All Forum Posts by: Carlos H DeOliveira

@Aaron Williamson - You should reach out to a short term full service property management company, then find yourself a property and have them manage for you so you can be hands off, it will diminish your returns as you will have to pay them but you will be hands off.

If your goal is to be a silent investor, provide finance and be a passive investor, why do you want to specifically be in the STR business? Do you expect returns to be better than rentals?

@Ronnie Ho - If you are buying a short term rental, you can try to find that same property on Airbnb/VRBO website. I usually find the property on Airbnb, sometimes there are more pictures on the Airbnb listing and you can read what guests are saying about the property.

It's tough to buy a fully furnished home remotely, just assume a few things will go wrong and you will have small repairs.

Right now properties look way overpriced, even when you pull comps that are just 3 months old, the prices are 20% apart. I've been looking in the same area, I already have a few but decided to wait until September when things slow down and more rentals will be put on the market.

@Timothy Carey

You can cashflow with a rent to value below 1%, also keep in mind that 1% is just a general rule it doesn't take property taxes, HOA fees, insurane and etc into account, every market is different

Just make sure that on your proforma, you are comfortable with the vacancy estimates, cap ex estimates, repair estimates and after all that if you are still cashflowing even though you are not at 1%. Who cares?

@Mani Lubana  - Short term rental is not permitted in Orlando, FL unless the owner of the property is on premise. A lot of HOAs are updating their lease policy to prohibit the renting of rooms. Popular short term rental areas near Orlando are Davenport and Kissimmee.

I'm constantly looking for long term and short term investments in the Orlando area, but if I was to try to explain why more investors are not coming to Orlando I would say is because prices have creeped up a lot lately and although rents have come up, it hasn't kept up with appreciation so cashflow investors end up opting for other markets.

From a rent to value perspective, Orlando is not that attractive.

 I think Luke gave you a very good description of what type of experience you will have. I have a few short term rentals in Florida. Here are some additional points worth noting.

If you are looking to keep your properties rented all the time with no gaps, you will need Airbnb, sometimes I have a Tuesday and Wednesday open on my calendar, and 90% of the time I can get a 2 night booking on Airbnb and I almost never get short stays from VRBO.

In my opinion you have to use Airbnb/VRBO and your own website for returning guests. VRBO policies are better for hosts, reviews aren't as important and overall I've had a better experience with the guests. Airbnb focuses on the guests, you will almost never win a dispute. Last year during the pandemic Airbnb overrode hosts policy and allowed guests to get 100% refunds. VRBO tried to find a win/win approach.

VRBO charges you an annual fee, or you have to pay a % of every booking to them, Airbnb charges the guest ( i think this depends on your settings/location)

I try to keep a 50/50 balance between VRBO and Airbnb, but It's more like 70% Airbnb and 30% VRBO, because of short stays and international travel. in 2019 most of my VRBO bookings were from families from the UK and they used VRBO, in 2021 most of my guests are domestic and use Airbnb.

There is really no benefit for you to put all of your eggs into one basket.

@Maribel Gonzalez

try to look for Communities with minimal amenities.

My houses are at Lake Wilson, no community pool, gym or anything.. every house has an in ground pool

@Jessica Wygal

I sent you a PM

@Todd Goedeke a lot of my guests are internacional guests, they like the fact that the property is inside of a community. You would be surprised how much online shopping your guests will do and being part of a community gives them a sense of security.

As far as parking, my HOA is super strict, you can barely add a ring camera, which keeps the community very nice and clean but can be a pain sometimes.

Building in a different area I haven't considered. All of my homes have private in ground screened pools, building them new would most likely add around 80k to the cost, add time, reduce cashflow, and my HOA costs are minimal. Currently my HOA dues are $140/month and it includes cable, high speed internet, and landscaping.

@Johnny Wolff - I totally agree, I'm wondering if we have some members that focus on Condos. I have a condo in Orlando where its tough to get a turnkey rental due the way the market has been performing, but my condo currently rents at 1% rent to value.

Condo fees are $345/month, but when you factor cheaper insurance and lower cap ex, it's still a sound investment with less to worry about when investing remotely. 

There are a lot of posts about different rental markets, turnkey providers, rent to value, BRRRR, and etc...

What about remote investing in a condo?  It's fairly easy to get 1% rent to value in a condo, you have to deal with condo fees, but you would have lower Cap Ex expenses and usually cheaper insurance.

Does anyone here invest in condos? What is your opinion on condo vs turnkey, pros and cons.

What are the key differences when creating a single family proforma vs a condo proforma ?