All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

@Saranya Sundararajan So there are a few numbers that may be a little off such as PMI. If you are putting 20% down you shouldn't have to carry PMI. 80k for a 3 bedroom is definitely doable. I have a 3 bedroom that did that pre-covid, and went up over 110k during covid. Don't think it's gonna do that this year, not quite sure where it will land. It does have a fantastic 270 degree view. Having said all that, your numbers look pretty good. Looks like you have been very thorough in your analysis. You might not need to spend all that much on furniture if you are purchasing an existing cabin.

But your numbers show why I am down on purchasing in that market right now for me, unless I find a deal. What you have listed is not a deal, it seems to be market rate. $400/mo cash flow on a 700k investment, carrying that much debt does not interest me. It might you though as we all have different reasons for investing. Basically you are taking on a second job for $400/mo carrying that much debt. Is that worth it to you? It might be. Perhaps you are happy to use this to learn, happy to have a 2nd home for family use and who knows why else. My point is for me that is a slim margin for an STR. Purchase prices are through the roof compared to what they have been, there is less demand and more supply, interest rates up, all of which are contributing to these slim margins. 3-4 years ago everything was a slam dunk. Not so today. I was there last week for the whole week. We are talking about spring break there, and except for Friday, traffic was waaaayy down compared to how it has been in years past.

@Staton Jobe Well actually it does more than that. It gives you one pane of glass to see everything on both platforms, one place for messaging and then all the other stuff. For one STR you don't need it and quite honestly I recommend folks not to use PMS when starting out. The OTAs are your bread and butter it's good to learn them and then learn all of the intricacies of managing an STR and once you are comfortable that you got this, then look into PMS if you feel like it will help you. For one property it is not needed. When you get more properties it becomes especially helpful.

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Ken Boone:

Quote from @John Underwood:

I would say Luckily it is not fireplace season given the time of year and the warm weather. You wouldn't want the air-conditioned fighting the fireplace.

 You would be surprised to find out how many people will do that though.  Crank the fire up in the fireplace and crank the A/C down cause its too hot..  crazy man

I have thought about adding a cutoff valve to the gas fireplace to be used in the warmer months.

 That is a great idea!

Quote from @John Underwood:

I would say Luckily it is not fireplace season given the time of year and the warm weather. You wouldn't want the air-conditioned fighting the fireplace.

 You would be surprised to find out how many people will do that though.  Crank the fire up in the fireplace and crank the A/C down cause its too hot..  crazy man

Quote from @Staton Jobe:

@Ken Boone That's interesting - after doing a little more research it sounds like you have the "Standard" connection to VRBO and I have the "Upgraded". Guesty seems to steer users toward the upgraded connection but I wonder if the standard results in less issues...does anyone out there have experience using both? 

 Man.. many times over the last year GFH told us once we get our API solution with VRBO it will be better.... we asked when.. they said dunno.  Well now looking back I guess they did.  Yes we are still on the standard connection so that is why we have so much differences.  Having to use Stripe with the direct bookings we do can be a hassle if you have to give a refund or follow up on additional nights etc.. It is real easy with VRBO.  So I am not really thrilled about moving 90% of my bookings over to Stripe for processing instead of VRBO when they force me to move to the upgraded connection.  Maybe its just a  learning curve.

Only consider a refund if it is a legit reason.  Otherwise they will take your money and still not be happy and still give you a 1 star review.  Also, if you ever give a refund, make it clear that you will not process the refund until after check out.  This way you can make sure they didn't trash your place or anything else.  If you give them the refund early, they just may find more problems (or create more problems).  I no longer give refunds just to prevent a bad review.  

So I use Guesty for Hosts and I will concur that their customer service is TERRIBLE.  No doubt without question.  However, I have been using Airbnb and VRBO through that system for several years now.

1)  Once integrated with AirBnb you cannot edit your listing on Airbnb website, you have to do it through Guesty with Hosts.  I have not had any problem doing that, updating pics, updating listing info, etc.. VRBO is not API connected like AirBNB is, so if you want to edit your listing on VRBO, you need to use VRBO.  We have never had a problem doing that.  you should not be prevented from doing that.

2) There is a delay on messaging sometimes, but generally its pretty good has been my experience

3) So since VRBO is not API connected like AirBnb, I do see issues every now and there with things syncing and yes it can be a hassle to get it fixed.  Normally our issues revolve around changing a price.  What I have learned to do to help things is that when you get a VRBO booking, go into Guesty for Hosts and hit sync reservations right away.  That seems to help.

4) VRBO handles our payments like they always have, using whoever they use to process it and they handle remitting our taxes just as AirBnb does.  

5) Impossible to speak to customer service on the phone.  I mean impossible.  I finally got to talk to a Guesty person by setting up a conf call as a new interested customer on the main Guesty platform, not Guesty for hosts.  When I got them on the call, I explained my tech support issue that has been going on for over a month, with no resolve and this was the only way I could talk to someone.  I still never got a call, but I did get a little more detail in my email responses from them after that.   This is where I say their support is TERRIBLE.

So bottom line for me is when it is working it works great - which is most of the time.. When there is a problem.. they suck and they suck bad.

My problem is that I spent an extensive amount of time researching other PMS packages while I was having major problems and I have additional automations built off of the system.  I didn't find anything that I liked better that would make it worth it for me to change my workflow.  Instead I learned how to deal with the issues that happen from time to time.

Ok I have 4 cabins in that market myself and know many owners in that market.  It’s gonna take a very special 1 bedroom cabin to make 76k.  I think that projection is too high for that cabin.   I could be dead wrong but I don’t see that happening. I don’t own any 1 bedrooms so that market is not my specialty so I would look for some feedback from someone who is managing cabins like @Collin Hays

So if I did my math right you are going to pay $911 per sq ft?   Wow.  Purchasing this depends like all other investments on how the numbers work out and what your plan for the property is.  Are you doing this for purely an investment?   If so are tiny homes a fad that is here today and gone tomorrow?  Or are you purchasing for your use and you want to rent it out when you are not using it?   So it depends.  From a purely investment standpoint  I would like to see the numbers you ran. 

Quote from @Ed O.:

Are you folks really paying 2500-3000 for a cost seg study on a single family home? If so, I think that's ..... crazy. Why not do it yourself?

Because 1) I don’t have the time or energy to go figure out exactly what I need to do myself.  They produce a huge detailed report.  And 2) if I am audited they back me up. And 3) I’ll recoup enough money the first year to make it worth it for me.  To me it would be crazy to do it myself.