All Forum Posts by: Chris Merchant

@Bradley​ Lobo You will definitely want to / should always get at minimum of 3 bids, and be sure to let the contractors bidding know that you will be obtaining other bids as well as it lets them know they're not the only show in town.  If you've already gotten other bids don't share bid amounts before they give you their bid (probably not a good idea to share bid amounts or contractors you've gotten bids from with other competing contractors).  

One thing I do have to say is kudos to the contractor you got a bid from in being honest about their lack of licensing on the exhaust fan.

Okay so it seems, your target group is vacationers? Sorry if the questions seem weird, I don't do STRs so not sure if vacation rentals fit into the STR category or a category of their own... I am interested in the vacation rental market.

The proper way for you to do this would be like @Joel Forsythe said your contractor gives you the contract for the work to be completed and then if you're not comfortable signing it without legal counsel you than take the contract to your attorney or have your attorney at the signing and let them nose through it with/for you.  The company I work for would NEVER sign a customer generated contract, as any details of the deal/work to be done are included in our contract.

If there are certain things you want to be sure are included in the contract than you need to relay those items to the contractor in advance.

Something I would recommend you also include is deadline(s) and any penalties for not making deadlines and incentives for early completion of tasks.

Go with the bedroom, especially if you have storage space somewhere that if the tenant says they do not want to use the extra bedroom and would rather set it up as another purpose room just put the bedroom furniture into storage.  Or like @Ray Hage said, if space allows set it up as both bedroom/office space.

Get the book: Mobile Home Wealth by Zalman Velvel, it is a good book with lots of information.

https://www.amazon.com/Mobile-...

@Anthony David Quinn No problem, feel free to PM with further questions

I do not have much experience with the 203k, I did however read about it in a book by Brandon Turner (the no money down book) and I can say if I was going to house hack or do your plan of buy live for 12 months while doing a live in rehab I would certainly use the 203k loan if I needed any sort of conventional financing as long as I and the property meet the requirements for the loan.  The USDA also offers similar loans (for more rural locations with stricter location restrictions) but they offer 1 that you do not even need to live in for the year, it is strictly for rural investment properties, but it offers the same benefits as the 203k as far being able to roll rehab costs into the loan.  

Again I have not used either of these loans myself but did read about them in Brandon's book and was rather intrigued about the different loans out there through conventional lending institutions.

@Ray J. is the property in Myrtle Beach or NY?  I can say myself unless I am going on a long planned vacation I am guilty of doing my booking reservations sometimes as little as the day before (though I generally use hotels in that instance). 

I am not sure how you market the property, if you market it as a short term rental and/or vacation rental but if you target vacationers maybe try notifying travel agents of the property as it may boost interest, they will generally (I believe) want some sort of kickback or concession if their clients rent the property but that is a small price to pay to have it rented instead of vacant.

For vacationers:

As for the reason for the late/last minute bookings, I think many people feel the later they wait the better deal they can find so they purposely wait knowing that in the event they don't find a cheaper rate they will still be able to secure a place so there is really nothing to lose for them, it's not like the price will go up the closer it gets to their arrival date.  So to combat that you need to offer something at your rental that other rentals in the area don't make your place be in higher demand.

@Alexa M. Welcome to BP.  I would certainly at the very least get a property manager, the idea of using a resident manager is also one that has had success but I would make sure you really trust, think of them essentially as a partner in your business seen as their choices and decisions directly impact your business and investment (pick someone that is responsible) another part of your team I think would be vital to your success is a handyman that you trust, someone that can handle small repairs quickly and be trustworthy and knowledgeable enough to know when the task is outside their ability and can let you know, the manager know to contact an actual specialized contractor or if you trust them enough allow them to arrange and coordinate the hiring of contractors.

Obviously I would definitely consult with an attorney and get a contract drafted up for each of the people on your team so there is no questions as to who is responsible for what.  It alleviates most confusion when it is in writing, and protects all parties.  Though you may not need that with a handyman I would still bounce the idea around with legal counsel.  But most definitely if you use a live in manager map out exactly what you expect from them and what they can expect from you in return.

Hope that helps you, any more detailed questions feel free to ask or PM.

Always keep an open mind when it comes to plans and strategies.  Set realistic goals by writing them down and looking at them all the time for yourself both short term and long term.  Tell your goals to someone who will keep you accountable and write down steps you need to take or obstacles you need to overcome to reach the goals.

Brandon Turner put a good acronym in one of his books MINS = Most Important Next Step!  Live by it!