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All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

Ken Boone has started 9 posts and replied 974 times.

Post: STR investing: How do you feel after Covid?

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

Yea pretty much what @John Underwood said there.  That was  good statement.  There are STRs and then there are vacation rentals.  Right on!

Post: STR investing: How do you feel after Covid?

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

Covid has completely changed the way people think about taking vacations. If your STR is in a drivable destination location area then it will rock for a long time. People have changed how they take vacations. They are not staying in hotels as much and are looking for other options. A lot of first time STR users this year that will continue to be STR users because they learned they generally have more to offer than a hotel.

Post: What kind of mess is acceptable?

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

What you are describing is just what kids do and what some parents don't clean up after.  I would chalk that up to cost of doing business.  Fortunately every guest isn't that way but every now and then you will get some like that.  Part of the business.

Post: Your Porter issue - anyone have a valid phone number for support

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

@Gerald Pitts Man thats great to hear!  Hopefully they will get you fixed.  I have had zero problems with auto messaging airbnb guests but VRBO where the problem is from time to time.  They told me they fixed my issue but did not, but I recommend putting in a 5 min delay on your auto messaging to avoid the problem I was running into.  I have another buddy who has been running YP for awhile now and never saw the issue I had.  When I talked to him about I found out he had a delay on his from the start - don't know why but he did. 

Post: Your Porter issue - anyone have a valid phone number for support

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

Update - My issue is not fixed as it happened again.  Basically kicked the issue back to Your Porter but what they initially identified as the problem was a delay in receiving the email address from VRBO.  When the delay occurs the message gets paused.  Again, it was happening with every VRBO booking - about 1 in 7 maybe.  So I changed my automated messages for the bookings to occur on a 5 min delay to hopefully circumvent their bug.

Post: How Soon After the 1st STR Would I Be Able to Finance my 2nd STR?

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

@Dave Price Yea I mean really everything depends on the lender, how much you want to borrow and DTI. So I would really focus on getting the first one going and make sure you like the business. Running an STR is an active business - make sure you enjoy it or at least get out of it what you want. Then start talking to lenders. COVID changed everything in the lending business.

Post: How Soon After the 1st STR Would I Be Able to Finance my 2nd STR?

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

Depends on your current DTI ratio. Some lenders will look at your income on the new cabin but most won't until it is reflected on a tax return. With COVID in place some lenders will NOT look at your rental income period for the DTI.

I got burned by that a few months ago and they didn't hit me with that until the 11th hour.  Had to find a different place to get my loan  - one that would look at the rental income of my STRs.  You really have to shop around.  All lenders are different one to another based on what their underwriters will approve and company policies.

Yes if you purchase more than 50 miles away if I am not mistaken that can be a 2nd home as well.

Post: Your Porter & VRBO Integration

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

@Pablo Flores - Did you share the calendars in both directions?    You probably already checked this out but here is a link to the process:  https://yourporter.com/how-to/...

Also, to get someone on the phone with Your Porter schedule a demo.  The only way I found to get someone on the phone...  YMMV.

Post: Cabin indoor pools (building questions)

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

Depends on the builder.  Some builders do mainly fiberglass, some do mainly gunite, a few do vinyl.  Some builders will say this is the pool you are getting and others will give you options.  Gunite will have to be replastered in 10 years or so on average and are generally higher cost to maintain over the long run.   However, you can generally get a bigger pool and shaped more specifically to the room you are in if you go unite.  For the fiberglass pools, the fiberglass pool is set in a gravel bed and then I think once the pool is set, they do the final pour on the concrete.  If you have a steep grade, you will have a LOT of block and concrete to support the cabin.  The pool will sit in this.  The vinyl pools are usually framed with steel bands around the edges and from what I have seen seem to go better in a crawl space type setup.  I have seen a few of these setups prior to the vinyl being installed.  I don't prefer that but they say the vinyl is pretty thick and can be patched underwater.  There are probably a lot more ways they do this but that is what I have seen.  I prefer the fiberglass pools because I think on average they are cheaper to maintain in the long run and you don't have to worry about a vinyl puncture or replastering down the road.  However, depending on cost, I would do the gunite if you think the fiberglass options are too small for the room.  That's just my opinion but depending on your builder you may not have a choice.

The biggest problem I have seen with builders doing pool cabins in that area is that a lot of them are just getting on the bandwagon and don't do it right.  If you have an indoor pool you MUST have a dehumidifier installed down there.  I have seen two different builders say they do not install dehumidifiers and what they put in instead is a fan in the wall that will kick on when the humidity gets to a certain level.  One of those builders was one I used - I purchased a cabin after it was already under construction.  I argued with the builder that he needed to install a dehumidifier and he insisted that humidistat fan would work.  About 3 weeks after I closed, I had him come over and look at all the moisture build up over everything, the light switches, the windows, the doors, were covered in water droplets everywhere in the pool room.  He then installed the dehumidifier.

The other thing they like to leave out is a floor drain.  I have not seen a pool cabin that has a perfect floor.  They don't exist.  Which means water puddles in places.  Standing water can start to wear down the finish of the flooring.  If there was a drain, your cleaner could squeegee any standing water to the drain.  Or say pool cleaner starts adding water to the pool, and gets an important phone call and lets the pool overfill.. Again a drain is needed.

Just some things to think about.

Post: Mountain Rest Lake in Mountain Rest SC

Ken BoonePosted
  • Investor
  • Greenville, SC
  • Posts 986
  • Votes 1,180

@Billie Young - So I work in that county a lot and Mountain Rest is way up there away form a lot of stuff. Closest town with restaurants is Walhalla which has very limited eating places and nothing really that is stand out - think a few fast food and mexican places, not much else. Yes you are close to a few things like Oconee State Park and the Stumphouse Tunnel and some waterfalls - but this is a very isolated place and in my opinion it would be a great getaway place - but I doubt this will make a great cash flow place. It will only draw a limited set of folks IMO - those that really want to get away and that are going to cook their own food while on vaca. No running out for a steak kind of thing there. I think at best it will have limited draw and the ADR will have to be lower to bring folks there. That's just my opinion. It is not in the same class as a place on Keowee or Hartwell. So really depends on what you are after. Looking for an STR that someone helps you pay for and you get to enjoy - go for it. Looking for major cash flow - I would pass.