All Forum Posts by: Sarah Kensinger
Sarah Kensinger has started 6 posts and replied 2203 times.
Post: Emerald Coast Condos -How much does beach front matter?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
I love beachfront or at least a short walk to the beach! But beaches do draw families so if that is your avatar you may need to go with more square footage and/or bedrooms.
Post: STR cleaning fees
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
I would definitely keep the cleaning rates comparable to the competition!
Post: Short Term Rentals For Sale By Owner or With Agent
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
You need to go check out Pace Morby if you want to really dive into creative financing!
Post: STR Predicament - Please Help!
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
You have a number of options to help you decide if you really bought a bad deal, or if you just need to give your STR a good old kick to get more cash flow. I'd love to know the location of these properties in relation to the other STR properties in Joshua Tree. Your mortgages look good, in some ways it would be too bad to jump from a 3% interest rate up to 7%-8%
DM me, I would love to get a closer look at your properties and see if you could try a few things yet before deciding to cut your losses and sell.
Post: Looking to start STR business. Should I invest in course?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Highly recommend a course, especially for a business model of the strategy your thinking of doing! We're part of a mastermind that cost more than what you have listed, and we haven't regretted it in the least!!
Post: Is the Disney Downturn Permanent?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Quote from @JD Martin:
Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:
Several months ago, I said on here that Disney was headed down hill due to jumping in political moves that should be left to political people. Many disagreed with me, yet here we are months later and like I predicted numbers are falling. Airdna has Orlando listed as the top declined location for STR revenue at -10%.
No, I would not purchase a home there right now, unless you plan on personally using it a decent bit of the year.
I'm sorry, but you have no evidence whatsoever that a downturn has any relation just because you feel it's so. Correlation is not causation. I don't know if you have an STR in this market (I do) but as @Ryan Moyer noted below this is just nonsense. Anyone who thinks anybody cares about things like that when they are spending thousands on a vacation is just delusional. People go to Disney because they like Disney or their kids want to go to Disney. No one, except for maybe some real crazies, tell their kids "Sorry kids, we can't go to Disney because they're too woke - we'll have to pick somewhere more conservative". Dollywood has a "LGBTQ" day and Dolly Parton came out in support of gay marriage, yet no one is claiming Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge's downturn is related, because it's not - that's all nonsense.
The downturn is simply market forces. Lots of people supercharged their vacations when COVID was raging, buoyed by lots of government money, and there's an inevitable hangover. If your hypothesis had any merit, "conservative" areas like Branson (and Gatlinburg, in my backyard) should be picking up the slack - yet Branson's tourism revenue is down almost 10% for the year compared to last year. Are they too un-woke?
Sorry but YES parents are saying they won't go to Disney, it's everywhere if you actually look and pay attention to what is going on. When your actively showcasing certain things that cross a line, you rise up the momma and papa bears that may have never before shown themselves.
Post: Co-hosting programs and courses
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Never heard of this course or the guy who started it. But we're part of STR Secrets Mastermind with Micheal Sjogren and we love the course!
Post: FLORIDA property insurance??
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Steadily might be able to help you shop around.
Post: How to get started with arbitrage and short term renting
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
I second @Aaron Dominy! You'll find more info, especially on arbitrage, on social media from people who are successful then on this forum. Here are a few to get you started!
Michael and Elizabeth Chang, Rob Abasolo, and TJ Tijani.
Your degree in design will serve you well in this endeavor!
Post: Would like to welcome constructive criticism to our new listing ( Fort Lauderdale )
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Here are a couple suggestions that stood out to me right away....
1. Third photo should be the first with a sunset sky....yes it would be edited in. :/
2. Some of the photos are fuzzy and you need more photos, like lots more. Have some photos showcasing items in the kitchen and bathroom that you provide, as well as giving guests a feel for what they could experience there. Styling a STR for photos goes a long way!
3. Living room should have a bigger coffee table, an ultra-skinny table (to not block the flow coming in the door) under the TV with a bit of tablescape, more photos showcasing the living room, and if there's room take out the plant by the front door and get a small chair to add more seating to the living room.
4. All the windows should have curtains. The bedrooms should be black-out.
5. In the second bedroom the headboard and the mattress look funny, I would try to change that to look a bit better. I would also add some art to this room.
6. Mini golf is mentioned in the title, but there's no photo dedicated to it. I would definitely add one!
7. Take what you have in your description and run it through Chat GPT (free). Keep it short and with bullet points but it might help if there was a little bit more info.
8. Make sure to change up your title and photos every couple of weeks. That helps to keep the listing fresh. Your first 5 photos are the hook to keep people looking or they move on to the next listing.
9. And use dynamic pricing like PriceLabs.
Hope that helps give you some ideas....it looks like a lovely property and one I would consider staying at!