All Forum Posts by: Mary Beth Blackwell

Hi Shane,

Congrats on the new addition to your family!

I'm an investor agent in the St Pete area and work with out-of-state buyers clients with the same questions - how, where and can I STR in St. Pete. Metrics and local zoning rules and regulation awareness is the key.

I also own a small STR property management company and own two STRs out of town that I operate remotely. STR can be exciting from many angles - Cash Flow, Appreciation, and best of all.. having a place to visit while renters pay down your mortgage (even near the beach!).

In terms of STRing in St Pete. It can be done. You just need to be aware of the zoning rules and regulations for municipalities in Pinellas County. There are 27 various municipalities. The city has an excel sheet listing each muni’s code. If I could attach it here, I would but I will DM you the file so you can take a look.

As far as an agent, if you would like assistance while you're here, feel free to reach out. I'm happy to meet in person. 
If you just need recommendations for where to go, things to do, places to eat I'm more than happy to share tips.

...While you're here Please visit downtown and of course, the beaches...

Downtown is small and flourishing area with many places to go and eat that are highly walkable. (the Pier or Vinoy Park.. watch dolphin swimming in the bay while running/walking or just hanging out in a hammock between palm trees) . You will not regret going!!

Central Ave has a number of unique, local restaurants and drink spots (laundromat speakeasy with bottomless mimosas and Cuban food on Sundays).

Good luck!

Mary Beth

Hi @Fiona Dupin

I would be happy to help you out or point you in the right direction.

I’m an investor-friendly agent in the St. Pete/Tampa market at Copeland Morgan. We are a brokerage and a LTR property management company with over 1300 rentals under management in the Tampa Bay Area. 

If you are looking to STR, I own and operate a hyper local property management company for STRs called, Blackwell STR.
I’ve managed for over 3yrs and a 6x Airbnb Superhost.

Hi Pat,

It sounds like you're open to different property types and strategies.. Single family or house hack. It just depends on defining.. What is the best strategy for you in the short-term to reach long-term goals? 

This is a really good position to be in because it's really up to you! 

Strategy or goal could be anything like.. Do you want to house hack and ramp up to property #2 and scale quickly or does timing really matter? 

Size of property (# of units) or condition (rehab) and pure monthly cash flow may take priority if scaling in a short amount of time is important. If scaling isn't the highest priority, there is more flexibility in the criteria that meets your strategy -- maybe a duplex in a location that is more ideal for you personally and is a base hit property investment that gets you to property #3 and beyond over time. 

Not sure if you have looked into lending or funding just yet, but if you haven't it would be a good next step by answering 'What is my buying power?'. Answering this question will help you hone in on the best property type that meets your investment goals and personal living arrangement preference -- duplex, tri or even a SFH w/ guest house or in-law suite.

If you are looking to put together a good strategy, a good way to get there is by defining the criteria you have for an investment property. You may have already done this, but if you haven't and looking for ideas, criteria could be anything like:

Location |Property type (SFH, Multi, Etc) | Rental type (LTR or STR) | Property Class (A,B,C,D) | Property condition (Turnkey, Rehab) | Return Metrics (CoC, Pure Cash Flow, and more)

The above is the baseline criteria I run my investor clients through when beginning a property search. 

Once the strategy is in place, we run properties through the criteria and place offers and negotiate on the best prospects in the market.

Good Luck!

Hi @Rodney Menendez Yes, St. Pete as whole has mixed regulations. It really depends on the municipality we're talking about. 

St. Pete has 37 different municipalities and each defines or looks at STRing rules a little differently. By and large, most allow STRs without minimum stay requirements or the need to apply for a license. There are a few like Madeira Beach that require a 30/night minimum stay and owners register with the city. We keep a list of regulations by city as reference. 

Sarasota is a little outside of my market, so I'm not up to speed on the latest. In May, I read something about the city passed an ordinance that will place a cap limit on the number of guests allowed in the homes to 10 people in single-family districts and 12 people in multi-family districts. It would also require owners to register their properties with the city. 

@Cassidy Burns the St. Pete and Tampa, FL area is popular with investors looking to STR.

Travelers coming to the area are a good mix of vacationers and business travelers. The sports teams draw in a nice out-of-town crowd for Bucs, Rays and Lightning games.   

