All Forum Posts by: Sarah Kensinger

Quote from @Zach Edelman:

Is there a full kitchen in this unit? Just curious due to square footage. 

Some of them do and some don't. Depends on how much the inside was remodeled and what the owner decided for the kitchen. 

Quote from @Luke Carl:

Avery’s book. Short term rental long term wealth. Every person in this space learned from Avery.

 Not all of us have! ;) Our business model is a little different, but I do enjoy following her on Instagram.

Quote from @Konstantin Ginzburg:

@Sarah Kensinger

Thanks for all that advice and I fully agree with you. We are viewing this as a very active investment hence why we are on here trying to learn new ways to continue being active. This is our first time in the STR market space so there is a learning curve with this market compared with the traditional long term that we have been operating in before. We are very excited about this venture and looking for ways to improve and continue to get better. Luckily all our expenses are being met and we are generating a profit on most months even with our low occupancy rates so we are not in panic mode.

I do really like your theme idea. Our initial plans were too make each bedroom a separate theme with the themes being: Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, Victorian, and Jazz. Do you think this would be a decent idea or would you suggest having a single theme throughout the entire unit? There are definitely some elements of Mardi Gras themes in a lot of the STRs in our area but it seems like most are going with a "simple elegance" theme in their listings and I agree having a more colorful theme would make us stand out more. We are in the initial phases of planning out how to redecorate the unit. Our city has passed a new that will go into effect July that heavily restricts STR permits so we are waiting to find out whether or not we will be able to secure a new permit before we invest in a large remodel but its absolutely one of the top items on our priority list.

We were thinking about pasting on murals on most of the walls in the common area as well that is New Orleans themed as well. I appreciate all your advice and really hope we wind up in that 90th percentile. :) 

That is really exciting your trying out STRs, I love to hear that! And smart move to wait until the city has approved everything, I would do the same thing! No sense wasting money if it doesn't work out.

I would try to have the whole house with the same general theme, but you could give a bit of a variation to each room. Right now, I'm working on a 1930's theme for a property and I plan on giving each bedroom a variation, but the basis of that variation is a 1930's theme. For example, in your house do a New Orleans theme and then have one room jazz, Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras etc. but the main theme is New Orleans.
Murals are a great idea! Or if you prefer a bit of a less expensive route, wallpaper or a wallpaper scene would do the trick too.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, I love helping people get that extra kick to a STR!

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Jordan Alexander, yes I would advise owning property instead of renting them. Arbitrage isn't investing. You might make some money, but you can do that with your W2 job and save, save, save.

What I would do if I were you is take advantage of and FHA low down loan. Buy a duplex or larger up to a 5 plex. Live in one and rent the others. Fix it up as you go, after a year, refinance out of the FHA, rent the other unit, then do it again. You will have one multi family that should be performing and living for free.

Continue to save up and then move into other investments after the 2nd multi family is fully rented.

Working a 9-5 job doesn't yield enough to buy property in a short time. From experience it can take 5+ years to have enough to purchase a decent property, and that is saving, saving, saving! It's not doable if you want to scale decent before you retire, hence all the strategies you can tap into to scale quicker.

Saying that it can't be done just because you weren't able to do it doesn't mean others can't. Everyone is different, earning different salaries with different goals. It can take 5 years, it can take 10 years or it can take 2 years.

It took us about 6 months to move forward once we decided to do it. Everyone is different.

What I am telling @Jordan Alexander, is to try the FHA 3.5% down owner occupied with a multi family. You are looking at 14k on a 400k property plus fees. That should be a doable thing for most young people who didn't make a lot of bad decisions early on.

It's going to take living cheap and keeping your nose to the grindstone finding a property that can work. Maybe doing some side hustles.

When you are single or a married couple with no kids, you can really build cash fast if you want. It takes discipline.

Discipline is a huge thing that not many people have anymore. Thankfully my father drilled that into me my whole life and I married a very discipline man who had close to 6 figures saved by the time he married me at the age of 24. That was with a general construction job not a cooperate job! Several years ago, I had a major car accident I should have been scalped to death in. I wouldn't drive anything but the same make, since they proved in my accident their wonderful crash rating really is accurate. We had to get a bigger model then what we had and unfortunately that particular SUV had only been made for a year, so there really weren't any used ones around. To make a long story short, my husband bought me a brand-new SUV....that wasn't the base model since I insisted on keeping a sunroof after my accident gave me a plunge into a canal...and he paid it off in 3 years. I'm not sure if you realized it but there were a lot of things insinuated that just weren't accurate. 
Some of us have already bought our first property when we married because we did do things right...we had the down payment and excellent credit, so now we have to move on to different type of loans that require more down. I didn't say we can't do it but that it's time consuming!   

