All Forum Posts by: Travis Rasmussen

@Zach Simpson

Congratulations! Looks like a lot of people gave great answers here. Nothing really to add here but just want to say good job on getting started young :)

Hi @Evan Alexander

Welcome! That is a great strategy. What got you started and wanting to jump into RE?

The first thing is--go to your local REI. Your lucky, your in the Inland Empire and we are about to have ours coming on the 27th. Here is the link

https://www.meetup.com/Inland-Empire-Real-Estate-I...

You want to ALWAYS go to your local REIs. Investing in people is probably the #1 thing you can do. 

In terms of being a new investor, do you own any property yet?

We Airbnb our extra rooms but have thought about actually doing it for Travel Nurses because we already provide everything (beds, towels, etc.) only reason we haven't is because it's kind of nice to not have guests all the time.

@Jonathan Moomey

What kind of investing are you thinking about doing?

@Alec McGinn

Your phone is even better than mine! I have to reply on the computer because when I type on my phone, the words literally disappear. 

We put 25% down and we are cash flowing usually the second month. The first month is usually reno/getting the property ready. But as soon as you put it on the market (if it's a good market) you will get booked quickly. One thing is to take note of--start up costs will be more than you expected. You are literally furnishing the place AND need 2-3 replacements of common items such as sheets. I mean, like $30k on extra costs to start up. 

To get it ready we do a lot. We make sure the property is a 5/5 (new paint, if anything looks cracked like countertops, replace them) mainly because this IS our business. We have to put the right foot forward with our guests. 5 Star reviews are the lifeblood of your business. 

And it's also small stuff for every stay

i.e. laying out snacks for every customer, little special touches if it's a special event, etc.

@Thomas Pollard

"if I have to deal with traffic, I should make money off of it at least." lolololol

That is hilarious.

Honestly, that's what attracted me to Florida. There are so many markets which are year round. 

The biggest challenge? Making sure you find a good cleaner and second, be prepared to replace towels like no ones business. If you want, I made a 101 for people starting to short term which gives some good tips which shares some of my experience. 

@Brendan Moehn

Hmm, I'm use to anaylizing new areas, but that would be a new one.

Ok, after the last sentence I went to Airbnb just to do a quick recon. How far is Auora, Naperville and Oswego from your house?

Also, what are their draw to out-of-towners? Venues? Weddings? What are those places known for?

@Alec McGinn

Make sure to use the @ with my name so I get notified :)

A Superhost is essentially a really really good host. We have to keep above a certain ranking, not cancel any bookings, always respond, etc.

You are correct about the cleaner! They are your eyes and ears. They will let you know what you are low on, if the house got damaged, and being one of the key elements for you getting 5 Star reviews (you must always have the place be clean top to bottom). But if you are good to your cleaner, they will be good to you.

@David Orrick

Are you currently Airbnb-ing?

@Griffin McKisson

There is a lot of good information here, but I'm not gonna lie, after about halfway through the second page I started skimming and working on this post.

Some of this will be repeat, but I hope to make this simple and easy (metaphorically speaking)

1. As most people have said, you need to Work More

As @Caleb Heimsoth  and @David S. suggested becoming a trade, this is fantastic advice. One thing everyone on these forums will agree is that you have one thing going for that most us don't--Time. You are 20, and you have 10 years to kick butt and look up and realize that time goes faster than you think, and putting in the effort now will help you tremendously have a successful life.

Ok, let me get back to the point...

With time, you need to work more--a W-2 job that you can get tremendous returns on by working overtime. As someone pointed out (I can't find it right now) making $400/Month is more of a hobby, they're kind of right. I know you pointed out 6-12 months is a long time, but trust me, it's actually very very short. You will look up and go "Wow", 6 months is almost nothing.  You don't necessarily need to become a trade, but I would be looking at jobs that you can get into relatively easily (6-12 months), pay well and that have a huge upstream of overtime. 

The reason you need to work more is the lifeblood of investing (I know some people will disagree..), but most people will agree that the lifeblood is Capital. With it you can do pretty much anything. Everyone is chasing it by flipping, wholeselling, etc. But one of the EASIEST ways to get capital while young--work a boat ton of hours with a good paying job and work overtime like no ones business.

(Read Total Money Makeover By: Dave Ramsey)

2. But WAIT! I'm becoming a Real Estate Agent, isn't that working more?!

Well..yes, but, it takes time to become a successful real estate agent. On the contrary. becoming a Real Estate agent will COST you money. Desk fees, keeping up your license, marketing, buying open house signs.....I could go on.

You NEED some sort of stable and predictable income source while you are growing your Real Estate Business. There is nothing wrong with it, but I would focus 80% of my time into my W-2 and 20% of my time into Real Estate until the Real Estate side started picking up. (Source: I'm an agent)

3. Save, Save Save

Oh my, I can't stress this enough. If you are following the above points, you should (hopefully) have a decent paying job, slowly growing your real estate on the side  and you should be doing one other thing--saving.

Seriously, I'm probably preaching to the Choir, but if you are living off of $400/month right now I would NOT raise any of your lifestyle habits--keep your living expenses to below $400-$500/month. Use a flask when you go to the bar, keep eating top raman, whatever it takes. As you slowly grow to $3500-4000+ a month in take home pay, you should be putting away $3,000-$4,000/month. Translate that into a year and you are saving $36,000-$48,000/year. Do this and two years later when you are ready to purchase a house, you are now at $72,000-$96,000. Now @ 22-23 years, you will have enough to purchase your first property, and probably enough to put down on a second...

(Read Set for Life By: Scott Trench)

4. Buy your first property

You are correct on house hacking your first property, a GREAT way to start investing. I always tell newbie investors. Imagine buying a 5 bedroom house, you live in one, and charge $400-$500/room, depending on where you live, you could have no mortgage to instead being paid to own your own house. Other obvious options include duplex and triplexes.

If you followed up until this point (oh my goodness, I can't believe you actually read it all....) and followed the steps, you should/might also have enough to purchase your first investment property! So not only do you have your own house which is paying you (house hacking), but you are able to now find a property that will pay you to own it. You will be lightyears ahead of most investors and you won't even be 25 yet. 

5. What to do today

That being said, what you can do NOW is start going to your local REI's. I can't push this enough, GO TO YOUR LOCAL REI. Go every month, they are well worth your time and money (if they charge a fee). Oh, again, let me reiterate, GO TO YOUR REI.

There is just something about this that will pay dividends. Who knows, you just going and meeting people, someone will see your hard work ethic and need you to do something, leading to a business relationship. Maybe you will learn something in a meeting that you can implement that will boom your real estate business. This should be your top priority every month. Think of it like investing in People.

I hope this advice helps! 

If you ever need any other tips/my opinions, always feel free to reach out.

@Paige Biviano

Hi Paige! Short Term Rental host and Airbnb Superhost here.

The BIGGEST thing about doing Airbnb out of your personal home, is you will have to make sure your home is perfect--all the time. You will also be turning these rooms when people leave (washing the sheets, scrubbing down the shower, vacuuming, etc.)

Granted, this is if you are aiming for 5 star reviews (I don't know any other way). But if you are willing to do this, it can create some great extra income! And the best part--the guests leave. We do this professionally out in FL but also do it out of some extra bedrooms in our primary just because it's so nice. I

If you don't have time/don't want to clean rooms though, you might want to strongly consider just getting roommates. 

On a side note, I would just encourage to browse Airbnb as a "guest" and look for properties like what you are offering. See how much they are booked, see what they are going for. This will help determine what kind of demand you have in your area.