All Forum Posts by: Collin Hays

I've never recommended buying a condo for investment purposes. It is more of a liability.

I think you are going to have to babysit any of these platforms. We decided they were too erratic and nonsensical to be of much use.

If I was a STR owner in a residential area, I would require a bit more verification of identity. It is super easy to steal another's identity and use it for a reservation. Perhaps meet them at the property to ensure they are who they really say they are. This is standard protocol at hotels for this exact reason. Hotels often also have a policy against renting to locals, for several reasons including the prevention of drug trafficking, human trafficking, domestic violence, and prostitution.

Your idea of video monitoring is also an excellent one. That is a step that I do not take with my STRs, but they are located in high tourism areas in the mountains.

I have owned vacation rentals since 2005 and had many thousands of guests. I don't recall when I have had anything trashed.

This is a solicitation for a business. It needs to be in the classifieds.

We have a couple of clients that are deep underwater with their purchase, because they relied on what a realtor told them or what AirDNA told them. AirDNA is about as reliable as CarFax when you are buying a used car. In other words, there is a lot of information missing.

You will have to get your hands dirty and do your own research to cover your rear end. That means lots of taking notes on like properties on VRBO and Airbnb.  

Good luck!

I am a property manager, so I will give you the other side of the coin.

Self-management is always the most profitable way to go, if you have TIE.  Time, Interest, and Energy. But if you are missing any of these, self-management will cost you instead of save you. 

There are a lot of things that I can do in my life on my own and save a bundle of cash. Mow my own lawn, launder and iron my dress shirts, repaint the kitchen cabinets, change my oil, make my own pizza. Heck, if I really want to save some cash, I might even attempt to do my own car repairs and body work, or even build a fence for my backyard.  With each of these, we do some mental gymnastics on what our time is worth.  

We also tend to spend our time doing things we enjoy, or prefer DIY. I kind of like changing my own oil. It's fun. My next-door neighbor, he's more of a lawn and garden guy, couldn't care less about changing his own oil. And me, I hate doing lawn and garden stuff.  I also don't like to bathe and groom the dogs, give myself a haircut, or chop wood for my fireplace. I am happy to pay other people to do these things.

We don't try to convince our clients into allowing us to manage their properties. In fact, we try to talk them out of it to ensure it is going to be a good working relationship. Most are working professionals - physicians, lawyers, real estate brokers, executives, and so on. They hire us because they value their time and don't want to give more of it away, or complicate their lives. Most would rather watch paint dry than manage a rental.  

Our biggest frustration with clients is the ones that want to co-manage alongside us. I just fired a client last week - a prominent businessman with a wonderful cabin. But he wanted to second guess everything we did.  The rates, repairs, brand of the new coffee pot, you name it. I told him he's better of self-managing because he obviously has TIE.  No hard feelings, but we just couldn't continue with it anymore. He was driving my team crazy.

So to your question, whether or not a property manager is worth it, the answer is different with every investor. What matters is your personal situation.  

It seems there is a fair amount of angst against municipalities and other local governments due to their often-hawkish treatment of short-term rentals. They are the bad guys for banning STRs or severely limiting them.  

This week, I had breakfast with an old friend of mine who is a detective at the local police department. He works in a department that investigates houses in the city that appear to be distributing drugs, sponsoring prostitution, or human trafficking. As it turns out, he said many of these houses are "airbnbs". I asked him if it would make his job easier if the city banned these, and he said "absolutely, but no one is going to do that."   

I am not so sure.  Regardless, we as investors view our rentals with a hearty dose of naivety, or perhaps indifference:  Just nice places for good people to overnight or attend a family reunion. But in areas that are clearly intended for residential, these rentals also present an optimum place for criminals to set up shop in relative anonymity to do their thing: Smack in the middle of a quiet neighborhood.  

For whatever reason, "big" has been an irresistible lure in the Smokies. I spoke with a potential investor a few weeks ago who wouldn't hear anything but spending at least $1 million for a cabin. Everyone seems to be caught up in the aura of "McMansion" cabins. Even through the busiest years, our experience has been that large cabins do not provide the same ROI as small cabins. There is more wear and tear, there is much more that can malfunction, and they often require two families to afford.

Technology Stack.  I like it. I'm going to try that out on someone today.