All Forum Posts by: William Beck

How about a BBQ Smoker!? Tasty BBQ in the mountains. Mmm Mmm. 

Have never had cable and have never gotten a complaint. Smart TV's RULE

 I was going to say Coke too... Obviously I'm not from the south that primarily uses that! Good catch @John Underwood

Do you call it Pop or Soda? Lightning Bug or Firefly? STR, Vacation Rental, Nightly Rental or Airbnb?

I attended a VRM Intel conference recently and someone pointed out that everyone in our area calls this thing 'nightly rental.' Which makes me wonder, is there a regional difference for word selection? I personally use Short Term Rental, Vacation Rental, Nightly Rental interchangeably.... But I will never say Airbnb to describe  Short-Term or Vacation Rental. When someone says, "I want to buy an Airbnb," it's like nails on a chalkboard. STOP IT

What do you use and where do you stand on this? 

Agree with  @Luke J Nelsen I don't think there's a ton of STR traffic to Green Bay. Maybe Door County, but that place has a ton of regulations. It's good you checked but there's going to be a lot of vacancy. I just checked Vrbo and there were 25 properties listed when I ran a search for Green Bay, with an open calendar. So that's pretty slim which makes you wonder, why aren't more people doing this?

There's definitely data that supports a hot tub vs. no hot tub. I don't have it at my fingertips but just something you need to know that guests are going to be comparing your place to other options and if they see that as a missing item, it's going to negatively impact bookings/price. Smoky Mountains & ski destinations = hot tub is highly recommended. 

Just look for STR Expert Agents on Bigger Pockz since they may have deals with P&L's and data in the area.

Beating a dead horse here but Zoning & Restrictions. That's the nightmarish scenario in the STR world and unfortunately all too common. That's one of the few things that could literally blow up your deal completely and not something you've got much influence on changing.

Storytime: I had someone I told buy in an area that I knew had restrictions (here in Branson, MO actually) and said "You HAVE To make sure it's okay, or work with an agent who knows what's up." I get a call from him a few weeks later "I found one and it's a For Sale By Owner and i'm under contract...woo hoo" I asked him "Did you check into the zoning?" He replied "Well there are people in my neighborhood doing it so I am not too worried. I'm just going to go through the rezoning and special use permit process with the county.".... 3 months later "BILL! I didn't get the permit and I can't do nightly rentals!?!? WHAT DO I DO???" 

@Rolando Perez Hey Rolando. There are a number of intricacies to investing in Branson. Gary mentioned some good points on zoning and banking. Those are the 2 main things to be aware of and there's not really a 'map' or 'database' that says what's good to go or not. I've worked with hundreds of STR Investors so let me know if you want to chat.

@Rebekah Hitt Zeke Zelch. Structural Engineer. 417-554-3493. I used him on a transaction where the property deck had posts that were not plumb and he found out the whole thing needed to be fixed or there was a risk that the roof would collapse on the deck. Definitely one of the toughest spots to be in during an inspection notice periods, but Zeke knows a lot. Good luck.