All Forum Posts by: Alex Larcheveque

@Joshua Larson, sorry to hear that your Airbnb is struggling. 

A few things off the top that I've noticed: 

1) Reviews. You only have one review. Lower your price for a brief time, get people staying at your Airbnb, and get your reviews up. You wouldn't want to stay at a place that hasn't been vetted by other people yet, right?  Make sure their stay in EXCELLENT, or a bad review can do a lot of harm this early.

2) Pictures. Your Airbnb doesn't have any pictures that "pop." Honestly, the last picture with the backyard should be your cover photo for now, as it's framed well and shows the large backyard for children to play. Hire someone to take new photos of your place. Show why it's unique over your competition.

3) Design. There's no cohesiveness to your Airbnb. Furniture is outdated, appliances look average, fixtures are old, people want to stay in a nice place. You can definitely spruce the place up by buying ikea furniture and making your Airbnb more modern. Bonus: If you can't update your house due to a tight wallet, your Airbnb needs to scream VALUE.

1) Yes. 

2) Yes, MLS-only brokerages are okay with you not working as an agent.

3) Your brokerage will most likely guide you through the process of gaining access to the MLS. You just need to submit some paperwork and fees.

Hi @Juan Zamora, there's never a "too low" offer. With distressed properties, I've found if the seller doesn't scoff at the offer, you've already offered too high. In today's market, we've been submitting offers that are $100k below listing, and have closed on a couple of those offers. 

Sent you a connection! Always love to talk real estate.

Yes, you need a real estate license in order to access the MLS.

You also need to hang your license with a brokerage, but there are brokerages that are MLS-only. Here's another forum post that discusses MLS-only brokerages in California.

Guessing by your December/January projections, you'll be just fine. If you're consistently hitting those upper 70% occupation rates, you have nothing to worry about. 

As time goes on, I'm sure you'll refine your process to reduce guest issues and your cashflow will only get better. Good luck!

Rentometer. Make sure you compare with comps that are most like your property, pro reports provide good insight.

Hey @Alexis Johnson, congrats on your internship! 

Usually for most loans, lenders like to see that you've been working consistently for 2+ years. Having zero income for a year doesn't look too great on paper. Additionally, $15k probably won't get you much in Southern California, even in the IE. 

I'd recommend building up your income and decreasing your costs - live with roommates, start a side hustle, get raises at your W2. Do this for a couple years, and once you have more money in the bank, you can start looking again for a house. No need to rush, real estate in a long game. 

Hi @Christina Albera, congrats on your license! 

One thing I'd recommend is to ask brokers if they do different commission splits for your own deals. Some brokers will take less percentage of the commission (sometimes even zero) when you're buying/selling a personal investment property, so make sure you're signing with one that does this!

Other than that, if you solely want to use your license to foster your own deals, shop around for brokers that have low annual fees and no sales quotas.

Welcome @Wasim G.! I know you mentioned you're awful at reading books, but Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene should be pretty useful if you're planning to invest out-of-state. There may be an audiobook version out, not 100% sure. 

Other than that, use the Bigger Pockets calculators for cash flow and make sure the numbers pencil out. Good luck, you got this!