All Forum Posts by: Christina Kovacs

Looking for recommendations. I am an active real estate investor, a FL real estate broker and I recently acquired my MLO license. I'm looking to work remotely with a mortgage broker, part/full time depending on what projects I have going on. I'm having a difficult time finding a company that will allow the flexibility I need. So far, the only two companies I have applied with are NEXA Mortgage and Obsidian Financial. If you have any contacts I will happily email you my resume and portfolio. I learn fast and I can assure you I will be an asset rather than a burden. Thanks in advance for your referrals and input. 

I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not but whenever I edit my listings I tend to get a booking or inquiry within 24 hrs...I'm not sure if the booking platforms have an algorithm in place for updated listings or if it's purely law of attraction. Also, have you checked airdna.co? You can see how you compare to other listings in the area. 

Unless a late checkout is agreed upon in advance I will charge them the hourly rate I pay my cleaners for a late checkout because the cleaning crew is typically waiting outside the door for the guests to depart. If we have guests checking in the same day and the guests are more than 30 min late to depart I will call them and let them know that cleaning crew must start and they can gather their belongings while they are there.  We have a high turnover and every minute counts when there is only a 5 hr window to clean a 4/4 before the next guests check in. In regards to the soap in your hot tub, I would also charge a nominal fee for this as it did take your cleaning crew longer than normal to clean. Even though your cleaner didn't ask for extra compensation it will be a nice gesture on your part and they will appreciate it. 

@Beth L. - Thank you so much for you in depth reply. I didn't even consider an addendum to be added stating that the tenant is renting from a transient facility. I will look into more, a squatter would be detrimental! I should have added in the original post that my in-laws live 6 miles away. They have agreed to help out in case of emergency's but I'm not sure if it's a very good long term plan. A property manager will definitely give us better peace of mind and hold tenants more accountable if they see that the property has "eyes and ears" on it. 

@Al Williamson - I was planning on charging the cleaning cost directly to the tenant but if someone is staying only for a few nights they may not want to pay $100 cleaning fee.  Great idea to have the cleaning company change the lockbox code each time. We are trying to be very mindful of our startup costs, we are still within budget...so far;-)

Will you send an example of a multi-family property that is bay or oceanfront with cap rates that are 15-20%? Thank you

We will be putting one of our SFH's on the market for short term rental in a month. Do you suggest listing on all sites? Which company charges the most to list/rent?

Have you had experience with HomeToGo.com?

This will be our first experience with short term rentals, any advice is appreciated! Luckily, the property is in a city that has no short term rental restrictions. We are considering offering a minimum of 3 night stay but I need to check if our insurance policy allows that, most are 7 day min. We plan to manage the property ourselves and hire a cleaning company after each guest. 

Last question, we are considering putting an electronic lockbox and the RING (camera/doorbell) at the front door. The property is 1.5 hrs from us so we don't plan to greet each guest. Do you recommend using the RING and do you have a suggestion for a electronic lockbox where we can change the code after each guest departs?

Thanks!

Since you don't have access to the interior I would check the following:

1. Roof

2. Plumbing Lines and Septic Inspection - For $250 approx. you can have it inspected with a camera through the clean out.

3. Electrical Panel - Sometimes these are located outside you can you take the panel off to see if the breakers and wire are up to code.

4. Foundation - Serious cracks from the ground settling our shifting.

5. Talk to the Neighbors - Small conversation can sometimes lead to a lot of information about not only the neighborhood but the previous owners and any issues they had with the home in the past. 

Thanks for the tip @Alvin Pereira!

My husband and I have rehabbed 5 homes and flipped  4. The first 2 homes we renovated, lived in and held for 2 years to avoid capital gains and then reinvested the funds. We are currently living in the 3rd home, we expected to move by the 2nd year but we love the home now. 

The other 2 homes we partnered with investors and flipped.

We are currently looking to expand our network of lenders as our terms with the investors are not as favorable as we would like. We are also looking to connect with local investors, wholesalers, attorney's, accountants and RE agents. 

We work in the following areas in South Florida.

Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach and the Keys.

Thank you so much @Gustavo Figueiredo, your insight gives me a great idea of what to plan and expect.