All Forum Posts by: Chris Watson

Just purchased furniture, linens, outdoor polywood furniture and curtains this weekend for a 3/3 condo. Here is how we roll...my wife as the designer puts a spreadsheet together with links for each item with costs and quantity.  I then spend about 4 to 6 hrs reverse image searching each item to find the cheapest place to by the items.  It was great this weekend the first item I searched for was a $900 headboard she had on Wayfair that I found for $220 at Home Depot minus 10% military discount and 10% cashback through topcashback making our true cost ~$180.  Her cost prior to me working on it to furnish a 3/3 including $2,800 of polywood outdoor furniture was $28k.  I got it down to $22k and addition $750 cashback using cashback sites.  Sometimes Minoan can beat other sites, but sometimes not. It is worth getting a quote from them. Another tip is 95% of Wayfair items are sold elsewhere cheaper, but wayfair uses a different name so you have to image search the item. Appliances were another $2.6k and I prefer to use Costco because they bring all the hoses and cords for free, install for free and haul away for free. 

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Chris Watson:

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Juan David Maldonado, I think you get the gist of things from my pals here.

Don't rely on a landlord policy, AirBNB AirCover or VRBO's insurance. You MUST have a correct STR policy specific to short term rentals.

Check out Proper (expensive), CBIZ and Foremost (very popular here) to get some quotes.

 Also USAA if you, your parents or your grandparents served in the military. 

Do you know what states USAA writes STR policies for? I am only asking as I have over the years spent hours on the phone with them to get quotes till at the end of 45 mins to 1 hr of them entering the information when they say "oh sorry we don't write policies there". It frustrated me so much after trying to get a quote on my own home and it took an hour to get to where they said sorry we are not issuing policies iin your area currently that I had a conference call with the CEO's exec on the issue. This was the old CEO who dragged USAA down in customer service and shed thousands of members. I am a 27yr disappointed and frustrated USAA member.

 SC and TN as I have policies in these states. Beyond that I do not know.

Thanks for letting me know as of a couple years ago they were not issuing STR policies in Sevier County. I will see if I can get quotes from them. Unfortunately after 25 yrs I moved my auto from them as State Farm and Progressive are 40% less. I am surrounded by five military bases with about 30k AD/Guard/Reserve personnel and 200k retirees/vets.

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Juan David Maldonado, I think you get the gist of things from my pals here.

Don't rely on a landlord policy, AirBNB AirCover or VRBO's insurance. You MUST have a correct STR policy specific to short term rentals.

Check out Proper (expensive), CBIZ and Foremost (very popular here) to get some quotes.

 Also USAA if you, your parents or your grandparents served in the military. 

Do you know what states USAA writes STR policies for? I am only asking as I have over the years spent hours on the phone with them to get quotes till at the end of 45 mins to 1 hr of them entering the information when they say "oh sorry we don't write policies there". It frustrated me so much after trying to get a quote on my own home and it took an hour to get to where they said sorry we are not issuing policies iin your area currently that I had a conference call with the CEO's exec on the issue. This was the old CEO who dragged USAA down in customer service and shed thousands of members. I am a 27yr disappointed and frustrated USAA member.

I own beachfront west of these areas in Florida. PCB, 30A, Destin and FWB are all different markets in a way and perform differently. All the 30A price vs returns I have seen currently make no sense. PCB I do not know as much or researched so make sure you get a great STR focused agent in those areas. I do know the PCB Toyato dealership actually will negotiate and people fly in to buy from there (love my Tundra from there:)

What I do know from Perdido Key, FL to Miramar Beach, FL I would only buy beachfront.  It is more likely to pay for itself in the winter and cashflow March to October.  In Condos, don't be scared about HOAs, but do read the last 3 years of meeting notes and the structural engineering report.  It could be very beneficial.  I just read minutes on one condo O am looking at and saw a different unit had lost all amenities' access due to lewd and public adult acts.  That unit has been sitting on the market ever sense.  With that knowledge one could make a ridiculously low offer with a high chance of getting accepted.  

Quote from @Drew Nashmy:

Hey all ! Happy almost Friday! So, we had a local listing pop-up and it is a house from a relatively famous TV Show. Curious if anyone out there owns or has ever owned a house that could be marketed in such specific way? If so, good or bad luck with it? Realizing the numbers have to perform by themselves of course. 

