All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

You will almost always see a higher nightly rate on Airbnb than on Furnished Finder so I recommend you use both sources to price your property. When researching the competition, you must compare like to like properties. This is far more important than looking at averages. Location, property layout and amenities are the key to determining how well your property will rent out and for what price. Your achilles heel with that property is going to be the one bathroom for a 3-bedroom home. It's going to be difficult to rent it by the room if everyone has to share one bathroom, especially if they are strangers. This may impact your nightly rate.

When searching for cleaners, post your property on Turno. You'll get all kinds of responses to help you understand the average cost and you can then follow up by interviewing cleaners and asking for references. Local facebook groups for owners can be a good source, too. 

Quote from @Ned Marz:

Looking for an easy solution that allows for electronic tenant screening, lease signing, and document storage. I want to be able to send and receive customized docs and signatures in a secure and simple way for remote onboarding of tenants without ever having to wait for the mail or printing out multiple copies again.

Currently using Baselane for banking, rent collection, and bookkeeping but it falls short on the tenant record features at the moment.  Other platforms like RentRedi are so overloaded with features and require additional subscriptions that I gave up on it --- Baselane was simple as hell and did those things better IMO but is missing some core pieces.

What platforms do you love for the above items? Bonus points if it also is great for maintenance requests and managing current tenant communications. Main priority is the screening/lease/onboarding and the occasional letter I might want to store for recordkeeping.

Hi, Ned. I use a combination of Baselane for banking, bookkeeping and collecting rents and security deposits. I really love the feature that tracks tenant payments so I can see where in the process it is and know when to expect deposits. I use Avail for creating lease agreements and Keycheck for background checks. I tried using Turbo Tenant for leases but I just don't like it as much as Avail for this so I went back to Avail. I don't have a system for tenant maintenance requests. I just handle them directly via text from my guests. I do feel like this is a missing piece right now. There are platforms that combine a lot of these functions but most are more expensive than I need right now. I wish there was a one stop shop but I haven't found it yet. 

MTR and Section 8 are very different niches with little in common so it's very difficult to provide advice on your question. For example:

- Section 8 properties are usually in rougher areas. These do not make good sites for MTRs.

- Section 8 properties will be unfurnished. MTRs are always furnished. 

- MTR guests expect a hospitality experience, much like STR. This is not the case with LTR or Section 8 tenants.

- While self-managing either type of property is possible, if you hire out property management you'll pay a higher percentage for a skilled MTR manager than for someone to manage your Section 8 property.

- While MTRs can be any size property, the bedroom/bathroom count is really important, especially with larger properties. With Section 8, pricing is based on bedroom count only. It's not unusual to see 3/1 and 4/1 Section 8 properties but that single bathroom would not do well as an MTR.

Overall, I'd say location and the shape of the property is going to be your key driver and the factors that will make or break you in the MTR space so very carefully evaluate both before you make your decision. 

Congrats on your purchase and on getting started in MTRs! Your question is a broad one. One of the best things you can do is to network with other MTR investors and operators. It really is a different animal than either long term or short term rentals so it's best to seek advice from others with experience in this niche. Some of the biggest things to remember are that 1) it's a hospitality business. You have to treat your tenants like guests and provide them an excellent experience  2) competition is heating up so you have to bring your A game. Look at your competitors in your market to understand what you're competing against  3) if you're using Furnished Finder, understand that it's a lead gen funnel only and not an online booking site. You have to have a system set up for vetting guests, creating leases and collecting deposits and rents. You also have to actively pursue the leads on FF - it's fairly rare that they come to you directly. 

Best of luck to you!

Before you can decide you'll need to define your goals. Are you looking for cash flow to supplement your military retirement? Or are you looking for appreciation? These are usually the two sides of the coin people are solving for. Are you wanting to be very hands on or completely hands off? Are you willing and experienced enough to take on a rehab project or do you want something turnkey? Based on your goals, the amount of time you have to be involved and your risk tolerance, you can pick the strategy that suits it best. Get very familiar with underwriting deals. Don't wait until you're ready to buy to analyze deals. You want to get to the point where you can do a rough analysis off the top of your head and it takes a lot of experience to be able to do that. BP has some calculators you can use and there are other online tools, like DealCheck, for this purpose. There are also plenty of books on owning and managing rental properties, both LTR and STR and even a new book published by BP on midterm rentals. With today's interest rates, it's difficult to get an LTR to cash flow. STRs typically represent a higher/risk reward. It all just comes down to your goals and your risk tolerance. Net-net: define your goals, pick the strategy that fits your goals and then pick the market that supports your strategy. Good luck to you!

Quote from @Erin Babnik:

Can someone recommend a VERY simple app or software program for analysis and bookkeeping? Specifically, we have a commercial property in California that recently had a massive increase in the fire insurance premium. After years of sort of cruising on auto-pilot with a single tenant on a long-term lease, we figure it's time to assess the real value of this longtime family investment in case it might be time to sell. Is there an app for that?

