "I am the Inspector." 

Sad but true. I would say that 80% of the Building Inspectors I worked with over the years (in SoCal) were on a power trip. I had them drive past and refuse to stop even when a concrete truck was on the way. Another guy wouldn't pass me at all because I showed him up...yet another kept insisting that his interpretation of a plumbing code was correct when it was not - cost me 1 month of time.

A neccessary evil IMO, they were usually former GCs who couldn't make it in the real world.....

 We used to leave something obviously wrong that was easy to fix, just to give them their thing that they could find and then we would fix it without any fuss, bowing to their omnipotence. Then they would pass us and leave without further ado. Worked every time! 

Update: got to the bottom of the most recent issue which turned out to be a miscommunication between Newrez, our bank, and the new loan servicer for Newrez which is Shellpoint. Finally got it straightened out and Newrez did waive the late fees because it should have been a seamless transition and was not. My credit did take a ding and Newrez/Shellpoint supposedly can't reverse that now. I don't have the time or energy to file a complaint with the credit bureaus and my score is still over 800 so I'm moving on. Hopefully I get a break from loans transferring to new banks/ servicers for awhile, I'm over it.  

Could it be that your unit is not as updated or doesn't provide as many amenities as similarly-priced competition? Your PM should be making recommendations on updates you could make to get it rented, or recommending to lower the rent. I agree with the others that nothing you've stated here seems to justify legal action. I'd recommend communicating more with the PM directly. Let them know that you're unhappy with them and see if the two of you can right the ship together and if not then self-manage or find a new PM. This year has been harder than previous ones to fill units quickly and rents have been declining in many markets. 

@Will Reed

Get a second opinion from another company (one that just does cleaning and scoping not repairs as the companies that also do repairs tend to recommend repairs). We have some properties with clay lines and minor root intrusion that we just clean annually for $100 rather than replacing. 

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Steve K.:

Side note: What’s up with deck builders using deck screws in joist hangers these days? 

There are certain screws allowed for use in hangers and other Simpson type hardware. Simpson and Spax come to mind. I know, it looks weird when you first see it for us older guys, huh? But I actually like using screws for the first (or maybe first 2) holes, because sometimes when using a hammer like we used to, the hanger can move a little and then you have issues. Just FYI :-)

Yeah I know Simpson makes a structural screw for hangers now, with a hex head, but I’ve been seeing a lot of regular deck screws used lately and obviously if they’re not structural they don’t have the shear strength needed to support a deck. I saw one using grk’s which I guess are structural but I don’t know why anyone would use those because they are so expensive. Just the other day I saw someone had used black sheet rock screws in the hangers on a brand new deck (non-permitted obviously, and not a single lag or any flashing on the ledger board, and they painted it immediately before the pressure treated lumber had even dried out so that’s going to peal in the first year, at about the same time that those sheetrock screws start to rust lol).

 My favorite was actually just 1.5” galvy tico nails with a palm nailer. Now those are forbidden here and code calls for 16D common or those structural hex screws you mention. Guess all those decks we built using ticos will fall down now too! 

@Matthew Paul sounds like a newer agent that you're dealing with here. Tell her to talk to her managing broker about it if she doesn't understand.  

Must be a new home inspector as well. Most inspectors will know that properties only need to meet whatever the code was when they were built, not current code and they usually explain that properly IME. There really should be a higher barrier to entry for home inspectors. There is actually no formal licensing requirement in my area. Anyone off the street can call themselves a home inspector. To be fair it's possible that the home inspector explained that it's not up to current code but that it doesn't have to be, and the buyer/ buyer's agent may have misunderstood that to mean there is actually a problem with the deck.