All Forum Posts by: Avery Carl

I'd much prefer to have a few higher cash flowing properties than a ton of below average cash flowing properties.  Work smart, not hard!  Especially if you don't have a lot of capital to spend on a lot of properties right now. Shoot for quality. And by quality I mean highest cash flow. If a lower income area brings higher cash flow than a higher income area, I would buy the lower income area properties all day.

The hardest thing for us has been to learn that you just can't please everyone. We will get 10 5 star reviews in a row and then someone will give us 2 stars because they had to store some of their cans from the grocery store on the counter because there wasn't enough room in the cabinets for all their cans (This really happened. That really ruined your vacation?).

@Mark S. totally agree! Other hosts have been some of our most high maintenance guests.

@Susan Maneck See? I don't know anything about it haha.

I checked out a few episodes. I like the idea but they make the STR idea more of a vanity project than about ROI...which actually just triggered my anxiety because I kept wanting to yell "IS THE INCREASE IN RENT PRICE GOING TO BE PROPORTIONAL TO THE COST OF THAT BATHROOM UPGRADE?! WHY ARE THEY NOT ASKING THESE QUESTIONS?!" Overall fairly entertaining though!

You'll obviously need to make sure you have an inspection contingency, however the stipulation about not being allowed to view inside until under contract is fairly common in one of my markets. In this situation, it really doesn't matter what offer you come in with. If it were me, I would shoot for a 5-10% discount on the front end but make VERY CLEAR that for that number you are expecting it to be turnkey. Then get in there during the inspection and hit em with the Hein to re-negotiate the price down as far as you can.

@Pat Heidingsfelder Starkville!

I grew up in Mississippi. You're going to have a difficult time finding cash-flowing properties in "good" school districts, as there aren't very many good school districts.  Are you ok with low income? Mississippi presents some great opportunities there if you have any interest in going that route. Memphis is right on the TN/MS state line, and a lot of the Memphis suburbs are actually in Mississippi, so those towns like Olive Branch and Hernando might be great options.

About half of my portfolio are short term rentals in the Smoky Mountain area of TN. It's not a great place for BRRR's necessarily as it's a pretty sought after STR market and those deals are a little harder to come by, but our returns have been great.

@Josh Feit knows a ton about Atlanta.

@Christian Brown You have piqued my interest. Would love to hear some more about the coast.

@Susan Maneck I have read several of your posts over the past few weeks about Jackson. The Fondren area seems to be pretty up and coming, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on investing for buy and hold there, and your Jackson experience in general.

Hey Ashley!  One thing I want to mention in reference to your sling tv idea. It's great in theory as far as operating expenses are concerned to provide only streaming services such as netflix and slingTV. However, many renters are of the non-technologically savvy generation, and they will SHUT DOWN at the prospect of having to deal only in streaming services, which will be reflected in your reviews, as well as in the amount of time you have to spend answering their questions on how to work things when they get there.  If it were me, I would go ahead and get cable, as annoying as all the major cable companies can be.

Go ahead and do it! My husband and I have a motto "Asses in the seats!" Better to have an *** in that seat for a shorter term rather than no rental income at all. Maybe they will end up staying longer, or at least until it's warmer and a better season to get it rented longer term.

Check out a book called "Pumpkin Plan" (kinda stupid name I know). The premise is this: having a large number of clients who add little value hurts your productivity and mental health (now matter how much collective revenue they are bringing in). While a smaller number of great clients boosts productivity and mental health, and as a result your business will make more money.  Work smart not hard!

Everyone has great suggestions here. I like the weighting the more responsive client approach.  But I am also a big proponent of "do their job for them." Start doing her job for her and start charging her for it.

Last, it's my philosophy that if you are continually dreading interaction with a client or their property, and it's causing you enough stress to post about it, it might be time to cut ties and devote that brain space to your other clients. As much as we'd like to think we can make things work with everyone, it's just not possible. Good luck!