All Forum Posts by: Alyssa Czopor

You really want to learn how to leverage virtual assistants, and you cleaner is your most valuable piece of the business IMO.

@Alyssa Czopor My first investment was in a vacation rental. In my market (Maryland), it was the Ocean City MD area. The reasons I felt it was safe to start is, its primarily a drive to market, and an established vacation rental area, which already has established
regulations around short term rentals, so little to no risk of that being a problem.

I am about two hours from the area, so having a local team there to manage repairs (if need / as needed) and a cleaning crew is key. If nothing else, have a trustworthy house keeper / cleaner who is on the same page with your goals. I went with listing it myself to start, and don't regret it at all. The VRMs in the area were terrible, and provided a horrible first experience and service. There is a lot of software and automation you can use to help with the daily tasks, so you can focus on the most important thing, which is the guests, and their experience, as well as managing and keeping in touch with your cleaning staff.

@Alyssa Czopor hi - did you read the long term investment book by David Greene by chance? That book has solid information on how you can get started while being out of state.

If you are investing from afar, short term rentals / vacation rentals are a fine strategy to start with *IF* you have the right management company. They can guide you on the best areas to target and give you comps on how much it can make based on the areas averages.

*Too many people manage their short term rentals to “save” money from the management fees The reality is that a good vacation management company will make you more money as most host don’t know how to price their units correctly, they under or over price it, therefore leaving money on the table*.

There is a whole science to it, there are multiple tools for pricing for this reason. You need to know the markets numbers and demand to price your places accurately and therefore make them profitable.

Regarding the place you’re interested in, run the numbers and see how much you can make. Then reach out to a local (I don’t recommend the big ones) vacation rental management company and see what numbers/comps they give you. Make your decision after that.

@Alyssa Czopor

Hey Alyssa - I think your first investment should be whatever you feel most comfortable with managing. We considered a VRBO as our first, but then we started thinking about the management of the property at a distance and the cost of furnishing it, and there seemed to be so many unknown factors which deterred us. We decided to go with a SFH as our first, but are still leaning towards the VRBO option for our second due to the increased cash flow.

Whatever decision you make will be the best for you. Good luck in starting your journey into REI.

@Alyssa Czopor congrats on deciding to make the plunge into real estate. It sound like you've done a lot of homework leading up to this point.

Did you factor in management costs when running the numbers? On weekly turnover style rentals you'll find their fees to be hefty. 

I, like many others on this site got my start in real estate with an owner occupied small multifamily property. Living at the property will allow you to learn the most, your acquisition costs will be more attractive, and by properly maintaining the home you'll in a small way be improving your community. 

Best of luck, -Steve

@Alyssa Czopor VRs are an excellent way to profit!The downside is it’s much more active than LTRs and is quite the learning curve. The upside is your gross revenue can be 2-4x the monthly gross of a LTR. I can not speak to that specific market but you can absolutely self manage remotely with the right tools and some fuidance. Lots of people here on BP self manage remotely, including myself from 2,000+ miles away. So, if you really want to juice your returns, don’t mind learning an active business, have some time freedom then VRs might be right for you. If not, going with a LTR might be the better approach for you. Depends primarily on your goals and available time imo.