All Forum Posts by: Michael C.
Michael C. has started 9 posts and replied 85 times.
Post: Protect Personal Assets while being a short term rental manager
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
Hi, I am trying to figure out how to best protect my personal assets. My spouse and I are full time property managers focused exclusively on Airbnbs.
- My spouse and I own 3 properties.
- Spouse owns 2 properties in State A and are held in personal name
- I own a property in State A held jointly with a business partner
- Homeowner insurance for the 3 properties cover short-term rentals
- Spouse is the managing member of an LLC, which is a property management business. The LLC leases apartments in State B and rents them out in Airbnb. The LLC also manages the properties in State A.
- LLC has a commercial general liability policy up to $2M ($1M per incident)
I would like to protect our personal assets from lawsuits from the property management business. What specific strategies should be employ?
- moving the properties to LLCs
- More insurance. Would an umbrella policy protect us from commercial claims if our coverage isn’t enough? Or the insurance denies the claim?
- Moving the assets (properties, stocks, other investments) into a trust for our child
Post: Short Term Rental Security Deposit Advice?
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
@John Underwood
Renters with little or new history on Airbnb (new accounts). No or negative reviews. Under 25 renters.
My VA team has a checklist they use to screen these types of guests. It's more work but we've mostly sidestepped bad guests (finger crossed)!
Post: Philadelphia - Short term rental real estate lawyer needed
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
@David Haynes
Thanks David.
Post: Philadelphia - Short term rental real estate lawyer needed
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
@Luke Carl
Haha. Avery might be watching!
Post: Analyzing a Short-Term Cabin in Sevierville & Smoky Mountains
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
@Kyle Nolen
Congrats on securing a deal and being conservative in your underwriting. Here are some of the numbers I use for a 4/4.5 built in 2005.
RM - 250/month
Capex - 2500/annual
Deep cleaning - 1000/annual
Historical utilities are a good guide but be mindful your occupancy rate may differ from the former owner so these expenses are highly correlated to usage. (Don’t forget covid knocked out 6-8 weeks in 2020 so annual 2020 number might be understated).
DM if you want to talk more numbers and best of luck on your purchase.
I hope this helps!
Best
Michael
Post: Philadelphia - Short term rental real estate lawyer needed
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
Hi, I have a couple of Airbnb properties in CMX3 zoned building and looking for a help getting visitor accommodations permits for the
If you are an attorney or someone with a legal background in Philadelphia, I would greatly appreciate a referral. Thanks!
Post: Looking to become a first time AirBNB host
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
@Hui Song
Hi Hui, which carrier did you go with for the insurance?
Post: Pigeon Forge STR - Hold, Sell, or Cash-Out Refi?
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
Originally posted by @Angela Morris:
I would like some advice on whether to hold, sell or cash-out refi my first STR. I purchased it in June 2020 for $599K. It is on track to produce $160K in 12 months (almost there!). While I love the cash flow and would really like to hang onto it, I'm thinking now may be a good time to sell since the inventory is low and prices are high in the area. It's not usual for a property to get 20-25 offers. I could then use that profit to purchase 3-4 more in the same price range. Its all about scaling, right? If I sell, I would want to get at least $1.2 mil, which is double the price I paid for it. Based on the income it generates, I believe that's a reasonable price in the area, but would I have a problem with the appraisal? I haven't found any comps that generate that kind of income. It's a 3 bed/4 bath pool cabin. I've been researching recently sold properties in the area and many higher priced, larger cabins are generating less income. I've also considered doing a cash-out refi, however, since appraisals are based on comps, I don't believe it would appraise for more than $700K. Thoughts/suggestions?
I also just sold 2 long term rentals and plan to 1031 those into another cabin. I should have done that last year as now I'll be paying alot more $$$ for a lower income cabin. Ugh.
Hi Angela, we are looking to purchase cabins and would be interested in taking a look if you are looking to sell. I'll send you a message and hope to connect.
Post: Short Term Rental Security Deposit Advice?
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
@John Underwood
I also charge 500 on VRBO. For high risk Airbnb reservations, I ask for a separate security deposit payable through the resolution center before I release the codes. I refund it after the checkout to ensure compliance.
Post: AirBNB Management learning opportunity
- Investor
- New York, NY
- Posts 91
- Votes 92
HI Jake, I've been a professional Airbnb host for 4 years now and here is part of my tech stack. We have ~20 properties in Philadelphia, PA and Sevierville, TN. Happy to double click on these if you have additional questions.
- Hostaway for PMS and distribution
- Pricelabs for pricing management
- Hostfully for guest guides
- Asana for task management
- BNBTally/Quickbooks/Hubspot for accounting/finance
- Whatsapp/Slack - managing your cleaners and assistants
And much more. Everyone has their own flavor customized to their individual preferences and use cases but these cover the major software verticals you'll need to get up and running. Hope this helps!