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All Forum Posts by: Ben Joseph

Ben Joseph has started 2 posts and replied 12 times.

Wow, I just came back to look at this thread after a while. From what I'm reading from your varied posts, Big Bear STRs may have some trouble coming... If many really are empty and the local council is considering those rule changes.

Seems like the gold rush is over. Finding deals now might be very hard. I have no personal experience. Just my impression from this thread and others.

Originally posted by @Jason Kudo:

UPDATE ON TWENTYNINE PALMS VHR MORATORIUM VOTE:

NO MORATORIUM!!!

Nice. I'm imagining my mental state the night before the vote if I've just puchased an STR there. But as they say, no risk no reward.

Originally posted by @Dave Zarcone:

@Ben Joseph

Yes, there are plenty of restrictions in Palm Springs. I often see units on AirBnb with a 2 night minimum and they're almost booked solid... Pretty clear they are operating without a permit... Who knows how long until they get busted.

I use a combination of 4 night and 5 night minimum depending on how far out the reservation is.

Yes, you can only benefit from one STR property in PS. Meaning, you can't be on the deed to multiple houses with STR permits. Only one STR per owner. We even thought about buying two homes with one in my name and one in my wife's name but that doesn't work in California. So we're looking elsewhere

 I see so many Airbnbs that are available for short stay in areas where STRs are completely banned. I don't think I could sleep at night if I was running under the radar like that. Prefer to get permitted and follow the rules.

I'm surprised that a wife/husband team can't own one each in their own names. The one STR per person limit is in some ways a good thing I think - I can see it might help to prevent crazy increases in real estate prices.

Originally posted by @Dave Zarcone:

Hi all, thought I'd chime in since I love this thread. I sat on the sidelines for years analyzing properties all over while never finding the "right" deal. Looking back, many of those properties would have been great investments in one way or another and I'd be much further along in my RE portfolio if I just took action. But last year I finally pulled the trigger on a house in PS to rent as a STR.

A few others mentioned, but with STR properties I could easily have paid well over asking and this property would still cash flow. Obviously, each market is different, but the desert is a huge tourist destination.

Now I'm looking for a second. Either another in the desert or up in Big Bear. Do any of you experts in these locations have recommendations for a good desert city other than PS, or neighborhoods in Big Bear that are highly sought after on AirBnb/Vrbo/etc. and aren't already dense with STR competition?

Desert cities have lots of restrictions, moratoriums on new permits, or straight out bans in them altogether... 

And I've toured so many BB/Arrowhead homes, scoured AirBnb properties online to see their calendar's occupancy (and it looks like most primarily rent on weekends, while my PS property rents every day of the week). So I'm not as confident about BB and seeking expert advice from you all!

Thanks all!

I'm in the "sitting-on-the-sidelines" phase right now.

I did notice that Palm Springs seems to have two important limits on non-owner occupied STRs (if I'm reading the ordinance right):

- You can't do more than 36 contracts in a year, and you can only have one STR there. Is that right? If you had new guests every 3-4 days you'd run out of contracts in no time..

I was also looking in Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory but the prospect of fires concerns me. Desert might be safer, although I don't know.


Originally posted by @Jason Kudo:
Originally posted by @Ben Joseph:
Originally posted by @John Negron:

Ditto what @Joe Homs said on those locations. I know several friends that bought in BB and are doing really well there, however prices have shot up there where it may not cashflow like a year ago. But Joshua Tree and surrounding areas like Pioneer Town work well. 

 Thank you. Yea, prices in Big Bear are looking unfavorable right now. I'll check out Pioneer Town as well!

Pioneertown is pricey. Properties there are often more expensive than luxury properties in JT. I'd look at 29 Palms, Wonder Valley, Landers, Johnson Valley, and Morongo Valley. 29 Palms had a vote on a STR moratorium on the 24th and it looks like they voted to review the proposal at the next meeting but on the 24th, 6 spoke in favor of a moratorium and 17 spoke against the moratorium.

Thank you for the tips. I'll check out the numbers in those places too. What you said about the moratorium vote reminded me of the risks of buying Airbnbs. If you buy one in an area where only short term renting can make a good ROI, then you are dead in the water if the local area votes to ban them! Scary stuff.

Originally posted by @John D.:

I have large pool homes in cities surrounding Palm Springs, in inland San Diego County, and Lake Havasu that all do well.  All of these markets are likely striking distance if you want to be within a half a days drive or so.

 Thank you and some interesting places to have a look at. Are your homes Airbnbs? I guess once you have more than a couple, you might need a manager to run things. I'm hoping to manage first one at least myself to increase profit.

Originally posted by @John Negron:

Ditto what @Joe Homs said on those locations. I know several friends that bought in BB and are doing really well there, however prices have shot up there where it may not cashflow like a year ago. But Joshua Tree and surrounding areas like Pioneer Town work well. 

 Thank you. Yea, prices in Big Bear are looking unfavorable right now. I'll check out Pioneer Town as well!

Originally posted by @Jason Bott:

@Ben Joseph the proper policy is you need is a Non Owner Occupied Rental Dwelling policy, commonly know as a Landlord policy.

You are correct in a Rental Dwelling policy will usually have Liability as part of the policy. If you want higher Liability limits, then you would by an Umbrella.

Thank you very much - good to have confirmation I'd understood everything correctly, as it's our first time with this.

Time to start getting quotes for a policy...

Originally posted by @Scott M.:

My point about the lease for the parents was related to the insurance.  They may need one to get renters insurance.  And yes, the mortgage co would require the brother to get the insurance and then name them and your sister so you are correct that is the way it goes.  

Don't forget liability along the way : ) 

Oh right, I understand now about the lease for the parents. Thank you for that.

I'm a little confused on the last bit you mentinoed about liability:

I thought that landlord (rental dwelling) insurance is itself the liability insurance. And then we add umbrella insurance on top of that, primarily to increase the landlord insurance's limits. Is that not correct?

I've spent some time researching this and it seems very difficult and saturated. A lot of cities in Orange County have outright banned STRs, and ones that haven't seem to have wait lists to get approved.

Buying an STR is something I'd really like to do. I have the time, I'm good with people and I would really enjoy helping visitors with their stay and getting the most out of it.

The trouble is that it would of course have to be close enough to where we are in South CA, or I wouldn't be able to go and help / check in / work on it.

Big Bear Lake is one I've seen but it's just a bit too far to be practical. I was looking at the cities around Disneyland and it seems like there are a lot of illegal airbnbs (how do they get away with that!).

What are everyone's thoughts on this?