Rental rookie seeking advice on buying + renting

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Rental rookie seeking advice on buying + renting

Tuva Jorfald
Member since 2022 · 5 posts · 3 votes

Hi,

I am a newbie from Norway. I am not going to tell you my whole life story, but my dad just died, and my partner moved out, so I decided to get rich. (Make sense, right?)

I own a house in Oslo, where I live, and I am building an apartment in the basement for rent. I also own a holiday house in Spain which is rented through Airbnb. And now also an art gallery which is half rented if that makes sense. 

As a single mom I don't have much cash, and my bank doesn't really understand my project of taking my investments overseas, so I am looking into seller financed, rent to own etc.. (Ways of investing without much cash) 

I am looking for a property  (or more) in Hawaii, Florida or the Caribbean. I am a keen traveller, and sailed in the Caribbean, and lived one year in Hawaii. Now investing overseas is kind of taking my travelling adventures to the next leve. 


SO! The question is; 

- Seller financing / rent to own.. How to find it, what deals to make.. ??

ALSO! I would really like some input on longterm vs short term rental. My house in Spain has until now been a short term through Airbnb, as I use it myself from time to time. But it is a lot of work! Longterm would give me a lower but more stable income. Maybe that is better when wanting to expand my "business"? 

More, if you have the time;

I didn't yet try outsourcing the booking etc, since I like talking to people all over the world. But also having a full time job, it gets a bit too much sometimes (like this week the electricity went down, and I had to replace a woman and her dogs, while talking to electricians etc for fixing the problem.) 

I am also starting to wonder if Airbnb is really the best portal, as they charge a lot and I have had a lot of trouble with them lately. 

For my basement, I will go for longterm, I think. As the rent in Oslo is very high, and it would give me a monthly income of at least 1000 USD without really costing me too much, since it is in my house. 

Any inputs - bring them on! I look forward to learning from you and getting to know you! 

Oh, and since I don't have an American adress, I wont be able to list my houses on my profile etc, so it is not completed.. Sorry about that. 

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE and wish you all a lovely sunday or whatever day it is where you're at <3 

All the best, 

Tuva

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  • Allan Smith
    Contractor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Seller financing is rare in a seller's market. But it can be found if you start marketing to a targeted list. Facebook ads to retired age folks that own rentals, for example.

    STRPs are a superior asset to long term rentals. They still get appreciation and the tax benefits, but they profit maybe 5x for 3x the amount of work.

    0Reply
  • Tuva Jorfald
    OP
    Member since 2022 · 5 posts · 3 votes
    4y

    Thank you so much for your input, @Allan Smith! Can I also ask you,  is Airbnb still the best place to market STRPs, and in your experience is it best to manage it yourself or to outsource the rental business when having more? 

    0Reply
  • Allan Smith
    Contractor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Airbnb and VRBO are the main ones. Some people also set up their own listing and let guests book directly with them.

    Most folks I know killing it with STRPs self-manage. The managers charge 20 - 30% of gross so it's a big hit.

    0Reply
  • Kenny Dahill
    Investor · Tempe, AZ · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 731 votes
    4y

    Tuva, love the positivity in your post.  Perfect time to get rich!

    Finding a seller finance definitely takes more effort because they're not commonly advertised.  Consider your own marketing with direct mailers.  You'll want to design a 4-7 'drip campaign' that sends these letters out every 3-4 weeks with a different spin each time.

    Seller finance often scares most owners if they don't know a lot about finance.  And that's the vast majority of people.  Consider reaching out to different landlord investor groups to see if anybody has a property they'd be willing to do Seller Finance on.  Investors are more open minded and somebody might like the monthly cash with no day-to-day responsibilities of their rentals.

    I've also heard a good time to reach out to landlords is during or after their tenants were evicted.  You're catching them at the most frustrated point of being a landlord, some might decide that experience was horrible and want out.

    Best of luck!

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