STR Woes... am i panicking or is there a solution?

[Tamera Muniz]

I bought my first investment property in Greeley, Colorado and have been using it as an STR since that will give me the best returns. In order to get into the property, I used a HELOC from my primary property and a conventional loan for the rest. At the moment, the payments on my HELOC are fairly high as they are interest AND principal (something I did not clarify from the beginning as I would've preferred interest only). Because of this and a fairly high interest rate on the mortgage, we have to make about $2400 per month on the property to break even. This could very well be a bad analyzing job by me as my first investment but I am slightly panicking because it has been very slow this month with Airbnb/VRBO. December we were booked full and now we are not. Am I just panicking or does anyone have any creative options to making this payment any lower, more manageable? Even if it means waiting a few months. Anything helps!!!

[Michael Baum]

Once you start selling cheap, you get cheap guests. They end up destroying your place, trying to get refunds for nothing and complain about everything.

I don't agree with it being mostly about undercutting the competition. It is more about creating a great space with great amenities and building a great reputation.