All Forum Posts by: Steven Soden

Hey everyone, I am looking to make a career shift and really want to get into a large scale real estate development type job. I am finishing up a Bachelors Degree in business administration and entrepreneurship, and looking into real estate specific certificates or programs that could help me get into the industry. I currently contract for the military and all of my professional experience is in the military, but I am looking to switch in a couple months to doing home inspections and am hoping that will help on my resume and get a foot in the door into the real estate side of things! Any advice is greatly appreciated and if there is anyone working in that field I would love to hear how you got to where you are now! Thanks in advance!

@David Nino one of the most important things no one talks about is beds and bedding. Expensive bedding and a comfortable bed will get you good reviews. (We buy new bedding every Black Friday and save hundreds of dollars per bed) A bad nights sleep is a bad review. Discounts at first to get some good reviews helps a lot. I saw someone said keypads help, they are a must! We didn’t have one and our very first guest lost the key and called and woke us up at three in the morning because they couldn’t get in.! Someone told me when we started out to undersell and over deliver and that seems to help a lot. I would also consider booking multiple sights if you can keep up on the calandras. Best of luck! short term rentals can be great!

@Anna Strausbaugh ok, that sounds great! We will be looking to buy the first half of next year. Starting probably mid to late January and just waiting for the right deal to come along! Thanks again for all your help and I look forward to potentially working more with you in the future!

@Anna Strausbaugh Thank you for your response! I am thinking a 4plex will probably be one of the best options for us. We love the fixing process and I would love to find one that is a bit run down where we can build some equity quicker but don’t seem to find much of anything like that when I’m looking. Do you have any recommendations of specific areas or methods to find something of that nature that isn’t necessarily turn key?

@Riley Herr I am currently doing renovations on a home from the 30’s in Southern California. We have found you can update functionality and looks but still keep the small touches of character you don’t find as much in newer houses. For our house keeping old doors, railing, trim and refinished hardwood floors has kept a lot of the old character while we have been able to modernize the areas that needed to be more operational. There is definitely a mix right in the middle that I think is the best option. Be careful though as every little project turns into a huge project in houses that old.

My wife and I own a two rentals and an air bnb in Southern California currently. We are looking to make the leap into doing real estate full time next year and We would like to start expanding our investments into Idaho, as that is where we want to end up. What are the best methods of house hacking in the Boise area that have worked for people? We are looking for any helpful information on the market and would love to start building connections with some people in the area!