All Forum Posts by: Andrew Steffens

@Chris Wartko Im genuinely curious about this, where in Saint Pete could you do something off grid? Pinellas is the most densely populated county in FL.  I think its a cool idea and personally know people who rent cabins for huntin off grid, but they are out in TN and NC

We manage 60 or so properties in Tampa area. About 20 of them are owned by me or my partner. I treat every house/guest the same regardless of the property and that has served me well in the 6 years we have done STR's. However, bad things can happen. I would think on a moral and maybe even legal standpoint you should try to see if your PM was negligent. If for example they knew they rented the property to a large group of college kids during Spring Break, and did not mitigate risk with a security deposit or in some other way, it could be argued they are negligent or derelict in their duties. If reasonable vetting was done, they are not responsible for damages. Best of luck, I hope all works out. Feel free to shoot me a message.

Andrew Steffens

@Gulliver R.

We currently use Streamline which does a lot of things great but VRBO messages are not it strong suit despite direct connection.  We previously used Guesty which I think was more user friendly and better at VRBO specific messaging, but we had a lot of accounting issues with it (not sure if they have improved there or not) so accurate accounting was more important to us.  Shoot me a message if you want more info regarding Streamline Im happy to share!

@Nicholas Doyon Those areas are great for STR but the laws prohibit over 90% of them unfortunately.

@Jordan Baratono - I own an STR company and have done as well as managed arbitrages before. Please make sure you do all of you due diligence as it is risky but not impossible. Feel free to shoot me a DM with any questions

Andrew

@Ankur Ba

We manage around 20-25 or so in Hillsborough and more in other counties.  We rent nightly in both county and city and have never had an issue.  Their legal right to even restrict post 2011 agreement between state and counties would be a gray area and I have never heard of anyone being cited.  Some of the older laws on the books in beach towns of Pinellas are a different story.

Shoot me a DM if you have any other questions I would love to help

Andrew Steffens

@Artem Pustovar - Im also in the Tampa area.  You are definitely on the right track.  We manage around 50 properties and are best are:

1 - New Construction

2 - Nice finishes/furnishings

3 - Unique as possible.

4 - Well located.  In Pinellas that means as close to the beach as possible and in Hillsborough it means close to attractions/highways.

Shoot me a DM with any questions I would love to help

Andrew Steffens

@Andrew Zack Jenkins - I mostly agree with everyone above, but it is not impossible. We are at around 50 owned/managed units in the Tampa area and I have seen done successfully, and unsuccessfully. We rented a mansion on the beach for $6,000 a month out of foreclosure that needed about $20k in TLC + furniture, and we negotiated 3 free months of rent. It ended up getting about $30,000k a month in revenue. That was our first venture into STR. BUT that was 2016 and we have never found a better deal since then. I think if you do it now you will need to go big as rents have also increased considerably. You will not make any money on a run of the mill 3/2 paying $3,000 a month. Utilities and operating costs and the furniture will eat you alive. You will need a $15,000+ month place that is unique on a multi year lease and maybe already furnished if possible.

Best of luck and feel free to shoot me a DM with any questions

Andrew Steffens

Hey Robert,

We are also in the Tampa Bay area and have had a few needing 30+ days.  Airbnb, Zillow, and VRBO as mentioned above have the biggest market share and I like some of the other creative ideas mentioned above as well.

There are also other OTA's (Online Travel Agencies) you should look into such as Booking.com, Marriot Homes and Villas, etc.  They do not have the market share of the other larger ones, but you will want as much exposure as possible.  Also you will want to keep seasonal pricing in mind, you will have vacancy undoubtedly so you need to maximize your occupancy.

Feel free to shoot me a DM with any questions

Andrew Steffens

Hey William!

We own/manage 40+ in the greater Tampa area, including a few in Saint Pete.  I would be happy to share some tips for our success in Saint Pete.  Please feel free to shoot me a DM.  Best of luck!