Route ideas for level 1 financial freedom while in the Army

[Alec Newman]

Hello BP community, here we go ....

So, I have a lot going on and I’m both slightly nervous and very excited to be getting my journey going.

I had recently posted in the STR section about my property and the idea of turning it into an STR. I have decided to move forward with that process.

I’m looking for opinions and conversation from those willing on my strategy as of now.

So, I am active duty in the military and currently deployed, however I have a roommate that I am house hacking with who is on board for all of what I'm about to discuss, I understand there is greater risk with me not being stateside and making this stuff happen, but I've been eager to get my REI journey going for over a year now, and feel like there's great potential to take advantage of.

I will go into some detail about my current property I'm looking to turn into a STR and part of the reason I'm getting going now. I have a 1943 sq ft 3/2 log home on 24 acres that has a very large pole barn with 6 stables inside of it, it's also located about 1/4 mile from a well known lake for my area and has a public boat ramp a half mile from my house. There is also a big horse riding area and national recreational area within 30-45 minutes. Pulling comps for STRs in the same vicinity has proven somewhat difficult as there are only a handful and they are either lake front or tiny home style vacation rentals. However I am looking into using Evolve as the management company and 2 of the properties they manage in the area brought $19,000 annually (after evolves 10% fee) and another $32,000 after the fee. This is not to include after paying their cleaning company, and other expenses if applicable. I also reach out via AIRBNB to hosts in the area to explain my situation and seek some information on their experiences if they were willing. Some replied back and were extremely open and verified my assumptions that the area would do quite well in spring, summer, and fall, but slow down in the winter. This is partially why I am eager to get going with the process so I don't miss too much of the late spring, summer, and fall. Though I am planning to have a good sum of reserves , at least 4 months, of expenses in the event my place were to have 0 bookings. Considerations as well and insight that would be highly appreciated is how some of you with STRs plan and budget for staging your properties ? I am planning to take most of the furniture with me to the new property as it doesn't quite fit the theme or style that I think would make sense for a STR. I also am working through some people I know and considering bringing in an interior designer.

Moving forward, I have been approved to leverage the remaining of my VA entitlement for the property I plan to move into, so I'm able to take advantage of another $0 down loan up to around $273,000.

My goals are to within 2.5 years reach “Level 1 Financial Freedom” and I’m thinking my primary investment vehicle to get to that point will be STRs.

What this brings me to is the decision for the new property to move into. I have been debating between what would make most sense , a place that within 1-2 years I can move out of and turn into an LTR for another asset, or a place that I use as a live-in flip, with issues that are cosmetic, maybe updating things, but nothing major (planned for).

If you are still with me at the end of this novel, thanks for reading and thank you all in advance to any feedback. I am happy to go into more detail through private messages.

-Alec