All Forum Posts by: Mike Shulman

I personally love the beach and would love to have a property there if it wasn't for mother nature. Between flood insurance, potential hurricanes and the wear and tear being by the beach puts on a property, has always made me hesitant. 

Disney on the other hand is landlocked in Central Florida, with no flood insurance and basically an all year season. 

Once you factor in paying for furniture it could really skew your cash on cash return. You can definitely furnish your short-term rental property on a budget, but I wouldn't recommend it. I feel that a property needs to be staged beautifully in order to excel in the market so that is not the place to skim. 

in order to give a more accurate opinion I'd really have to evaluate the properties as there's so many variables, but based on generalizations this would be my evaluation. Hope this was insightful for you. 

I have a quad Plex and a triplex that I str. A very small percentage care the units are attached. I make it clear in the listing and people don't mind. I'm looking for another mfh to str now. I'd say go for it.

Combining multi-family with short-term rental is a great option. I have a quad Plex with all four units rented short-term. My returns as a long-term rental were roughly $4,800 a month. After I flipped it to short-term rental I'm grossing over $10,000. PM me if you have any questions.

my biggest issue to date has involve cleaners. It's so vital to get a quality cleaner and vet them well. So far I have had two issues with guns in my property. One where the cleaner missed the gun that was left there, next guest found it and freaked out in the middle of the night demanding a refund and leaving.

Next issue with a gun, cleaners actually brought it with them. Put it in a dresser while they were cleaning and then left it behind. Decided to go back and bang on the door and say they live there to try and retrieve it. Needless to say, the girls renting it found the gun, had a random guy banging on the door and freaked out. Demanded a refund and called the cops.

I got lucky both times, no one was hurt, and I never got reported to airbnb, but I could have definitely been kicked off the platform. 

That doesn't sound like a very good deal based on the numbers. I think you could do better by Disney. I'm also not familiar with the rules for Mount Dora, but I would be willing to guess it's probably not allowed. If you're going to buy something with the intent of short-term renting, make sure it's in an area where the zoning is conducive to one day rentals.

In Central Florida they all come furnished. 

I have a quad Plex with the same situation. My reviews are skewed between 4.91 and 4.69. from my interpretation and experience, I have just rented that unit to more Karen's than the other units. Some people say my units located in the perfect spot, others say it's not near where they wanted to go. Some say they're clean and beautiful, others say quite the opposite. Basically some of your guests are just more picky and entitled. I actually had a guest tell me that my place didn't have a meat thermometer or an oven mitt. Mine you it's $85 a night and it's a two bedroom two bath. And I have two pot holders, but no oven mitt. Point of the story, some people just have to complain about something. I like to think about it as the lawyer mentality. If you pay a lawyer money, he has to find something or he didn't do his job right. Ask somebody to review something, and they'll find something to say. Just hope they're an optimist not a pessimist. 

If I were you I'd be leaning towards the poconos. It's an established vacation location that allows airbnb. This Ohio property could be in an area where the laws may change on you. That won't happen in the Poconos.

I always recommend buying close to home if you don't plan to have a property manager. Two and a half hours is an easy drive to shoot out there to address an issue. If you have an issue on the other property and you have to book a flight you really need somebody on the ground to assist you. Makes it a lot more cumbersome. If the numbers on the Poconos work Its a no brainer for me

I know the area, what questions do you have? Feel free to PM me.

I know some good agents out that way if you'd like me to connect you.