All Forum Posts by: Ashley Wolfe

@Julie McCoy Thank you so much for weighing in on those options!  It helps to know that experienced hosts go through the same feelings!

I'm going for some 400 thread count, middle-of-the-road sheets in stark white so they can be bleached.  Same with towels.  

What is the low season for you?  Since we're just starting, I'm not sure what our high season is yet.

Thank you @John Underwood for the recommendations for what to use.  I was looking at lock boxes last night.  And I need to be reminded almost daily to KISS!

For the discounted rates, I'm booking those off of the big websites.  As much as I want reviews to start to accumulate, I know that I won't need them with the furniture being out of date.

BP colleagues,

My husband and I are embarking on our first SFH short term rental that is 4 hours away from us in a semi-rural area of Texas. I've posted before asking for advice on if we should go forward with short term or long term. After weighing our options, we're going to try the short term route first and then have a long-term tenant as a Plan B.

I know you can relate when I say that I've got that sick/excited feeling about it because we are nearing the closing date and I've started my marketing plan for it.  People are starting to notice our little cabin! 

Certain things are in limbo.  Foundation repair, redecorating the interior, and photography.  I'm getting all my ducks in a row and I'm doing all I can in the time I'm not working my W2 job, being a mom, and wife.

I'm hitting my max capacity for learning different strategies, hearing tips of the trade, etc.  You know what I mean?  And I'm starting to feel like it will be a failure.  I know this is all in my head.

I've only posted pictures of the exterior which we just got re-stained (its a true, dry stacked log cabin) and it looks fabulous.  People are starting to respond inquiring about certain dates.  I'm so pleased!  I just want to deliver #allthevalue I can and I want it to be perfect.  You feel me?

So, instead of going 200% and burning out, what should I focus on most?  Keyless entry or sheets?  New mattresses or new couches? Website/FB or Airbnb/Homeaway?  The entire interior needs to be revamped and I'm offering discounted rates for those who are willing to tolerate the outdated state of the cabin as it currently sits.  I'm ready for it to start bringing in money.  I'm also looking at the calendar of events for the local area to front-load guests who may visit for specific reasons.  

I'm in this for the long haul because the cabin is a family heirloom.  Thanks for listening.

Thank you @Mark S.! We love Wimberley.  I grew up going to Rocky River Ranch in the summers (off Flite Acres Rd, owners of the Corral Theater).  

Thank you @Mark Kappelman for your insight!  I'll read your blog and bookmark for future posts!  

My husband and I are about to purchase a log cabin in the Austin, TX area that has been in my family since it was built in 2005.  We are four hours away in the DFW area.  We have two options as I see it (since I want to keep this in the family).  

1) Find a long-term tenant or 

2) fix it up a bit more and do the short term tenant thing that is exploding right now.  

The cabin has great features for both. 2/2 (no garage) on a man made lake, private HOA community, on a bus route for the local schools.

I have no idea about any type of property management company in the area.  Its pretty rural with the closest city of ~5,000 being 15 minutes away.  

My hunch is to start it as a long-term rental.  Then, after either my husband or I goes part time with our W2 jobs, begin the short term rental conversion.  If we are to manage a short term rental ourselves, we'll be driving down there nearly every week to prep it for the next set of guests if the calendar is completely full.  Right?  That's something we can't do with full time jobs and a young kiddo.

Thanks in advance for weighing in and telling me your opinions!

Ashley

I didn't think 1031 exchanges were possible in the MF investing world.  I'm really interested in what you find out from the folks who know more.  We are about to cash out on our first passive MF and would REALLY love to 1031 it into another RE investment.   

Thank you @Amanda G.!  Yes, we've thought about the struggles with a short term rental for the log cabin and a long-term rental.  We figure that it would be less of a consistent pain for a long-term rental since we both work full time.  But, for a long term tenant, I want to give them their space/privacy, of course.  So, quarterly visits just may be part of the rental agreement.  Any suggestions on where to find forms to use?  I have a Google Form that I'm using for initial screenings that ask four of our biggest questions (smoking, income, etc.) but I'm not sure where to go from there.

Hey BP,

My husband and I invested passively in our first ever REI deal. It was a 71-unit apartment complex in the DFW area. We were pleasantly surprised when the asset reached it's goal 3 1/2 years early. The sponsor is looking to sell the property to pay the investors back. Yippee!!

As my husband and I talk about what to do with the capital that will come in, there are different options we've talked about. We both work full time and have a young child. In the next 9-10 years, I want to retire from education and stay home to work the REI business.

*It should be noted that in the next three weeks, we will be closing on our first SFH buy & hold where we will be the landlords/managers but the property is 4 hours away (its a family deal). We aim to have $300-$500 monthly cash flow after finding a tenant.

Here are the strategies we've talked about so far:

- Re-invest 75% of it into another passive MF deal and put 25% of it into a buy & hold rental for monthly cash flow

-Re-invest 90% of it into another passive MF deal and put 10% of it toward educating ourselves in REI (business expense)

-Re-invest 70% of it into another passive MF deal, tithe 10%, spend 10% on ourselves, and save 10% 

Big questions:

Do we form an LLC for our REI business?

Do we form a trust (would this be redundant with the LLC)?

Do we just put the savings into our bank or is there a better way?

Should we be more aggressive in purchasing SFH for better tax advantages compared to passive MF investing?

Is there something glaringly obvious that we're missing or don't know about that would be to our benefit?

Thanks for the input!!!

Ashley

Garage conversions are very common in my area, several of our neighbors have it and many of the houses on the market boast garage conversions.

We have a shed in the backyard but its not water tight.

Our house is currently worth $136K (from our county appraisal website), is a 3/2/2, 1350 sq ft on a half acre (corner lot) with a duck pond in the backyard.  There is no basement but we do have attic space for storage.  We wanted to add a pull-down attic ladder in the garage as part of the conversion.

Market rent for our area is anywhere from $1100 to $1495 for a 3/2, depending on sq footage and condition of the house.  We think we could start out asking $1450 then go down from there each week if no one is interested.

Why would we want to sell if we want to become landlords and start to build our portfolio?  I know the market here in DFW is perfect for selling right now because people are paying ridiculous prices for houses that may not be that great.  Is our current house perfect?  No.  There are things we need to do to make it completely rent-ready, such as finish out the garage.  

But I want to capitalize on the rent market here. Every SFH landlord I talk to says that renting is so good right now. They don't worry about when a tenant moves out because there's another one, ready to move in, within two weeks.