On underwriting, a few things I wish more first-time buyers focused on: assume conservative rents, not “top of market,” and stress test the deal with one unit vacant or underperforming.

That sounds incredibly frustrating and stressful. 

It sounds like that has taken its toll and it may be time to hire a PM who will give you the relief of not dealing with the stress of coordinating maintenance. 

Properties in good locations attract better tenants who stay longer and do less damage, the properties appreciate much better, rents go up faster, much less work and stress, equaling higher profits and you need less of them to make the same amount of money.

Kevin, I do not see many stress testing their DSCR deals. 

However, a few have had enough merit that it may have caused stress if it were not for the umbrella coverage (for example evicting a tenant with ESAs for lease violation of repeatedly introducing ESAs without following the process in the lease).  

It is finishing the deal without stress.

Quote from @William Thompson: The First Thing STR Hosts Should Review in the First Week of the Year (It’s Not Bookings)The first work week of the year always brings the same instinct for STR hosts:check calendars, tweak pricing, and see how January bookings look.That’s fine — but the hosts who actually improve year over year start somewhere else.They review how the business ran, not just how it booked.Before looking at occupancy, I always suggest taking one hour to answer a few simple questions:Which stays caused the most stress last year?

What was sold to us as a solid investment became a stressful, costly nightmare, and we sold both homes just two years later.Based on our experience, we strongly caution anyone to do very careful due diligence before trusting the claims made by Black Belt Investors.

Stress level: Olympic.The 2.5-Year GrindWhat should’ve been a quick stabilization turned into a 30-month, “is this thing ever going to end?”