I know some people would use their cleaner or whoever would help keep the house stocked with supplies and pay them a little extra.

Alot of times cities don't have the manpower to go around and regulate STRs. Some places/people might not want to report the operation of a STR, because they see the benefit of having them and might not agree with the ordinance. There are so many STRs in areas that are illegal yet somehow, they don't get caught for years! Usually, it's not pretty when the city does catch on and takes care of it. I don't know too much about the area you're looking in, but I'm thinking in certain pockets you can have a STR if you're willing to jump through some hoops. Hopefully someone on here that knows the area can respond with more info for you.

This was so interesting to read since we were all over this exact condo complex several months ago! I nearly fell in love with a particular unit that was beautifully renovated, turnkey, had a view of the ocean, and like you said the price point was better than other beachfront condos. It's still for sale with a large price drop from when we were looking at it. 

So, we had several reservations on purchasing a unit in this particular complex. The first was all the units that were for sale. Today when I looked, pretty much all the units we had checked into are still available and there are even more for sale! The assessment probably has a lot to do with people wanting to sell, but I know a lot of the updating is foundational problems and after the condo collapse in south FL people are pretty leery of older condo buildings. 

Our realtor also warned us that studios are hard to sell and don't hold as much value as a 1+ bedroom condos. Investors don't want to purchase a "fancy" hotel room so it would pretty much be a purchase you make and don't resell. 

When it comes to STR profit I was surprised at how well it did last year (before renovations started), compared to other studios we had looked at in different condo complexes. This property was built in 1965 and became an iconic landmark to PCB, some people have brought 3 generations of families to stay at this property for spring break and summer vacations. It does have a bit of historical interest that helps with marketing and people wanting to stay there. But since studios are the only option that makes it hard for families unless they book a couple units, which most wouldn't want to do. PCB draws a lot of families and groups of people so it would be hard to keep a studio profitable since it wouldn't be large enough.

Also, I can about promise you this complex is non-warrantable, so you'll have to bring a minimum of 20% but more than likely 25% down because of that. If you could find a 3+ bedroom property that's a short walk or even a short drive to the beach and Pier Park, it would perform much better than a studio on the beach. 

Here are two more companies I can recommend for you! Your Relaxed Stay and Alchemy

Quote from @Brad Warner:

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

Quote from @Brad Warner:

Awesome stuff! Thank you for your responses.  @Sarah Kensinger is there a good market for str's in ohio? I was actually looking at some other locations like beach areas.

Well we are planning to go to Lake Tahoe in a couple years so I started to look there first but as a true Ohioan the Myrtle Beach area intrigues me as well. But may stay local to start. I like the Hocking hills suggestion. 

Of course, there aren't any beaches here in Ohio unless you're up by the lake. But that area is very seasonal since the lake freezes over every winter, but Cleveland is another good area since there is quite a bit to see and do. Akron is an up-and-coming market ranking a spot ahead of Cleveland. And the Hocking Hills area is another hot spot since that state park is becoming VERY popular. 

What beach areas are you looking in? I know there are some really profitable beach markets right now.

 Well we are planning to go to Lake Tahoe in a couple years so I started to look there first but as a true Ohioan the Myrtle Beach area intrigues me as well. But may stay local to start. I like the Hocking hills suggestion.

Lake Tahoe is a beautiful place, it's on our bucket list! CA is a hard place to have property so you might want to check out the NV side. We actually took a babymoon to Myrtle Beach, it's a nice area and I'm sure you could do well there. Just make sure to do lots of research and find a neighborhood that would give you good ROI. We've been "dancing" all over the Hocking Hills area ourselves but haven't settled on an area yet. Since Logan city limits are hard to get permits for STR I doubt we'll be in that town, but maybe more up towards Lancaster. 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Jordan Alexander, yes I would advise owning property instead of renting them. Arbitrage isn't investing. You might make some money, but you can do that with your W2 job and save, save, save.

What I would do if I were you is take advantage of and FHA low down loan. Buy a duplex or larger up to a 5 plex. Live in one and rent the others. Fix it up as you go, after a year, refinance out of the FHA, rent the other unit, then do it again. You will have one multi family that should be performing and living for free.

Continue to save up and then move into other investments after the 2nd multi family is fully rented.

Working a 9-5 job doesn't yield enough to buy property in a short time. From experience it can take 5+ years to have enough to purchase a decent property, and that is saving, saving, saving! It's not doable if you want to scale decent before you retire, hence all the strategies you can tap into to scale quicker.