All Forum Posts by: Blaine Alger

@Bill B.

From what I have read, some hosts do list their rental on both platforms but in reality each app is targeting a different audience. 

People on hipcamp are looking to get out of the city and get outside. So alot of the properties are a little more rustic and might not have the same amenities (toilet,WiFi, water) as a property you find on Airbnb. This being the case, Hipcampers expect less and are less high maintnce when compared to a guest of an Airbnb.

@Mason Hickman 

I have been doing a lot of research trying to see if any actual investors have used it so I can get a better idea for what the numbers look like but so far I have only been able to find info regarding host revenue just from the website. They offer a cool tool that you can use to get an estimate for how much your property can make based on your zip code, size of property and accommodations but i am not sure how accurate it is. I might just send them an email and see if they have any other information. 

Here is some links to the site with the tool used to get the estimate and also another resource from the FAQ page:

https://www.hipcamp.com/host/how-much-money

https://support.hipcamp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025121411-How-much-money-can-I-make-

I stumbled across this company the other day and it really got me thinking of the possibilities. Hipcamp is a platform that helps campers discover and book unique camping experiences on public and private land across all 50 states. They have been dubbed the Airbnb of camping but it is not so much for your typical vacation rental. It is geared towards camping, glamping and hook ups for RVs. As of now Hipcamp has 3 million users and over 300,000 camping sites throughout the country. They also completed a 25 million series B funding in summer of 2019 that values the company at 127 million, which is a good signal for expansion.

What appeals to me about this model, is you can go buy a couple acres of land ( Hipcamp suggest a 2 acre minimum), make some minor infrastructure upgrades and then build a couple A-frame tiny cabins, some yurts or simply just a clearing that would allow for someone to pitch a tent. This would be a low capital investment and would not be as management intensify.

I’m curious to see if anyone else has had any thoughts about using Hipcamp for investment purposes?

P.S.- Here is a link to the website: https://www.hipcamp.com

Thanks for the input Marques, one of the few fans of Tenant Cloud so far, haha.

The instant payment option is a big plus in my eyes, I know that Cozy does not offer that.

Have you ever had any difficulties with tenants using the platform? That seems to be one of the complaints that I have heard from other investors.

@Ean Bass

That does indeed look like a good deal from the description. However it is important to note that the real estate agent wrote that description and it is their job to make it look like a good deal. I am not saying that the agent is lying about the property generating 33k a year but I would definitely be skeptical and double check the market rents. 

Just as @Joe Villeneuve mentioned, properties with manufactured homes do not fall under the same financing category has SFHs. I would say that this property's financing might be more similar to financing a mobile home park and there are additional parameters that lenders look for in order to finance a mobile home park. Now with that being said, I would not go as far to say it is impossible. You can always check out local community banks, credit unions, or even try owner financing. Just know that to get a loan for a property like this might be substantial more difficult compared to a traditional property.

Lastly I saw that you noticed the days on market, which is a good thing to look at. One side of the argument might suggest that this is a bad deal and thats why it has be on the market for 200 days. However you could also say that since it has been on the market for so long, the seller might be more motivated and you could get a large discount on the purchase price.

I have been using Whitepages Premium for about 6 months now, and overall it has been very good to me. I call on about 200-300 properties a month and use the reverse address search to get the information I need to get in contact with the owner.  

My complaint is that sometimes it will list 10 different numbers for one person and you will have to call through multiple disconnected numbers or just outright wrong numbers in order to get in contact with the right person. Eventually you will get in contact with the owner, but it is just time consuming. My other complaint is that for my premium subscription of $20/month it only allows me to pull information on 200 people a month. After that I am cut off and forced to use other sites that aren't as accurate.

In conclusion, Whitepages is an effective tool for getting in contact with property owners but I am curious to see if anyone has alternative methods/websites that they use that are more effective and help address my complaints. 

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the suggestion Connie.

I have not heard of this product before but when I checked it out in the app store, it looked very user friendly. It's interesting that it also enables you to manage your personal fiancees  and invest.

I like the fact that you can also add multiple owners, I am not sure if the others do.

Dawn, that is a good point to make.

From what others have said, the website seems to translate over to your mobile device fairly easily. If by not having an app means they get to keep the service relatively free and continue to roll out new features, then I am all for it.

 @Andrew S.

Thanks for the tip, I will look in to it.