 Reese Witherspoon's "Love in Fairhope" used one of ours to shoot an episode and a large church denomination rented one to shoot VBS curriculum.  It helped some in marketing, and we did get bookings from it but no major long-term boost.

I hired an STR focused CPA about my 4th year of owning STRs as when I was filing I would have my first tax bill in a decade. The annual fee was 10x ROI that year alone as he found more deductions/credits that changed a $35K tax bill into a $9k refund. I rather stop paying for QBO and use a spreadsheet than not have my CPA.

Quote from @Collin Hays:

I'm old school and like a real wood-burning fire.  But I am looking at doing a renovation and it could cost as much as $10K more to put in a fireplace.  There's some really fancy electric ones now that even crackle and pop like a real fire.  Is this an acceptable substitute, or are electric fireplaces considered hopelessly faux and cheesy?

 We have both electric and gas in Sevier County. I personally do not want firewood in a rental as I grew up in backwoods Mississippi and know what my crazy friends would do with fire. Men acting like boys = dumb crazy things.

As for the propane we constantly deal with guests blowing out the pilot light because they didn't know it needed to stay lit.  Also some try to roast marshmallows over them. The pro is additional heat source in the once every two year snowed in with electricity out situation.  As for electric fireplaces we really haven't had complaints, but we do have outdoor propane firepits at these locations.  

If you are already vented and can do a sealed propane fireplace (glass doesn't open) I recommend it.  If not, put in electric and have less maintenance calls and lower propane bill.

I married a Minnesotan, so I have analyzed Minnesota resorts for decades.  The price is great compared to other areas. It is crazy to see listings of 8 cabins and a lakefront marina for less than $1.5M. As others have pointed out, I always came back to you are buying a fulltime job.  This might be what you are looking for, or might not.  

Now if you are looking to buy a cheap lakefront family compound then you have found the right place, but MN is not a tax friendly state. I keep telling my in-laws how much they would save each year by moving to a tax friendly state.

Quote from @Collin Hays:

Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

I love thinking outside of the box but I think this would not be a very popular offering.

 We have a cabin with a rooster nearby.  That goes over really well.  ;)

 I think offering a "pack-u-up" checkout service might work. They need someone to help them get out the door by 10am.  Make sure your employees are good at Tetris as this skill is needed to make everything fit in the car.

You could also offer an "Oh-crap" service to pickup and ship things they left behind or to pick up their dog's crap (sometimes even their own crap).

Quote from @Collin Hays:

I'm interested in this topic, too.  I have always held that building is the most expensive way to get into STRs, but with the prices in the Smokies staying high with very little activity, I do wonder what the current building cost psf is in the Smokies. Any ideas Peter?

I have built seven in the Smokys and currently waiting on final structural drawings from the architect for my next build.  So in a few weeks I will have current costs from a highly reputable builder in the area.
Building costs change greatly depending on the lot.  I built two last year across the road from each other with one well 800 ft deep and the other 1,600 ft deep.  Have a flat lot? It can save up to $100k on foundation.  Do you have solid rock a few feet deep? Then you will pay more for hammering out stone for septic and foundation. Do you need a longer driveway? It could add $25k for concrete.  Is the lot already cleared? If not it might cost up to $20k if you want it hauled away.  We haven't even touched design and material choice. Do you want tile showers or regular tubs? I expect without furniture you can expect a build to run from $175sq ft for plain Jane cabin to $400+ sq ft for a unique design with custom cased glass.
My design is in between so I am expecting $225 to $275 sq ft with a $50k well allowance and $20k septic allowance on what I call a medium grade slope for Sevier County.
I am choosing to build because out of the about 2,500 cabins on the market right now only about a dozen interest me design and location wise and they are wanting $400 to $600 a sqft. Now I can build something unique to the Smokys at a lower price per sq ft including land acquisition.  Building isn't for everyone. There are still several subpar builders in the area so if you go the building route pay for a background check of your builder.  If the builder has been cutoff of credit at the local building supply store (84 Lumber/Tyndalls) and is on a cash only basis then stay away from them. Building isn't for the faint of heart, but can be very worthwhile for those who persevere.