All Forum Posts by: Anthony R.

Thanks, Corey. I did, thanks!

I'm no expert and armchair QB'ing my answer...

Tell him you can't confirm payment from Expedia or VRBO, but if he can provide proof that would help the situation.Also remind him you need his ID.
I'd present it like the issue is with Expedia and/or VRBO and due to the "confusion" you'll have to cancel his stay unless he can rectify things asap.

Thank you @Greg R. and @Valerie Budd for your insights. All good points.

After having done my research, there's no question that self-managing can save money, especially when it's a bigger property and the cut to the PM company would be that much bigger. But for me it's more than just the cost/savings (depending on how you look at it).

For my 1 bedroom condo that's about to go live 2.5 hours away, I can't get there quickly if there's an issue with a guest. And I don't have the local connections or screening process the local PM company has. But most of all, I'm getting into this to be a (mostly) passive investment. I don't want to be a hotelier over the tenure of my ownership.

That's great if some do, but for me, just in the speed bumps I've hit since closing a couple weeks, I'm glad I signed with a local PM. They've been immensely helpful with helping me resolve pre Go-Live issues I discovered post-closing.

Mine's not going to generate the income a larger property would, so the economy of scale somewhat works in my favor to go with a PM company. Not entirely, but within $2-4k, which to me is more than worth paying the PM to deal with the day-to-day.

Not an issue, not mortgage fraud as long as you abide by the above rules. Also, technically it is a 10% rule--you have to stay there a minimum of 14 days a year OR 10% of the total number of days rented. So, if you rent for 180 days a year, that 14 goes up to 18 days.

Talk to a tax expert or do a little spade work. There's lots of info out about the differences between a vacation home and investment home, from both lender and IRS perspectives.

Buy out the motel.

I'm not a LL anymore, but technically, what does their situation have to do with you? They need to work it out for themselves. As long as the rent gets paid and there's no more disturbing the peace/domestic stuff, it's not a decision you have to get involved with. So, they need to leave you out of it. So long as you're contractually and legally upholding your end of the deal, their situation is nothing you are required to be pulled into.

But again, I'll defer to the wisdom and experience of everybody else.

The other problem with a separate pet deposit is that there's no way the dog's gonna have that kind of cash.

If your past-self--who paid for those repairs and put the "No Pet" policy in place--could respond, what would she say to you?

In my mind, I say stick to your guns. You made that choice at the time for reasons that seemed the best course. Sticking to your guns also incentivizes them to find a pet-friendly place and either break the lease or wait until the lease expires.

Yeah, I've seen those articles also. "To everything there is a season..." Solomon wrote, so it would make sense that the trend would fade (looking at you, shiplap). I imagine the trend will land somewhere in the middle--maybe with an island or breakfast bar (or something new like a work-from-home "breakfast/desk"?) as a break between living spaces.

I'm not a builder but I imagine builders enjoyed a little savings by not having to budget for all the additional interior walls, but maybe that money had to go into costs anyway.

Open floor plans are nice, but a bit too open for me. Makes homes just look and feel like giant studio apartments. Also, I think people "Entertain!" way less than they think they will.

I got 3 estimates here in SC for your standard tub and three-wall surround. Two estimates were $850 and the other was double that. I picked one of the $850 ones, naturally.