All Forum Posts by: Brandon West

I am looking for a good Representative in Cincinnati anybody have a good recommendation.

Hello, I am a commercial pilot actively involved in real estate. I have an idea that I am pursuing that I need some advice on. 

My goal. 

To develop a system that will enable me to manage multiple properties always working towards a more automated and hands off end goal. My website which will be my product/system will allow me to work closely with home owners or landlords ensuring a premium rent for a shared responsibility in the success of the business.

The business.

Commuting pilots frequently stay in houses (Crash Pads) that resemble at face value that of a hostel. The owner/operator rents out multiple beds per room in a house. Some houses can even hold up to 50 pilots. They offer hot beds(rotating bunks) or cold beds (yours for the month), private or shared rooms. Most of the beds are rented out by the month or sometimes by the night or even week. 

This business has a high turnover rate due to the fact that pilots are usually in these locations which are junior bases for a short amount of time 1-6 months before they move on and are able to hold new locations. 

Houses need to be maintained at the operators cost. Regular professional cleaning, landscaping, utilities, cable, wifi all need to be paid by the operator. 

Major issues include zoning regulations and how many people can legally occupy a space in each municipality. Booking, payment processing and communication. 

What I Need

Advice on navigating zoning regulations from people who are familiar with these situations or operating hostels. 

Advice on seeking out custom web designers who could handle this kind of project. 

Advice on anything that might help. 

Thank You @Russell Brazil. Ill just have to keep knocking on their door. Its funny how happy and enthusiastic they were when they thought I was interested in refinancing but when I decided that it was not worth refinancing and I was just interested in dropping the PMI, communication shut down.

Hey there, I am not a tax professional and don't quite have the answer you're looking for. However, when going forward and looking for new financing if you have not reported the income from the other side in the bank willhold the whole mortgage against your disposable income intern decreasing the amount they think that you can afford to pay. I bought a duplex two years ago and lived in half of it for a year. While I was living there my tax consultant advise me to report that income and minimize expenses.

Hey there, congratulations on the new purchase. I also recently just purchased a house that I am renting out. Unlike you I bought it as an investment property and started renting it out from the beginning. I bought the house as tenants in common with my sister with the goal of moving it into an LLC at a later date. I am currently having issues with the bank not allowing me to transfer it in to the nameof the LLC without refinancing. I did however start a bank account in the name of the LLC and the LLC is running the financials of the property. I'm interested to see if anybody has any advice on the subject thanks for bringing it up.

I am not currently in the Des Moines area however I am interested in AirBnB style housing as well. What kind of legal issues are there with doing short term rentals in your area? What kind of returns do you see yourself getting for the kind of properties your looking for? What are the kinds of properties your looking for? What added incentive do you offer people willing to lease their houses out for this type of endeavor? These are just a few questions I would like to know before I offered my house up for an AirBnB.

I love this type of rental and am glad to see so much interest in it. I hope you the best!

Great post, I found great value in your thoughts, Thank You.

Something to add. With affordable housing becoming such an issue, many young people are having a hard time buying their own houses and are in a different mindset where renting is more attractive. With many young adults coming out of college with loads of student debt and a consumer based lifestyle they tend to find more value in renting and staying footloose and fancy free. This is great, for landlords. However times are changing and these young adults and professionals are willing to accept different lifestyles and living situations. I think one of the biggest value adds that can be done besides the obvious ones is to be creative in developing living situations to maximize your rent (legally). I have seen couples willing to share 2 bedroom houses. Young professionals living in dorm style housing renting out individual beds. All of these situations are not the normal way people would go about renting out their properties, however as the mindset of new generations change so does the housing market. 

Just something to think about. 

Hello, I currently have 2 properties that were bought with less than 20% LTV with traditional financing. With current appreciation and the value add that I have done on them I am confident that I am now above 25% LTV. I know that this is threshold for dropping PMI but that banks have not been to eager to help me out.

Does anybody have any advice on how to get rid of this PMI without having to refinance. My current rates are as good as I am going to get.

I think that is a great idea! I also think you could make a decent return if the deal is worked out correctly. 

I would say your first step is to "run the numbers" 

So your thought is to buy a building that is currently a hotel? How many rooms?

What will the expenses look like? If you have a place in mind maybe you could see their current expenses. 

What would the cost of renovating the rooms into what you would want. I am not sure what the law is on renting out a room with no kitchen for a long term rental. Maybe there is no problem at all. You will definetly have the costs of beds, mini-fridge, microwaves and other furnishings. 

Will you provide a kitchen area? Maybe you could make a common area for the kitchen. 

How will you manage this place will you do it yourself or have an employee. 

What will be the price you set for these rooms? 

Could this possibly be a section 8 deal?

I think these are important questions to figure out while you are calculating whether or not this is a viable business. I think that there is an increasing need for places like this nowadays and I am very excited to see where this idea takes you. Hopefully this helped.

Hey just wanted to give you guys an update. It has been 9 months since I started my CrashPad.

I did the due diligence and found an area where everything would be legal as far as having that many people living in one place. It took some digging but I felt much better about following the rules as opposed to taking the chance of getting shut down in the future. I found my target area and blanket emailed what my plans were to prospective landlords. Some where less than excited about the idea however I did find one person in a perfect area that was interested. After letting him know I was a fellow landlord that knew what a landlord was looking for in prospective tenants and how my situation would actually be much better for the overall care of his house he was on board. 

@Patrick Diamond hit many of these issues right on the head and I really appreciate the advice. I made the initial investment of around 5000 to furnish the whole house and get it ready. For the first 6 months I was at max capacity of  9 people in the house all paying 275 a month. I quickly recouped my initial investment and this has now been one of my best earners. I have it professionally cleaned twice a month and the yard maintenance taken care of. Even after all my expenses power, internet, water it is still well in the black. My landlord loves it because usually there is always at least one person there so nothing is going to happen while someone is gone. Also, due to the transient nature of the tenants wear and tear is a minimum and the property looks just as good as the day we moved in. 

I am looking now to scale this to a new level and move to different locations around the US. Thank you for your advice and support.