All Forum Posts by: Conner Olsen

I'm working on a research project and am hoping to crowdsource some recommendations about insurance coverage for your midterm rental properties. What are you experienced hosts doing? My questions are:

- Policy type: homeowners, commercial, other?

- Recommended Insurers

- Do you require your guests to carry renter's insurance?

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts/recommendations on this topic!

I use Steadily as a STR residential insurance. I don't require renter's insurance. I have AirCover for most of my stays.

Hi Conner. Using Aircover implies you're booking most of your guests through Airbnb, correct? Do you accept bookings Direct or through any other platform and, if so, does that change anything you do insurance-wise?

Most of my bookings come from Airbnb. Right now I'm set up on multiple consumer sites like Airbnb, VRBO, Hello Landing, Furnished Finder. I have the highest rate and success with Airbnb. I do not do any B2B sales right now. Personally I wouldn't require renter's insurance.

1 Vote

Quote from @Tom Server:

What's a good cash flow for a duplex home? Is $400 a month positive cash flow worth all the possible risks and head aches?

It depends on your market. How difficult is it to find that deal in your market? Is that really common or is that a great deal? Would the cash flow be consistent? Is the property updated? Is it in a good neighborhood? Will the property appreciate? Does this property feed into your long term goals?

1 Vote

Quote from @Katie Kantzes:

There's a huge demand for MTR in Austin and you can get some great cash flow on your properties! I'm getting 75% above LTR rates on my properties. I wouldn't ONLY focus on traveling nurses. I've only had one traveling medical professional across 5 properties.

0 Votes

There's tons of FB groups in every city about subletting and rooms for rent. You get a lot of interest there!

0 Votes

Knoxville, Tennessee

Quote from @Bonnie Low:

- Policy type: homeowners, commercial, other?

- Recommended Insurers

- Do you require your guests to carry renter's insurance?

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts/recommendations on this topic!

I use Steadily as a STR residential insurance. I don't require renter's insurance. I have AirCover for most of my stays.

1 Vote

Congrats on getting started! There's three steps I would do:

1. Talk to a lender - They can tell you what you can afford with your current home

2. Talk to other investors - They can tell you how to be successful house hacking in your market

3. Learn how to analyze deals - BP has some webinars about this. There's a ton of youtube videos about analyzing house hacks.

Best of luck!

1 Vote

Riverside, California

Quote from @James Nelson:

Hey,

I’m pretty new to the self managing vacation rental game. We have a beach house that states very clearly no pets allowed in the house rules. The guest has signed a renter agreement and paid a $500 security deposit hold. He booked through AirBNB for 2 nights. They checked in yesterday and when I reviewed the ring camera footage of them checking in they have a dog with them. This was not disclosed to me and we do not typically allow any pets. What would you do at this point? Would you contact the guest and let them know you are aware of the dog and ask them to board the dog or leave? Would you wait until they leave and assess any damages or extra cleaning required due to the dog and take it out of the security deposit? The dog is a small dog if that matters at all. Looking for some advice from people that have been doing this much longer than me. Thanks.

Charge them a pet fee and show proof of there being a pet. If they pull the service animal card then you have to drop it and take the hit unfortunately.

0 Votes

Quote from @Ryan Pritchard:

Hi BP,

I am finishing up renovating a side by side duplex in Raleigh and I was looking to get some advice on how I should design the front porch. It is a shared porch with center steps. I have one long term renter on one side and plan to do mid-term furnished on the other but I heard the long term renter has kids that may leave things on the porch. I am looking for a way to design the porch that clearly delineates one side from the other. My first thought was a small planter box with make some fake plants so it’s hand off but would still serve as a barrier. What do you all think? I had a hard time finding any ideas elsewhere! I attached a photo of a similar style duplex since I don’t have any clear pictures of mine at the moment.

I would leave it and ask the tenants to keep stuff off the porch if it becomes a problem.

0 Votes

Quote from @Alexandra Bozzi:

Hi! Looking for advice for a marketing a mid-term rental in South Philadelphia.

Background: Bought the property as my primary last November (new construction), furnished slowly over the past year, and have listed on Furnished Finder, AirBnB, and Vrbo (30+ day setting). The property will be ready for guests in November, and has been listed for a month without any inquiries on AirBnB & Vrbo, or feasible leads from Furnished Finder. I recently dropped the night/monthly rent to see if that would help drive leads but so far coming up a bit short.

About the property: Located in South Philly (East Passyunk). 4 Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and roof deck that has center city views & clear visibility of the sports complexes. Utilities included, washer/dryer, AC/Heat, WiFi, work stations in all of the bedrooms, TVs in every bedroom, sheets/towels/stocked kitchen tools/etc. Cleaning fees per stay are listed separately on hosting sites (taken into account with nightly stay cost) & will allow pets with an additional pet fee.

Areas seeking advice:

- Platforms that work well for these type of property listings in the Philly area

- Typical timing for inquiries from guests for mid-term rentals in area (1 month out, a few more months out, etc.)

- Amenities or specific photos that “pop” to drive interest on these listing platforms for mid-terms

- When to start looking at shifting strategies: Mid-term -> long-term, furnished vs. not furnished, independently managing vs enlisting a property management company, etc.

Appreciate any and all advice!

Only advice I have is making sure you have great professional pictures. I say keep dropping the price until it's booked. I do 1% per week.

0 Votes

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

All Forum Posts by: Conner Olsen

Conner Olsen has started 23 posts and replied 1249 times.

Post: Renting by the bedroom to 2x unrelated tenants in the same unit? Thoughts?

Post: Insurance for midterm rentals - Insurers and Renter's Insurance?

Post: cash flow.. whats a good number

Post: Hello from Austin! Two newbs excited to get into MTR strategy

Post: Rent By Room

Post: Insurance for midterm rentals - Insurers and Renter's Insurance?

Post: 19 and Starting my Journey with Real Estate

Post: What to do if renter brought dog to no pet listing

Post: Side by side duplex porch

Post: Marketing Mid-Term Property for Renters in Philadelphia (south)

Conner Olsen has started 23 posts and replied 1249 times.

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Renting by the bedroom to 2x unrelated tenants in the same unit? Thoughts?

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Insurance for midterm rentals - Insurers and Renter's Insurance?

Biggerpockets Logo Post: cash flow.. whats a good number

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Hello from Austin! Two newbs excited to get into MTR strategy

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Rent By Room

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Insurance for midterm rentals - Insurers and Renter's Insurance?

Biggerpockets Logo Post: 19 and Starting my Journey with Real Estate

Biggerpockets Logo Post: What to do if renter brought dog to no pet listing

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Side by side duplex porch

Biggerpockets Logo Post: Marketing Mid-Term Property for Renters in Philadelphia (south)

Post: Renting by the bedroom to 2x unrelated tenants in the same unit? Thoughts?

Post: Insurance for midterm rentals - Insurers and Renter's Insurance?

Post: cash flow.. whats a good number

Post: Hello from Austin! Two newbs excited to get into MTR strategy

Post: Rent By Room

Post: Insurance for midterm rentals - Insurers and Renter's Insurance?

Post: 19 and Starting my Journey with Real Estate

Post: What to do if renter brought dog to no pet listing

Post: Side by side duplex porch

Post: Marketing Mid-Term Property for Renters in Philadelphia (south)