All Forum Posts by: Brian Eilering

Thank you @Brian Liscio for your information.  From the way I am reading your reply, even when you have students/tenants in place, you will arrange for showings?

I realize this is an older thread but it has some good points in it. After owning several duplexes and SFH in a few different markets, my wife and I recently purchased a home in a college town.

We are now looking to lease it out for next school year. I have a good process in place for our SFH's but was wondering if any of you have a process for students. I feel like my process for an SFH would not be near as efficient.

Example:

When posting a home, I have all of my potential SFH tenants drive by the home and fill out a brief questionnaire eliminating people simply trying to waste my time.

In the questionnaire, I ask the basics - How many will live in the home, general income level, range of credit score, pets, etc.

I guess I was curious, do any of you have a similar questionnaire for the college kids?  It seems it could be tailored more for the target market.

Additionally, how do you handle tours of the home?  Do you have a virtual tour only?

Thanks!

@Thomas S.

@Brian Liscio

@Carson Sweezy

There are some tough areas for sure.  The opportunities are everywhere, it all depends on what your goal is.

I feel like August sort of offers something for everyone with the various opportunities. 

The closer you get to downtown the more opportunity you will see.

The downtown area is a block by block proposition. There are areas that are slow to welcome the re-vitalization but I think are ripe for opportunity. When I first started going to Augusta a couple of years ago, I was hesitant to even drive through the "Laney Walker" area. That is now changing. The area is still very inexpensive but on the slow rise. You can find dozens of home ranging from $5K-$30K listed on the MLS.

There are plenty of areas around the medical district still needing attention.  Harder to find but still listed homes starting in the $40K range for a single family.  I think the largest opportunity is here.  While there are not that many listed, there are a lot of dilapidated homes.  You may have to get a touch more creative with finding the deal (because they are not listed) but there are plenty to be had.  The homes need attention, the owners just need to know it's time to sell.

As you drive out of downtown August to the east, this area is also slowly developing.  There are a lot of rough spots so you have to be willing to take the good with the bad but the growth is there.

The opportunities are there, once you drive the area and get a feel for it, you can start attacking it.  

Good luck, it's a great market for investing.  There are TONS of flips out there to be had.  You can drive down various streets and find as many as you would like to have.  As strong as the market is, the deals are plentiful.  I feel like the more investors that come into Augusta, the stronger the market will become improving the area and making it overall more desirable.

I think it's a win/win.

@Winn Merwin , I thought we were going to keep Augusta our little secret?  

It's a great market for rentals.  There are quite a few economic engines Winn referred to.  Prices are still fair allowing for relatively easy entry into the market.  

We have a few properties in the area and would like to add at lease one more.  Depending on what your strategy is, you can look in Grovetown for the military folks.  You can be in the downtown area with a lot of cyber growth coming.  Evans is more family friendly with better schools and priced a bit higher.  Lastly, you can look in the areas surrounding the schools/hospitals attracting students/medical professionals.

There are several options depending on what long term strategy you are trying to accoomplish.

Good luck!

Hey @Winn Merwin , 

Yes, there is a lot more time associated with managing it though the benefits seem to be outweighing the pains associated with it.  At first, I told myself the daily work was simply too much to keep up with.  Now that we are a couple of months into it, I have changed my stance.

1.  Whot takes the emails?  All of the correspondence is handled through the Airbnb app.  I handle them all as they come in.  So far, I am keeping up.  Adding another two units to Airbnb should still be manageable with a full time job.

2.  Who does the cleaning/turnover?  I have a local guy I have met handling it all for me.  He has been reliable and I simply pay him through Venmo.  Checkout is at 11:00.  He shows up at 11:00 and is out by 1:00 with check in at 3:00.

3.  What systems do I have in place?  We use a digital keypad so guests check themselves in at their leisure.  With the maintenance guy in place and guests checking themselves in, that's about it.

