All Forum Posts by: Collin Chan

You won't need to put 50% down to cash flow.  There are many examples of others doing a lot less with very high cashflows. :)

There are some good books including some here on BP that focus on STR investing. Avery Carl's book is a great place to start. Plenty of Youtubers out there as well which I'm sure you've listed to on BP podcasts or through watching videos.

I started out partnering for out of state and have really just found great people that aligned with my interests and goals through connecting on BP.  Networking is a great first step.

Collin

Congrats on the success with the transition from STR to hotel operator! That's good to know a 6-13 unit property could work well in the STR model.

We had a realtor who was local to and knew the area really well.  They were also an investor and they reached out to many previous buyers and investors who might be interested in exiting.  I'd recommend finding a realtor specializing in STRs for the market you're looking at.

If you're looking at STRs in Flagstaff, just watch out for the flooding prone areas.  You can find lot of information on those locations due to burn scars from some fires.  I think some real estate sites will show flood zone areas as well.  Flagstaff has some pretty good year round occupancy.

Game room and exercise room is what we did but the walls were all drywalled and finished and the garage floors had epoxy already.  Flex room is great to give the guests something to do and we are seeing higher than average bookings due to a lot of families targeting our property.

Cottonwood is about 15-20mins actually.  I did many Home Depot runs setting up our property in Sedona :)

You can try Rabbu also.  They are another site that has free estimation (scroll down further on their page to find the link) and you can manually select which properties you want to comp to.  I heard about it on a BP episode.

There are some lenders that offer HELOCs on investment properties.  I was in the process of doing the same but rates are higher (7% vs 4-5%). Most teaser rates you see for low introductory rates during the first 6-12 months are mostly for owner occupied only that I've found but would love to see what others are finding.

@Chad McMahan

Pricelabs has a more updated model for looking at other comparable listings with bookings and peak times (seasons, events) using their software in the same area.  I can share some details of our experience with Sedona and Flagstaff for STRs.

My advice is to find a STR knowledgeable realtor in those areas like Chad who can give you more specific information on changing policies, STR friendly neighborhoods, and current market conditions.