All Forum Posts by: Zeona McIntyre

@Ron Brady I'm so sorry to hear of your long vacancy! I wonder if your listings need some tweaking, if you are not on the right websites, etc. I am happy to do a consultation with you if you want to try to save it before ditching it. I also can recommend an excellent property manager if you want someone else to give it a shot. 

@Matthijs Pol I have a friend with 10 homes North of Memphis, near around Bartlett who caters to corporate housing, relocation, and insurance stays and is 100% occupied. He doesn't touch medical professionals and makes way more. I definitely think your area can work. 

I can connect you, I imagine he would do a consultation if you wanted to pick his brain. Hes brilliant. 

In the future, don't buy a property with one bathroom, it's definitely a con when people are choosing your house over another. 

I would make all 3 rooms bedrooms. 

@Juan Rodriguez Wealth in Real Estate is built over time with appreciation. Most people focus on cash flow when they are trying to replace their income, but you ideally want both. Arbitrage is a nice place to start if you don't have the money to buy, but I would definitely transition to owning as soon as you can. 

Cleveland is also an excellent market for MTRs so I would recommend taking the hybrid approach and doing both strategies. I have a wonderful investor friendly agent out there if you need. 

@Bruce Woodruff There are many places to get a background check. I usually use zillow because it allows the guest to reuse the screening to apply for other places if we are not a fit, without having to pay again. 

I just heard about autohost.ai that has ala cart screening options for much cheaper than the usual $40 for credit, background, eviction. 

@Shana Kellman Unfortunately with competition heating up, accepting pets is just part of the deal. If I have a choice between the two, I choose the tenant without pets, or with one, or with small ones. You get the idea. 

We charge an additional $250 pet deposit and $100 per month pet rent. I do Hybrid STR & MTR so on Airbnb we charge $100 for the pet fee which is per stay.

@Michelle Bright I have a virtual (not local) MTR property manager I can refer you to. I'd be very careful with MTR managers. Don't just go with someone who does STR management and plans to simply make it 30 days min. They need to be super on top of calendar management, and ask if what sites they list on. For MTR ideally you want someone building relationships with recruiters, agencies, and insurance companies.

@Irvin Nguyen I just set up a 4 bdrm MTR and decided to just do a TV in the living room. We are using the hybrid approach and will fill gaps with STR. Of course our 2nd freaking inquiry asked if we had TVs in the bedrooms and we didn't and lost that booking. Annoying.

So I'd at least put one in the master and/or kids room. We have a fire pit, game room and still they wanted more TVs. I don't watch TV much so hard to imagine but we are serving people from all over so the culture is different. 

@Dominick Galinis curious why you feel that you need to "Act fast". 

I also suggest speaking with a CPA. My big tax savings with my STRs have come from doing a Cost Segregation study. I suggest looking into that. It gives you 80% bonus depreciation this year and beyond. 

Hi Paige, 

In what ways are you suggesting? I practice a low waste lifestyle at home and unfortunately STRs are such crazy trash producers. First in the incredible mountain of trash from purchasing new furniture, and buying in some markets where it is different to even find basic recycling, and then in the way guests create so much waste during their stays. We try to be a bit more eco friendly where we can by buying large bulk items and refilling bottles, but it can be really challenging. I'd love to hear your ideas.