Middle aged and tired in New York City

[Alia Ganaposki]

*waves hello*

I am not 21 and eager to make a million dollars in the next 5 years. I hope these pockets are big enough for me.

We have been short term renting two spaces in our home in Queens through Airbnb since 2013. 

We bought one 2 unit property in Arkansas in 2017, and plan to buy another soon assuming we're content with the numbers. 

I'm here because i'm curious. I'm tired because i'm a stay at home mom to 3 boys. The youngest will start school in the fall. If the oldest is going to get his own room before college, I need to replace the lost Airbnb income with something else. Multiple real estate properties would do that, while also helping our retirement plans. 

We bought our first rental property using a HELOC, which we have paid back half of.

We haven't decided if we want to self finance the next purchase or get a bank involved.

Cheers! 

[Alia Ganaposki]

Thank you! 

I made friends with someone online who lived in Arkansas (north west of Conway). Her boyfriend had built his parents' house, so they seemed like ideal business partners. 

Then it turned out he was all mouth, no trousers- but our realtor was able to connect us to a reliable handyman. 

The online friend has been our caretaker and has done a great job. In return for a reduced rent, she handles all the things that require presence. And because she knows the neighborhood, has saved us from at least one potential tenant who was great on paper, but not in real life. 

Airbnb hosts are very divided. There are ones who can't imagine sharing their personal space (cleaning bathrooms... ew), and there are ones who can't imagine not being there (wild parties! Soulless!). It's only awkward when they don't read the listing or use tasteful nudes as their profile pic. :) 

I enjoy helping people afford visiting NYC; we get to be fairy godmothers in each visitor's heroic journey.