Vacation Rental in the Catskills

[David J Lepard]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $175,000

Cash invested: $35,000

This is our vacation rental in the Catskills region of upstate New York. For photos and booking information go to coziestcatskillcabin.com

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

FSBO. We originally saw the property at $200k. We were prepared to offer $187k but around the same time the seller dropped the price to $175k. We weren't able to negotiate them down any further but we did negotiate for some maintenance to be completed and furniture to be left, since we were furnishing it as a vacation rental anyway.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

We fixed some major safety issues like replacing the electrical panel and upgrading the railings on the deck. We added new lighting inside the house and build a fire ring outside.

What was the outcome?

We put our cash flow for the first year into additional capital improvements and repairs to make the house more guest-proof. We refinished and treated the original logs, adding significantly to the curb appeal. Operational costs and repairs should drop in the second year because many things have now been fixed or upgraded. All our mortgage payments have been made for us. We're now enjoying the cash flow as well as mortgage paydown.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Your investment as a vacation rental is only as good as your underlying asset, your marketing, and your property management. I wrote a short ebook detailing how I believe this process could be replicated by anyone, anywhere. Check it out at buyvacationrental.com.