I don't think there's a single app that will both run the numbers for you in terms of deal analysis as well as handle your bookkeeping for you. These are just very different functions. Perhaps what you're looking for regarding your current property is more of a bookkeeping platform so you can see where your expenses and revenue are coming from and going to. I used to use Quickbooks but it's expensive and is way overkill in my opinion. I switched to Baselane which is both a banking and bookkeeping platform that was specifically built by real estate investors FOR real estate investors. This means you get exactly the functionality that you need for your real estate business without a bunch of other stuff that just bogs you down and isn't helpful. I don't love bookkeeping but this has made it so much easier for me and if I can use it, anyone can. I also love that the banking features are tied in. It's seamless, makes tracking revenue and expenses very easily, provides me with bank account options for all of my properties as well as virtual credit cards AND a hefty interest rate on savings. I'm just finding myself using it more and more every day. It's free so I highly recommend you check it out.



I don't think there's a single app that will both run the numbers for you in terms of deal analysis as well as handle your bookkeeping for you. These are just very different functions. Perhaps what you're looking for regarding your current property is more of a bookkeeping platform so you can see where your expenses and revenue are coming from and going to. I used to use Quickbooks but it's expensive and is way overkill in my opinion. I switched to Baselane which is both a banking and bookkeeping platform that was specifically built by real estate investors FOR real estate investors. This means you get exactly the functionality that you need for your real estate business without a bunch of other stuff that just bogs you down and isn't helpful. I don't love bookkeeping but this has made it so much easier for me and if I can use it, anyone can. I also love that the banking features are tied in. It's seamless, makes tracking revenue and expenses very easily, provides me with bank account options for all of my properties as well as virtual credit cards AND a hefty interest rate on savings. I'm just finding myself using it more and more every day. It's free so I highly recommend you check it out.

I don't think you need one before you start buying investment real estate, but as soon as you do, you're absolutely going to want one who specifically has a real estate background. Most CPA will say they work with investors who own real estate all the time and that is probably technically true because so many people do have one or two properties, but that doesn't mean they treat their properties like investors, nor do those CPAs necessarily know how to take advantage of real estate tax rules. So find one who specifically works with real estate investors and can help you maximize your taxes.

Quote from @Trevor Davis:

Hi Jamie,

I'm glad to see another good review for Baselane, as I signed up for it this week.  It seems great, but I'm having some trouble getting started.

So far, my first tenant is having trouble getting payment set up.  She messaged me saying she is signed in, but needs me to change the "due date" to the 3rd because that is when she gets paid.  Is it true tenants can't pay beyond the due date?  I'm sure there's something not being understood between me and my tenant.  I'm a little frustrated because I can't see what the tenant sees on their end.

Any help would be appreciated!

 Trevor, you can adjust your due date in Baselane if you're inclined to let her pay on the 3rd, but make sure you have also adjusted the terms of your lease to reflect that. Baselane does have customer support and @Saad D., one of the creators, is active here and can probably assist you as well.

Quote from @Ka V.:

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

If you're interested in the MTR strategy, I invite you to participate in THE MTR Connect. It's a weekly virtual meetup for MTR investors. We meet every Friday at 9am PST. This could be a helpful group for you to network with and to ask questions and seek advice. If you're interested, just send me a DM and I'll send you the sign up information.

Thank you for the invitation to THE MTR Connect. It sounds like a fantastic opportunity to network and gain valuable insights.

 Go ahead and send me a message so I can get your email in order to send you the meeting invite link. 

Quote from @Nicole Heasley Beitenman:

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

How creative! Personally, I'm not willing to deal with the headache of constant switching, especially since my market allows me to flip to STR to fill awkward gaps. If I didn't get a switch initiated in time for an STR guest's arrival, I could put myself in hot water.

I wonder if this tactic could still work if you set rent at $2300 utilities included or $2000 with utilities billed separately through RentRedi/Tenant Cloud/Whatever You Use? Then they're still paying the bill but you don't have to deal with multiple account switches every year. That's how I billed my LTR tenants for utilities without actually putting the accounts in their names. Leases stated that rent payments were applied to utilities first and rent second.

 I think that is another great, creative solution, Nicole. I do like it for the reason you stated: not having to switch accounts. To be clear, I only offer that they put the utilities in their name for leases of six months or longer. Switching is a hassle for them or for me. I do tend to look at each situation individually and I do this based on my experience so it might be a little harder for someone new to do. For example, with a single travel nurse I don't worry much about utility usage. She's rarely there and when she is, she's mostly sleeping. These guests never have high utility bills in my experience. A travel nurse with a digital nomad fiancee who is there all the time - different story. A family - yet a different story all together. There's just really no one size fits all and a lot of it is trial and error.