All Forum Posts by: Catherine Wong

I am looking into this.  Excited about this for prospective personal use, not necessarily as a cash flow vehicle.  On paper the number looks good.  If you do an analysis, not so much, especially if you didn't get a "deal" when purchasing.   On the expense side, it's far far greater than traditional rental:

Traditional Rental:

Tax

Insurance

Capital expenditure 

Vacation Rental:

Tax

Insurance

Capital expenditure

Marketing fee (fee you paid to airbnb & VRBO)

Property management fee (25 - 40% of your REVENUE)

Furniture

Cable and internet

Garbage and water

Cleaning (which is usually paid separately by the renter)

Much higher vacancy compare to long term rental

After all expense paid for, depending on how much you paid the house for, you may not be making much.  If you get a good deal, you can do decent.  But then again, that goes without saying even for a long term rental

Wow @Robert Whitelaw, that sounds like such a drag with the new law!  Maybe you can do long term rental there, good luck to you! 

I am a complete newbie when it comes to real estate investing.  I've been thinking about real estate for a while and traditional rental in big cities just doesn't make sense with the current  high prices.  Vacation rental sounds very different from traditional rental and the place I am looking at, some property manager charge as much as 45%! (Not sure how some owner even make anything with all the other expenses that comes with vacation rental).   These property managers mentioned how much work there is to advertise, bookeeping, and the whole "concierge" service they provide.  I don't completely get it.  But at least when starting out I like to have direct contact with the guests to find out what they like / don't like, so to me I actually prefer to manage my own b&b account and communicate with guests.  

My biggest challenge is trying to identify a good property manager (who knows good cleaning person and handy man).  

You mentioned the previous owner of your VR also use the same property manager and had no success.  So it sounds like your communication with the guest, your daily rate, and what amenities you provide actually is more important than some of these  "concierge" services provided by the property managers that charge a high rate.

I am still at a very early stage of this journey as a VR host.  I am trying to learn a little bid every day.  Always have the passion for real estate, and finally start to act on it!

Thanks again for all the insight!

@Robert Whitelaw your post has a lot of good points, thank you for sharing them.  Do you mind telling me how much your property manager charge?  How did you find a reliable cleaning person and how do you if the property manager follow through?   

I would appreciate any out of state investor's comment on how to build a good local team (property management, handy man, real estate agent).  How do you decide if the individuals are trust worthy and does a good job?

@Joseph C. did you ended up with a property at that area?  if so how is it going?  4 years ago the prices were much lower

@Mel Selvidge, Do you mind telling me when you purchase you Yosemite west property and how much was the price?  How is business going for you with that rental?

Hi guys,

Anyone live near Yosemite to give me some insight on how well vacation rentals do around the Yosemite area (south entrance). 

I need to get an idea of the vacancy rate, particularly inside the park.

@Bob L. I found this old post of yours.  Just wondering if you ultimately decided to purchase a home near Yosemite?  If so, where did you purchase?

Thank you @Alvin Sylvain.   Probably something like this may help with estimate:

@Alvin .. ah .. got it.. this gives a more accurate calculation.  Thanks!  Is 10% a reasonable estimate?