All Forum Posts by: Annette Hibbler

The very best way to learn the ropes IMHO is to join a real estate team who will take you under their wing. They will train you and build discipline in you. They will give you the leads to work on. Stay humble, learn everything! Go ask your broker to recommend a top performing team you can join.

"Leasing for gainful occupation, profession, trade or other non-residential use is not permitted." That statement alone would give me great pause. Seems like they saying you cannot run it as an income property at all. I would get some more clarification on that statement in writing.

Mid-term rentals are in high demand. Things to look for are proximity to universities and/or hospitals. Search the property address on sites such as Mashvisor or Awning.com to see what if any others are nearby. If there is a hospital nearby but you don't see too many mid-term rentals, that's not necessarily a bad thing. We have a property in Michigan nearby a hospital (about 15 miles). When we did our research we saw there were literally no mid-term rentals in the area at all. But we put it up there just to see if anyone would bite. Within days we had inquiries pouring in and were able to rent it out to a traveling nurse for 5 months. It was a very good experience and she took excellent care of the property. Lastly, always have a back up plan (i.e. long-term rental income).

My advice...apply for, obtain and work as a full-time real estate agent first. This gets' your feet wet, forces you to stay on top of local real estate laws and gives you experience with buyers, sellers, landlords and rentals. Choose a good brokerage that will not nickle and dime you to death with fees. Once you've chosen your brokerage, ask the broker to help you find a solid team to join. Be humble, learn and grow! Under the brokerage and tutelage of a team of experienced agents you will gain credibility quickly.

A few bad apples spoils the barell! We were having a sudden surge in last-minute bookings in March/April, mostly through Booking.com. Red flags are...guest stalls payment until day of check-in and does not reply to text messages, calls or emails. Far too risky! In these cases there is usually ID theft involved. Now we no longer take any last minute bookings on any site. Always, verify ID and ask for down payments to hold the reservation.

We've been running STR for years. What we find works best is to personally give them a call when they check in (unless we've spoken to them prior to that) and then check-in with them briefly via SMS or phone call halfway during their stay. Guests really respond well to that and it shows in their reviews of our units. Not every guest will consistently provide a 5-star review, even when they say they had a wonderful time. Some people just won't do it.

Your unit is gorgeous! Nicely furnished as well. The view is to die for. My best suggestion to you is don't place all eggs in one basket. We advertise our listings on VRBO, AirBnb and Bookings.com. Consider other platforms. Oftentimes, when bookings are low on one platform, they pick up on another.  Since you're just starting out, keep your prices a little lower than you normally would to get the first 5+ bookings and reviews up there. That should help. Also consider doing your own advertising as well through social media. 

Many first timers take out a small equity loan against their house to pay the 20% down. Then pay it back once the flip is sold and go again. Once you start building a good reputation and history with a HM lender, that history comes into play with your other flips in the future. A good history with a HM lender will eventually afford you some more leeway with them down the road. Choose carefully, but remember that becoming an active property investor is a LONG game, not a short sprint. A lot of this is trial and error.

@Theresa Harris I know exactly who you are referring to. The HGTV twins, right?