STR: Where's my mistake in my numbers.

[Christopher Fordinal]

Hey guys, 

I am looking at getting into the STR game in Galveston TX or Destin FL. The problem I keep running into is that I can barely cashflow with the numbers I've researched. I would love for anyone who is currently operating a STR to look at what I have below and let me know if I'm off somewhere with my cost estimates.

Rental Income ($42,705.00/YR)	=	$	3,558.75
Expenses
Cleaning	–	$	711.75	20%
Maintenance (Monthly & Cap Ex.)	–	$	533.81	15.00%
Utilities	–	$	302.49	8.50%
Property Taxes	–	$	325.00	9.13%
Insurance:  flood, windstorm and homeowners = 4000/yr	–	$	338.08	9.50%
City HOT Tax (Galveston)	–	$	320.29	9.00%
AirBnb Fee	–	$	106.76	3.00%
Other (Beyond Pricing)	–	$	35.59	1.00%
Net Operating Income	=	$	884.98

At these numbers I am barely cash flowing if I bought a $200,000 house (and that's cheap).  

[Paul Sandhu]

Do the maintenance and cleaning yourself.  25 years ago I did maintenance on my LTRs to cut down being ripped off by appliance and other repairmen.  

Replace a fan motor or capacitor in an exchanger?  I do it for $50-$100.  HVAC would want $300.

Replace minor parts like agitator dogs, toilet flapper, light bulbs, etc in 5 minutes.  Appliance repairman would charge $100 plus parts.

I could keep going.

My wife didn't graduate high school.  She had enough college credits that she didn't need to go her senior year.  She graduated college with a 4.0.  She cleans our STRs and we make more money than if she had a regular job and contracted the cleaning work out.