All Forum Posts by: Aimee Haasteaby

Hi all,

My husband and I are interested in buying a resort for sale in TX but the owners won't share the financials because they didn't keep good records. The agent says it's not a cash-flowing property but has huge potential because the owners aren't maximizing all resources (eg restaurant onsite not being used, available space for additional cabins or RV spaces, little to no marketing, festivals,etc).

The owners had an appraisal done on it but because the appraisal was done with their other resort, they can't share the appraisal but they did share the value.

The agent shared some numbers but not enough to substantiate the purchase price.

Asking price $2.9m

Appraisal $3.25m

On market for 1.5 years

$50k in reservations so far for 2024

Sellers offering $500k financing in 2nd position

They'll share financials once we see the property and put in an LOI.

Can someone explain how commercial appraisals work? Do they consider the crappy P&Ls in this case?

What other questions should I ask?

I've also been told not to buy anything based on potentials but what can I do in this situation?

Would greatly appreciate any advice or input on this situation because we're very interested in the property and feel like because it's been for sale for so long that we might have a chance at getting the price down.

Thanks!

People sell for all kinds of reasons and often times when they have little to no equity they would have to come out of pocket in order to sell in this market. 

People also need to sell due to a sudden change like death, job, etc. With the current market, and depending on the location, it could be impossible to sell without losing money. subject to can help people get out of a house and walk away with more money than actually selling it the traditional way. 

@Eric Boughner

Have you ever considered trying a different approach to acquiring a property other than the traditional financing?

There are many types of creative financing strategies out there that don't look at your income at all. It's how us "non-W2 earners" buy real estate. Some that might work for you are Seller financing or Subject To.

So many benefits to these methods!

I'm no expert but happy to help however I can.

Good luck!

@Tiffany Roberts

I feel you! I'm not in the same boat but I'm definitely paddling along nearby.

We turned our primary into a vacation rental. Seemed like a no brainer due to our location outside of Yosemite National Park. And we've been doing another STR with a little vintage trailer that's been killing it for 5 years!

But after 2+ years of trying to find anyone to help us as a property caretaker (no one wants to work around here and all the good ones are taken), we decided to change our strategy. We're going to do a mid-term/seasonal rental in the house, and a long term rental in the "caretaker" trailer. And it's actually going to make us MORE money with WAY less work and headache 🙏 (I mean we'll still have tenants so its not without headache).

I also have 2 littles, whom I homeschool, were just finishing up renovating a school bus, and started a couple businesses, while traveling the country (hippie scientist gone green real estate investor 🤓, still hippie 🌈✌️🚌, with hottie chef husband 👨‍🍳).

Every property should have multiple strategies that work, otherwise it'll eventually bust.

Run the numbers and if it makes sense to spend some money to improve your asset and raise rents, get better tenants, get a better PM....then do it! It's all about the numbers. It should be PASSIVE income right?! You're stressing about every PM notice because you're not making enough money and your PM isn't doing their job well (apparently).

All your issues can be solved by running your numbers and figuring out your options. Basically with money.

If you don't think you can let this truly be passive, then sell everything and invest in something else. RE isn't for everyone.

Sorry to make that so long but hopefully it helps somehow. And def listen to that gut....she knows best! 😉

Happy to help however I can! 🌈✌️

Did either of you find a roommate yet? I was going to post an ad looking for someone to room with but thought I'd ask here first.

I'm a newbie investor from CA and this will be my first real estate convention ever so I'm super excited!

Thanks!

You can use those items as selling points. If the property were offering "green" amenities and you showed how these systems work well for the renter and the environment, you can probably charge a little more and get more environmentally conscious guests. 

you could include stats too to show to the low carbon footprint of their stay. 

Im starting a green real estate company and am turning our first house into a green vacation rental. Happy to answer any questions or help as needed. 

Hi! I'm a new investor interested in the INDY and northern IN areas and would be interested in joining a virtual meetup group! Thanks

@Erik B.

I see that you're in CA which has some serious water issues already so figuring out why the water bill is so high is super important.

Is there landscaping? If so perhaps you can install a greywater system that would cover all of your irrigation needs. They are very inexpensive, low maintenance and can potentially provide a food forest/garden for the tenants.

Rainwater capture and reuse (for irrigation and toilet flushing) is another option but much more expensive.

Doing regular maintenance and checkups on all faucets, toilets and showerheads will help you keep an eye on leaks. One leaky faucet can waste 20 gal/day!

200gal/person/day is an extremely high water user! Perhaps you could incentivize your tenants to reduce their water usage by offering a credit to their rent if they reduce by x amount.

I know most people look at this as a $ issue/problem/situation but it's also a very serious environmental problem.

For my green real estate business, I install environmentally friendly and beneficial systems that will benefit the owner, tenant and the environment!

I know some people in LA who install greywater systems if you're interested. Or hit me up if you want more info about any of these types of money and environmental saving systems.

There could also be tax breaks or county incentives in your area to help.

I'm trying to find hard money lenders for rural properties, both residential and commercial. Why is this so difficult to find? Anyone know of any ways to help find these lenders or anything I can do to help my deals get funded.

I'm doing mostly BRRRs but have a couple Buy and Hold options too. Thanks!