All Forum Posts by: Christine Cho

@Andrew Bosco as I'm just starting out with MTR, I've used the following:

1. Finding tenants and communication: Furnished Finder, but I also have it set up on Airbnb too, since it used to be a STR.

2. Screening: Keycheck on Furnished Finder, but I think Zillow is a good option too. You'd need to set up the property on Zillow in order to "invite to apply"

3. Leases: Zillow, I already had a draft in there so I went with it. It's free and some customizations are allowed and they make it easy to sign digitally.

4. Payments: I looked into doing this on Furnished Finder/Keycheck, but it had to be a paid service by tenant. So I set it up on Zillow because lease was already in there and it was free. You can only set up 1 payer per property though.

In summary, Furnished Finder and Zillow.

@Nicolas Pena Have you heard of Landing? Similar UI to Airbnb but I think their target is MTR. They don't limit to MTRs, but have higher standards to set up a place in their platform and have checks in place that make it friendly for tech travelers. Doesn't cost to post but I found it a little more work to post than Airbnb or Furnished Finder so worth a try!

@Brett Deas @Tanner Pile @Kayla Givens @Brittany Guimond @Michael Baum

 Thank you all for comments! I agree with what is said. @Brittany Guimond you have really good points there, I'd like to keep up my hard earned reviews.

Hello all,

I'm in Denver market and will be moving out of my primary residence, a SFH I've been living upstairs and AirBnB the basement doing my own cleaning. When I move out I will be renting out my upstairs as LTR. For basement, I have three options:

1. Keep operating STR and hire a cleaner, and give incentive to the LTR tenant as I'll need them to set up STR license for Denver (Denver does not allow STR if not primary residence)

2. Switch to MTR (I can do my own cleaning)

3. Hybrid of STR during high months (April - October), MTR during low months

Based on 14 months of historical earnings, I've conservatively estimated below with monthly $500 cleaning fee and $100 incentive to LTR tenant when applicable:

1. STR monthly earnings: $2000 (2600 - 500 - 100 incentive to LTR tenant)

2. MTR monthly earnings: $1700 (no cleaning fee to extract)

3. April - October earning is $2500 (3100 - 500 - 100), rest $1700 (MTR is higher during low months than STR - is this accurate? STR during low months is $1500 (2100 - 500 - 100))

TLDR;

1. STR: $2000

2. MTR: $1700

3. Hybrid: $2150

To me, there is no clear winner here since more cash flow means more work and planning. I want to see if I left out anything and if my assumptions are solid. And if there is anyone who went through this, I'd love to hear!

Hello BP,

I bought my first primary last year and used a portion of it for a full time AirBnb. We will buy another primary under husband's this year and move there. The plan is to purchase primary each year if possible and move around to build rental portfolio. I've been doing my own taxes since the beginning of time but looking to get it done by a professional this year. I did all the bookkeeping (recurring and one-time operation cost, initial cost of furnishing and house improvements, etc.) I still think I can do it myself, but husband insists I get get a professional help.

- One REI-friendly accountant quoted what I thought was quite high considering the size of STR income. However, the work is relatively same regardless of income per unit right? We'd also have to file for extension because the accountant is booked for the season.

- Another I talked with quoted a more reasonably, but did not market as REI-friendly accountant.

My question is, given where I'm at (first year) and where I want to go (LLC, cost segregation, more complex RE tax strategy down the road) should I definitely consult with a tax professional? And if so, should I go with an accountant that seems REI-friendly even at a higher cost? Possibly search around more? For background info, husband and I both have W-2 and we file separately because husband's student load payback would double if we file jointly. I would love to hear your experiences and advices!

@Erika Baker There are lots of good answers here already from the pros. As a newbie myself I would add that house hacking strategy - living while renting out parts of the property - can open up more options especially during relatively high cost, high inflation market. You can get favorable down payment and interest rates than investment options. Additionally, going down the route where you rely on refinancing is constrictive and not the kind of situation I'd put myself in.