Most do not know, I live in a suburb north of Atlanta.  Augusta is about a three hour drive for us.  I go to Sam's/Coscto and purchase things in bulk.  I bring most everything we need when I come into town.  For the other items, I simply order them off of Amazon and send them to my maintenance/cleaning guy.  He brings them to our cottage when he goes to clean.  

Is it more of a headache?  At times, yes.  As with anything, headaches come.  Most of the time, the headaches are associated with first time users not understanding how Airbnb works.  The seasoned users far outweigh the new users.  The good news is, Airbnb offers really good support, especially for the hosts.  Any issue I may have had, someone from their support team has been more than willing to offer assistance.

Things I like:  

Get paid guaranteed through Airbnb.  There isn't any waiting for a tenant to give me an excuse as to why they are late.  It is simply paid and paid every time.

No evictions.  The people stay their stay, it's paid, and they are gone.  I am not worried about time and money consuming evictions.

High turnover means we see our property constantly.  Each guest checks in/checks out and our maintenance/cleaning guy is there.  He tells me what he sees, doesn't see, and anything noteworthy.  Takes pictures as needed and he's on his way.  We have eyes on the property once every few days.  I love that feeling.

Higher ROI.  We are able to charge a much higher rate than a long term tenant.  As previously mentioned, the going rate for our unit would be about $700-$725/month for a long term tenant.  With the short term tenant, we use a base of $65/night and adjust it from there.  For the first two full months (April and May), we have averaged $2000/month.  More than double what a long terms tenant would have been.

What I don't like:

More responsibilities.  I had to put all of the utilities back in my name.  I now pay water, electric, internet, and lawn care.  While my expenses are higher each month, the return is more than making up for it.

Adjusting the pricing.  If you simply set your pricing and walk away, you might be missing out on some opportunities.  I adjust my pricing constantly.  Example:  I had a three day opening this month.  I chose to drop my price to $50/night for that duration BUT I also adjusted it to a three day minimum stay (an additional $150 for May when it would have otherwise been vacant).  It worked, it got booked and now May is closer to 90% booked than 80%.

I am sure I have left some things out, please let me know if there are further questions.  I am glad to answer them.  

I thought I would update this thread with some updates on what has taken place with our cottage.  

It took longer than anticipated to complete the project for various reasons, many were contractor related.

We ended up deciding to get it on Airbnb.  Our goal was to get it online before Masters Week 2019 rolled around.  We wanted a couple of reviews in the hopper before Masters Week.  It was a success.  I reduced my pricing, allowed one-day stays, and didn't charge a cleaning fee.   

The cottage was quickly booked for many nights leading up to Masters Week resulting in several 5-star reviews.  As a result, we ended up getting booked for six of the seven nights for Masters Week.  That one week alone paid for 1/3 of the furnishings needed for getting the cottage Airbnb ready.

Since then, we have been 80% booked with two confirmed 30+ day stays.  While the longer stays are discounted, we are clearing more for our 500 SF cottage monthly than our 1500 SF house which has full-time tenants in place.

If we were to rent out the cottage as a full-time annual rental, we would expect $700/month.  As an Airbnb, we are averaging $1200/month.   So far so good.

Since then, we have purchased two more units in the Augusta area.  Both are duplexes.  We will definitely be putting one of them on Airbnb.  It is a cute home which should draw a lot of attention.   The other duplex may be more suited for full-time annual tenants simply due to the location and it isn't quite as cute as the other.

@Kevin Rhoden

@Kevin Rhoden

@Kevin Rhodensorry for the delayed response, I am sure you have since answered your question but I would be more than willing to share the theory with you.  Please feel free to DM me.

Welcome aboard @Thomas Brittingham

I live in Atlanta but do have a rental in Augusta.  It's a great market to invest in.  Home prices remain low and rent demands remain strong.  Good luck!

@Joel C. Do you have any recommendations?  I have a 500 square foot cottage that needs to be renovated top to bottom and inside/out.

Any ideas you have I am willing to listen.