All Forum Posts by: Trent Reeve

Your place needs a serious visual update. People who visit Disney are ready to spend money and they want the lifetime experience. They don't want to stay at a regular home when they are spending a fortune for their memories. There are places you can save money, but your furniture and decor look cheap and not screaming dream and fantasy. You have a very nice pool. Try to match your house to your pool then you will see a serious revenue increase.

i would say there are 2 types of travelers.
1 - yes, they want the lifetime experience and not stay in a regular home
2 - they are getting the lifetime experience in the parks, and want to stay at a place that can hold the people but on a better budget, especially with the price of park tickets.

When we travel with family, we most often are #2 (And i am sure there are many others like us). we do look for a pool, which you have. But also, you have a dining table and 6 chairs, with 4 at the bar. I would try and get another pair of chairs at the table. people generally all want to sit at the same table if they can, to eat. also, your title says "Minutes to Disney", that is really stretching it. Not exactly sure where in Davenport your house is, but im guessing its close to 20 miles from Disney (per google). Meaning thats likely 30+ minutes without much traffic, more on a busy day. thats not really close, people are going to choose closer properties first and you will get the leftovers. and as others have mentioned, its not a house that screams "Im near Disney" it is decorated like a house you could find anywhere.

0 Votes

Orlando, Florida

Quote from @John Underwood:

My CPA had a letter in my tax prep documents that says that those with W-2 income can't deduct business mileage anymore.

This is the first I had heard of this. I don't have W2 income, so I am good but I'm sure there are many people on here that still have W2's and STR that they are visiting to do work etc.

I tried to look this up and it says you can only deduct business mileage if you are self-employed. So, if you have a W2 job it would make sense you are not self-employed I guess.

Any CPA's want to confirm if my CPA has this correct or not?

ive only had a w-2 and just recently stared investing. I travelled for work a lot and i was not able to deduct miles for taxes, BUT, i was able to get reimbursed for the miles by my company.

0 Votes

Quote from @Michael Baum:

I am sorry @Joel Oh but you are 100% wrong that a standard homeowners policy will cover guest damage when you are using the home as a short term rental.

The only way they would cover it is if they were unaware that you were short term renting the home. That would be fraud and is a criminal offense.

Just to be clear, you own 250 properties? I find it hard to believe that you would risk a 9 figure portfolio for $300k

I am not saying that getting a 1m payout on a destroyed property is easy. What I am saying is that AirBNB or VRBO aren't going to cover it. You need to have the correct insurance for a STR. That is a type of commercial insurance and not a simple homeowners policy.

Regarding the little things, yes that is what AirCover is for. I have had 3 claims. One for $100 for stolen stuff, one for $250 for a broken futon and a $1000 payout for a broken window (VRBO).

All of those payed out in about 2 days. All I did was send proof of the damage and repair bill.

We are talking about foregoing the correct STR insurance for homeowners expecting it to payout for major guest damage.

I think this calls for another patented day of Mike's Research Plan.

I will do my best to call 6 major insurance companies (not brokers) and get the scoop. I will also call a few lenders to find out what they say regarding using homeowners insurance for commercial purposes.

I figure that should put it to rest. I will start another post like I did with the STR valuation research.

will love seeing what your research produces.

1 Vote

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Owning a STR is not like owning a typical house, even a LTR. There are so many moving parts involved in vacation rentals....more people, in and out of your property every week or few days...people on vacation like to party more, so drinking and running around doing dumb stuff. It's just an accident waiting to happen IMO.

Why take a risk? I paid approx $100 mo for insurance on my STRs, both insured through State Farm. I am currently using Proper to insure another property, and they're very good and reasonable as well.

Like I said above - why take a risk?

i would say it depends. I agree you need coverage and happy for you. If i used Proper for mine, its around $12,000 per year. Florida is a tough place to rent, insurance wise. I wont not have coverage as i cant afford to pay out of pocket to replace a catastrophic event, but im always open to hearing how I could reduce costs. But there is no way i would rely on Aircover or VRBO to pay out.

3 Votes

Quote from @John Underwood:

Go on Vrbo and Airbnb and do a search like you were looking to rent a condo in that area and see how many there are and what the rates look like.

I know in other beach towns there are so many of them that it keeps the prices down.

Also you have to worry about HOA fees and rules and possible special assements.

I would look for a beach front house. This is a much better investment and money maker.

i can tell you for PCB area, beachfront house is over $2mil. so sounds a little out of his budget.

0 Votes

Panama City, Florida

i use Pricelabs

0 Votes

Riverside, California

Quote from @Jonathan Foux:

Thank you so much Melissa for the detailed advice and response. Really appreciate your amazing insight. We would be self managing but we would not be local so that is what scares me most.

When you say automate most, I am assuming you mean like bookings and the financial aspects? Is there anything that is not really automated which takes a lot of time (especially in the beginning). Just worried as I have a full time job and do not want to start something that I cannot complete.

Congrats on your successes, it is clearly paying off. Best of luck with it and again thanks for the advice.

I have a full time job and self manage a place 5 hours away. the absolute 1st/best thing you need is a cleaner you trust. They are your eyes and ears at your place. But you can put automation in to help your hours spent. I use software to help with managing content, messaging, door lock codes, pricing. I have a great cleaner and handyman/maintenance. I spend time at my place now and then to review cleaning performance, review the property and the area as i provide emails to the guest to provide information, recommendations, etc. But you can have a normal job and remote manage.

1 Vote

Quote from @Jamarique Wynn:

I am looking to live in one room and airbnb out my other two bedrooms.

ok, thats generally a house hack. thats what you want to search on.

1 Vote

Nashville, Tennessee

depends on where your property is at, but there are a couple of strategies.

1 - develop a 2nd contact for services

2 - identify 24/7 companies in the area that you can call if your first contact is unavailable. i had that happen, had a plumbing issue and my normal plumber wasnt available, so i had to call a 24/7 one. I also work a regular job while managing. Once you build your team and put your processes in place, it shouldnt take too much time up from you

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Trent Reeve

Trent Reeve has started 26 posts and replied 509 times.

Post: How far out do you keep your calendar open?

Post: Urgent Help Needed: Turning Around a Struggling Disney Area Investment Property

Post: Loss of business mileage deduction for those with W-2 income

Post: Do you really need a STR insurance?

Post: Do you really need a STR insurance?

Post: Short term rental (preferably beachfront condo) investment PCB

Post: Seasonal Pricing Strategy's on Airbnb - How to price & when!

Post: New to short term rentals - what are the biggest operational challenges?

Post: Airbnb & Virbo for First Time Home

Post: Self managing STRs from long distance