All Forum Posts by: AJ Vanderhorst

After about 4 months, my SFH is trending in the right direction. I'm in the black, just not making what I projected. I'm expecting the listing to gain more traction as the reviews keep stacking and we head into the summer months. I did a lot of research as well. Market analysis, zip codes, property types, seasonality, etc. AirDNA was helpful for this. What I realized was the historical data I based my projections on—as well as my own past experience in KC—doesn't account for current market saturation...so in the future I'll have to be even more conservative with projections.

I'll shoot you a pm. I haven't seriously looked into long distance arbitrage, but it would be cool to take advantage of non saturated markets.

Fascinating topic. I’ve thought about this a lot and haven’t seen much posted on it, so thanks.

I STR several units that I own and also have an arbitrage SFH that's been active since December of last year.

For me, I’d prefer to own and build equity, but know from personal experience that’s not always possible.

With my latest STR, I've learned that due to my market (Kansas City) being saturated, it's taken about 4 months to be cashflow positive while accumulating 5-star reviews. Based on my previous experience with STRs, I expected my projected numbers to materialize more quickly.

So in markets like mine, your start-up costs ought to include a buffer for 3-6 months of negative cashflow or basically breaking even. Hoping to see my own numbers take a step forward in the next couple months now that I have 10+ strong reviews.

If and when that happens, I’ll be ready to rinse and repeat while I work to get enough leverage to buy my next property.

Hey @Conor Meehan, Proper Insurance is my go-to for STRs. Some hosts choose to rely on airbnb's $1,000000 policy, but that's risky, since they're reluctant to pay out. The bigger problem is that some cities won't accept the airbnb policy as proof of insurance. So it's likely is a local question, depending on regulation. If you go the Proper route, expect to pay $100-200 a month, depending on whether you own or lease.

Hey Sandy, I've had a half dozen leads from FF in several months, although their interface is terrible. The various FB groups are worth trying too...you can't beat free. If you list on airbnb for 30-day rentals, put up rotating CL ads, and maybe a FB marketplace ad, I think you've covered the bases. 

I've tried reaching out to local hospitals and recruiting agencies directly with mixed results. 

Something to keep in mind is that traveling nurses typically cap their monthly housing costs at $1000 or below—sometimes substantially below. Typically, "private rooms" with an accompanying "private bathroom" get the best response. If a bathroom is shared, you can expect to demand $250-300 less per month. 

This doesn't always work, since it can come in below market rent in high demand areas. Not many traveling nurses live in downtown condos. But find a 3BR 3B house in a safe, low-cost area...

Thanks @Paul Sandhu, @John Underwood. Great stuff. Paul, the breakdown on working Craigslist is much appreciated. Trading for fresh gulf coast food...now that is just awesome. 

Hey all, 

I've been active in the STR market with multiple listings for three years in Kansas City. My traffic has been driven by airbnb and VRBO, although occasionally I've written up short term leases for guests who wanted to make return visits or longer stays.

I know a number of STR hosts find ways to build traffic away from the third party platforms. It makes sense--cut those fees and raise your margins, hypothetically by 10% or more.

For those of you doing this, I'd love some nitty gritty...do you funnel return guests to your own website? Or do you even have a website? How do you process payments? Etc.

If you use Craigslist or other fee-free sites, how have you gained traction? (I know @Paul Sandhu knocks it out of the park with CL, but I haven't seen much response with it yet in my market.) 

Thanks in advance!

@Dan Stewart I’ll just echo what others are saying. VRBO charges an actual deposit that you can draw from if damage occurs. Airbnb gives the appearance of a deposit but the outcome depends entirely on mediation.

I used to “charge” a deposit on Airbnb for my properties but the reality is it doesn’t give you a leg up if things are damaged. You’ll still be headed for arbitration if your guest refuses to pay. Plus it discourages some people from booking. Logical argument and photo documentation are your friends if stuff gets broken via Airbnb. I’ve recovered a few hundred dollars this way.

On VRBO, the deposit is the real deal, and the more traditional client base is less flustered by it IMO. I charge modest $100-150 deposits on VRBO, not big enough to be a deterrent but enough to cash in if someone leaves a loft trashy or decides to smoke cigarettes in bed.

Hope that helps.

 Wow, sorry to hear that. I may shoot you a PM if you don't mind. I was hoping there was a common sense solution available, but this isn't encouraging. 

 I think that's great advice. Trying to get answers from the city via email/phone has been a total exercise in futility. If I show up in person at least someone will have to talk to me. I may shoot you a PM with a couple questions if you don't mind.

 I'm thinking it's likely something similar happened with my property...but for what reason I can't imagine. The city has told me there's no paper trail, but of course there's the original sixplex building permit. I'm going to go to Planning and Development in person to look at the file. I suspect I'll find nothing that explains the current duplex use.