Bonus....

(St. Pete Beach was voted TripAdvisor's No. 1 Beach in the U.S.) 

(Corporate HQ's moving to the St. Pete area are picking up.. most recently.. Footlocker and Cathy Wood's Ark Investments)
 

@Jana Crum I began STRing 3yrs ago. Here are my personal listings if would like to take a look..

Airbnb -- Jacksonville, FL

Airbnb -- Winston-Salem, NC

Hi Gloria,

Have you seen these resources...?

Book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens

BP Blog/Podcast for Teens: How to be a Teenage Investor

Another possibility is a part-time job working for a local property management/vacation rental/real estate brokerage. It's a hands on learning experience where they can also earn some extra cash.

Hi Jenea,

It sounds like you’ve done your research running the numbers for the investment properties. Good for you!

I'm a realtor, investor and STR owner/manager/operator. I live in St Pete, FL and manage my STRs remotely from my phone. If you need any support once you've secured your properties and running them as STRs, I'm happy to assist. I also see you may look into Florida at some point for another investment. I'm building out a portfolio of investments in the state and would be open to helping you find a property in St. Pete/Tampa or Jacksonville… or partner on a deal.

I use Yale SL digital lock for all of my properties and Nest.

Pros for Yale are: 

You can add unique codes on the fly from your phone with an app. I create codes using the last four digits of the guest’s phone number so it’s easy for to remember and it adds an element of safety to your property so you don’t have the same few codes floating around. I can be 5 steps away from the property or 5,000mi away and set up codes seamlessly within 5mins for last minute reservations. The top turnaround speed from reservation request to check-in set-up was 12mins. This was timed from guest inquiry, setting up lock codes, sending out pre-stay and the guests having all info needed for check-in. The efficiency allows me to have more time back in my day!

You can also open the lock remotely from the app on demand. It takes about 2 seconds.

The face of the lock lights up and this has been very helpful when guest check-in after dark. 

Pros for Nest..

I like it because I can manage them anywhere from my phone and customer support is great in the event you need them. 

I set-up a temperature range as a governor for guests that limits jacking up the heat during winter months or dropping real low during summer. It’s a $ saver and.. if guests need help, you can log right into the app right away and make adjustments on the fly. Great investment that pays for itself.

My biggest mistake.. and learning experience has been very simple - tech and systems automation.

I have remotely managed my personal Airbnb's for 2yrs from my phone and spend a lot of time traveling. 

What I learned the hard way is how to prevent a house party using tech. I use Ring as the security system for my properties and I have it set-up to alert my phone when there is high traffic coming onto the property. However, during one guest experience this system failed me. I overlooked a very small but large issue - the front door Ring would randomly turn off!!  I had no idea why but thought, oh it will turn back on.. it's no big deal! I was wrong. Not long after I noticed this issue, a guest checking-in for a wedding actually checked in to host a 30th birthday party with 30 of her closest friends - yikes! And you know what, I had no idea this was going on because the front door Ring that day was turned off! Had it been on, I would have caught the activity right away and saved myself over a $1k in damages. The side learning is Airbnb's host guarantee only covers your claim if it's reported and all itemized damages are sent to Airbnb before the next guest checks-in. Even if there is documentation with pictures and video. I had a same-day check-in the day of the party check-out. I had the cleaning team focus on turning the house so we could take care of the next incoming guest and not cancel their reservation due to the house being a wreck. This was our #1 priority before submitting the claim. By salvaging the next reservation, it cost me $1k in damages because the claim was submitted too late. 

What I learned is... just call an electrician to check out what's going on! I did this after the fact and learned the Ring was turning on and off with the flip of a light switch. It was a simple fix that cost roughly $100 to solve. Lesson learned :)

The second learning is, write down your systems and automate it! 

For example... I have pre-stay information, house guides and local restaurant/things-to-do lists that I packaged up and email out to each guest. This used to be sent as a one-off in Airbnb's messenger. However, in an Airbnb message, posts are unformatted and this jumbled up the content and made it hard to read. I now place all this info into separate PDF's and send it directly to each guest. It's comes across as a more personalized note and also saves a ton of time answering the same questions over and over. Plus, guests mention it in the reviews. It's my #1 tip for improving the guest experience!