first short term rental

[Mark Lee]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $525,000
Cash invested: $10,000

4 bed, 4 bath mountain cabin, renting as a short term

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

My family loves the area, and have stayed at aribnb's in the area on many trips. Our long term goal is to become full time real estate investors and my wife enjoys everything related to short term rentals. Given our interests, investing in a mountain cabin was an easy choice.

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

We worked with a fantastic realtor out of Boone. Given the market there wasn't much negotiation. However, the appraisal came back low, and the building failed one of the inspections. The sellers paid for the resolution on the inspection, and lowered their price to the appraisal.

How did you finance this deal?

I used a HELOC to fund the down payment and have a second home mortgage.

How did you add value to the deal?

I have been unable to find any contractors with availability to work. My father and I are comfortable using tools, and have taken care of some of the work, such as re-attaching gutters, trimming doors, adding downspouts, fixing toilets, etc...

What was the outcome?

The home is currently listed on airbnb and we have our first three renters.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We bought the place sight un-seen, and there ended up being a lot of maintenance. Log cabins are very different from traditional framing. Its very difficult finding anyone that can do any kind of home maintenance , plumbers, electricians, contractors, etc...

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

Yes, the inspector was excellent, as was our loan agent and real estate agent. Also, we utilized a service for radon mitigation and the service was excellent.