Sanders Beach Short term rental

[Emy Bernardo]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $550,000
Cash invested: $170,000

This isn't our best investment for COC return but we broke some of the rules since we plan on retiring here in a couple of years to be close to our kids and grandkids. This property is located in Sanders Beach which is a very desirable area for STR - just blocks to beautiful lake CDA and minutes to dining and shopping downtown. Currently, breaking even on rent during winter months w/ long term tenant and gearing up to rent on Airbnb for summer tourist season. This will be our first Airbnb.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Location in Sanders Beach and future home for us to enjoy..

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Our son is an agent and found it for us. We weren't even looking but it had too much potential to pass up! The seller accepted our offer and didn't counter offer. Listed for $599k.

How did you finance this deal?

We had some cash on hand and also took loans from our 401k to help with rehab and down payment. (20% down).

How did you add value to the deal?

It needed quite a bit of work -we finished the basement and added a second full bath, all new flooring, interior paint, doors, appliances, painted cabinets, new butcher block counters. We did all the work except for tile and floors, and plumbing for the new bathroom. Also, new windows going in soon.

What was the outcome?

We rented it out pretty quick to a family that is waiting to have their house built. We will airbnb when they move out in the spring.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Long distance remodeling is tough. Wouldn't have been able to do it if our son didn't live local and was able to help us out. We also undertook this project at the tail end of summer 2021 and car rentals were non existent or cost prohibitive. For one of our trips, we rented a Uhaul van and another trip tried Turo for the first time. Both worked out pretty good!
Another challenge was finding furniture and ordering stuff online and trying to time the delivery for when we would be up there.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes, Steven Howie w/ Kelly Right Real Estate and Jack Forsythe w. SWBC mortgage.