All Forum Posts by: Chris Noles

@Sean Bramble great narrative. So where else do you invest if ltr and str is worrysome?

Looks great!  Congratulations!

@Jason Chin That is a great question!  I chose to self-manage after reading Avery Carl's book on Short-Term Rentals, Long term wealth. There you you will find a lot of great information about how to self-manage your rental property.  It is important to have a great cleaner and handy person on speed dial.  We use a channel manager and a remote lock to control bookings and access.  It takes us about an hour or two per week to manage, and we just went live in mid-June. Our calendar for July is 100% booked except for 1 night. 

Thanks, Mike :)

Investment Info:

Condo investment to cashflow in Myrtle Beach

Purchase price: $235,000
Cash invested: 20% down = $47,000

HOA Fees (including internet and ALL utilities) $593.00/month

Debt Service: 7 year ARM/30 year mortgage with 20% down. 4.875% interest rate

Expected gross annual income based on historical performance - $44,500

This was our very first real estate investment other than our home purchase!  This is a 1bd/1ba oceanfront condo with a private balcony with a direct ocean view located on the 9th floor of the Caribbean Resort. Our unit contains 1 King bed in the bedroom, and 1 full bed sleeper sofa in the living room and 1 full murphy bed allowing us to accommodate up to 6 people. Full Gally kitchen.  The seller had already installed new laminate floors and granite countertops.  We had about $1,000 worth of small repairs to make.  The unit was fully furnished, and the kitchen was well equipped.

What made you interested in investing in this type of real estate?

Well, we got stuck in analysis paralysis for about 2 years while trying to find a LTR. Then we looked at Florida for STR, but the list price for everything on the beach was higher than we wanted to pay. We found out that Myrtle Beach has a lot to offer, and occupancy is high in these areas. The listing price for condos on the beach were also much more reasonable. We wanted our first investment to cash flow very well, and we felt that this would be a good starter investment for us to build capital for another STR or even an LTR.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We worked with a great realtor who helped us find it, and he helped us close on a property sight unseen.  He even steered us away from some listings we thought were a good choice.  

How did you finance this deal?

Since this was a condotel, we had to put down 20% using a conventional loan thru a local bank.

How did you add value to the deal?

We repainted the doors, purchased a new mattress for the murphy bed and purchased a few small kitchen gadgets.  Thankfully this one was pretty much ready to go!

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes! Please direct message me if you'd like the name of the agent and bank we worked with.  We have been very fortunate to have had a great team for this transaction!  

@German Hall congratulations! We just did basically the same thing at Caribbean Resort with our 1BR condo purchase. We went live 2 weeks ago, and it is performing well so far on airbnb. Using pricelabs. We are on vrbo but no activity yet. I have already used a cleaning person and maintenance team that I like. We are remote managing. Let me know if I can help in any way.

@Shiloh Lundahl that makes sense. Thanks again, and I hope it goes well for you!

@Shiloh Lundahl thanks for the advice! Are you or anyone you know interested in partnering on such an investment?

I am also aware of the fact that a $200,000 real estate investment, or perhaps a smaller business investment, helps qualify for permanent resident status in Costa Rica.