From Long Term to Short Term - How I Changed My Approach to Cashflow

COVID Decisions

In March of 2020, right at the start of COVID lockdowns, my wife and I made a life changing decision while walking our dog. We decided to start the process of building a custom home for our family, it was time to make a long-term dream come true. To fund our new build, we chose to sell one of our investment properties, a newly rehabbed and rented, formerly boarded-up duplex originally purchased from Craigslist. For me justify selling the duplex (and to make sure my investment itch is being properly scratched), there had to be a catch.

House Hack Redemption

While I still owned my very first home, and it was a great rental for me, I always regretted not taking the opportunity to house hack when I was younger. The dream of my home paying for my mortgage never went away. With this home build plan, I realized that we still had the chance. I knew that our neighborhood would never allow a multifamily home, and that would not have been best for our family anyways, so to achieve this goal, we designed our home to have spaces that we could choose to close off and use as short-term rentals. Our design is somewhat unique in that we have three distinct living spaces, our main living space, a mother-in-law suite, and a lower-level walkout with a full kitchen and living space, baths, and three bedrooms.

Mother-in-Law Sweet

The house was designed to evolve with our family, while still providing the opportunity generate cashflow. We currently occupy the main living space and mother-in-law suite, the lower level is a successful short-term rental that we advertise on AirBnB, VRBO, and our direct booking website. As our family grows, the mother-in-law suite can be used as a short-term or perhaps mid-term rental while the kids take over the lower-level bedrooms. When we’re old and rickety (and the mortgage is paid off), perhaps my wife and I will take over the mother-in-law suite and the rest of the house can be occupied by family and grandchildren.

Long-Term to Short-Term Conversion

The success we have seen with our first short-term rental so far has been beyond expectations, my eyes have been opened to the possibilities that short-term rentals offer to investors here in Columbus, Ohio. With the first long-term to short-term conversion working out so well, we are repeating the process. This fall we converted two additional long-term rental properties into short-term by utilizing 1031 exchanges and are excited for the increase in cashflow opportunities to come. As we enter in 2023, we look to expand our short-term rental portfolio while also leveraging our expertise by taking on full-service management duties for other short-term investors looking to cashflow here in Columbus.