All Forum Posts by: Tim Bergstrom

Hey Y'all! I'm definitely going to try to make it to the next event!

Hey Cory, Good to see you on here! I’m a member of REIN and will echo what everyone has said about joining. Has definitely proven to be a great place to meet people and get good information. Another great meet up is the Music and Money Investor Group. And what’s even better is that there’s no cost. I’ve gotten a lot of value there too. DM me for the meeting details. Meets every first Wednesday of the month down in Cool Springs. And yes, knowing quality contractors is definitely something every investor needs. Would love to connect with you!

Also, just had this thought after posting. Download the game Cashflow from the App Store and play it either by yourself or with your parents to help with everyone’s mindset. I’m already in the mindset but I still do this myself!

I love and agree with a lot of what Ian Tudor has said. I love the ambition. I know you may feel like you need to make big things happen NOW, but be patient. Look up Gary Vaynerchuk on YouTube and watch everything he puts out. He has incredible advice for young entrepreneurs. A metric he talks about a lot to give perspective is this: you’re 14, if you double your age you’ll be 28. That is younger than most people are when they START investing in real estate or learning anything about it. You have SO much time. The fact that you’re already seeing what is possible with real estate is so far ahead of the game it’s insane. If you spend the next 4 years just learning everything you can and work for an investor for free who does a lot of deals, once you’re 18 you can start rocking and rolling on your own and just grind for the next 10 years and you could have an empire by the time 28 rolls around. Spend the next 4 years working for an investor and figuring out what you ACTUALLY want. Take this time to learn WHO you are. Self awareness is incredibly important. Learn who you are, WHY you want what you want, and make sure you have proper perspective on your expectations. Once you know these things and know what you want, focus. Stay on course until you hit your target. To answer your specific question, starting an Ecomerce store/dropping shipping business and/or affiliate marketing could be a great way to build up capital while you’re also learning real estate. You don’t need to be older than 18 to do that. Keep us posted!

Thanks @Erin Spradlin! I've actually done a good bit of digging for info here in Nashville and have a pretty good handle on the regulations. But that definitely seems like a good SOP and a good checklist when researching new markets!

Yeah @Daniel Weaver, I hope some good info will pop up here. Would love to chat with you more in depth and compare notes about what we find!

Also, maybe both of you do or don't know about everbooked.com and airdna.com. But both are website resources that pull data and metrics about AirBnB stats to find out revenue, occupancy, and market info. I've used everbooked a good bit to analyze prospects here in Nashville and have started to use it for Memphis as well. You can just plug in an AirBnB url listing or an address of a listing you know of and get a bunch of info for free. Airdna is a paid service I haven't started using yet. I'd be interested to hear/see the stats on that property you were talking about Daniel.

Thanks y'all!

everbooked.com

airdna.com

Hey BP!

I'm just wanting to ask of anyone owning/operating an Airbnb or Short Term Rental in Memphis/the Memphis area what your experience has been like? I live in Nashville, and as of late regulations have tightened up like crazy. What are the STR regulations in Memphis? Are they strict? Lax? (I suppose those answers would be relative.) Is using the Airbnb and STR strategy in Memphis viable? What are your occupancy rates like? How do you have your management/cleaning services set up? Obviously the closer you are to the hot spots I'm sure the better you do.

I'm considering pivoting my strategy a bit to aim more at doing STR's in Memphis and am just doing a bit of research before jumping all in. Any insight would helpful and much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

cheers,

-Tim

Hey BP,

I'm posting this simply to start a discussion about what should be expected when doing a rehab/renovation regarding inspections. I know different cities and different states have different "standard practices" and codes requirements when it comes to this area. 

I'm currently working on a deal here in Nashville where this issue has popped up. So if anyone who has experience with doing rehabs/renovations wants to chip in their two cents on what a "standard" approach to inspections would be I'd love to start that discussion here. Specifically to kick things off I'll ask these questions:

In your experience and from what you know, is it standard practice to have an inspection only while doing due diligence prior to purchase/closing then not having another one until your renovation is complete and you have it under contract with a new buyer? Or in your experience is it standard or common to have professional inspections done along the way to check that the work of the contractor/subcontractors has been done correctly to code and that sort of thing? Some combination of both? Speaking more and asking this more to those investors who are not contractors or in a position to do inspections themselves, but definitely open to contractors input as well. I think this could be helpful insight for investors from different areas to compare notes, doing research before investing in new markets or for those just getting started to gain perspective on this.

Would love to hear your thoughts and two cents!

cheers,

-Tim

@Jonathan Nichols. Man, finding the proper info for what the current rules are is incredibly frustrating. I feel you on that. The reason I know what I said about the type 2 (and type 3) permits is because I just asked the clerk who was helping me and issuing the permit for me what was happening with the type 2 permits. I had been told they were banned completely, but when I asked him he was like "oh you can still get type 2 permits." So when I asked him further questions I found out what I did about how it is now zoning specific. 

So all that being said, the most sure-fire way to find out the info you need is to just go to the codes office downtown and ask. The tough thing there is that you'll have to get there right when they open and wait in line, which takes up a lot of your time. You can also check in online/get in line online using an app called Qless. I recommend doing both those things. 

And yeah, regarding insurance I'm sure there are 100 ways to get the proper insurance you'll need. But from my experience they'll ask to see a copy of your insurance policy description/coverage and look for that $1M liability policy. And I agree with you that subdividing your property is probably an unnecessary step that would be overkill and be a lot of headache/more headache than what you need. Again, as long as the zoning allows for multifamily. 

I'm not a zoning or STR expert. I just know what I know from experience and am happy to share it with you haha.

@Jonathan Nichols. Just to speak to your insurance question. I just went through the process of acquiring a STR permit and one of the list items required to do so are obtaining a liability insurance policy of at least $1M per occurrence. Even though Airbnb and VRBO also offer $1M coverage/occurrence it is still required to have your own.

One other piece of advise I would give would be to double check your zoning. Type 2 (non-owner occupied) permits are no longer being given for "R" or "RS" zoned properties (R6, R8, R10 etc). They are still being given for RM, and OR zoned properties though (RM20, OR20 etc).

@Stefanie K.

@Stefanie K. I would echo the sentiments of some my fellow Nashville investors who have posted and say that it may be a bit riskier to venture into doing STR investments in Nashville if you don't live here. Things are really up in the air here and I would say the risk level would be higher to proceed. Not to say it can't be done, but you'd have to do a lot of research and really know the nitty gritty to avoid any pitfalls. Not to mention that some of my other friends and investors in the area have commented on how saturated many areas of town have become with STRs. I'm not saying don't do it. But I would definitely say that if you do decide to move forward proceed with extra caution and know the zoning rules.

@Eric Wald Copy paste of what @Luka Milicevic said. Been doing direct mail, but finding slim pickings unfortunately.  Would also be down to meet up!