Hi everyone,I’m looking for some advice regarding an issue with my property manager.A few months ago, I questioned an unusually high $1,000.00 cleaning fee charged to my property.

@Audrey C.This fee structure isn’t unusual, but it really depends on the level of service they provide.

Nothing unusual happened and everybody was taken care of and happy. 

Would love to hear how seasoned investors are navigating this unusual market.

What you experienced with police isn’t too unusual in transitional areas, sometimes they respond heavily to trespassing or break-ins even if it turns out minor.

Great points, Jeff — and you’re right to highlight that the expense ratios are unusually efficient for a coastal STR.A couple of clarifications on the numbers:The current owner self-manages, which keeps cleaning and maintenance costs lower than a third-party STR manager would typically charge.Some of the repairs and CapEx were front-loaded in prior years (new flooring, appliances, and paint), so last year’s P&L reflects more of a stabilized-operations scenario.The utilities figure is accurate — it’s higher due to being master-metered for the property — but the other OPEX categories are slightly understated if you were to underwrite this as a fully managed, third-party operation.If I modeled it using a professional management assumption plus normalized reserves, the operating ratio trends closer to 48–50%, which aligns with what you mentioned for coastal STR multifamily.I appreciate you calling that out — it’s a great reminder of how much variance there can be between owner-operated and institutional-style expense reporting, especially in hybrid STR assets like this.Here's the owner's profit and loss statement for the exacts of the 2024 year.

For a $285K duplex, it wouldn’t be unusual to see $15–25K or more in write-offs in the first year, though exact numbers depend on your financing and property specifics.

It is very unusual for online transactions to require a photo ID.  

Well definitely some unusual factors involved.

I'm not sure where the inspection report came from but it is VERY unusual to be provided this and it is very time consuming to go through and diagnose.