All Forum Posts by: Demetrius Harrell

Quote from @Kevin Marin:

Hey,

I have recently listed an airbnb in September and I got an inquiry for a few dates. They asked me if I would consider allowing them to have their wedding ceremony at the property with the reception after. I'm considering it to be honest but I'm worried something could go wrong as in someone gets hurt. What would I need to do to make this a smooth opportunity?

I appreciate any advice

I am a venue owner I can tell you from experience, the wedding ceremony would be fine but the reception would have to many moving parts if you do not have the systems in place to manage it. 

Dj, setup and breakdown/clean up, food, guest leaving trash in random places, POOP ON WALLS (still trying to figure out how that happened) etc.

When it is left up to the guest to manage it all that increases the chance of something happening.

Most events/weddings have less people show up than planned for “IF” 30 people really is the accurate head count.

Besides for a reception that small they should be able to find an actual venue for $1000 to $3000.

@Chase Hoover that is awesome, congratulations.

I would love to learn more about the deal and lessons you learned along the way. I plan on doing this model also so I would love to follow your journey on this investment and learn what obstacles you may deal with.

 A friend of mine and her husband are working on a deal to combine an event venue and it will double as a film studio because they help produce a lot of films in Georgia.

@Haley White that’s awesome you were in a position to be able to pivot and take advantage of the market. 

There are so many different strategies within the venue space that I am surprised also that there are not more investors talking about it. 

Combining short term rentals and a venue is a huge advantage because guests would not have to travel far and you could offer better rates as part of a event package.

My current venue focuses more on baby showers, content creation and birthday celebrations rentals.

@Haley White. How goes your search for an event venue location? I own an event venue and would like to connect with other event owners and aspiring event owners.

@Katrina Kubicina, How did this investment work out? I do event photography also and opened my venue a little over a year ago so I am interested to see how this turned out for you.

That's awesome @Alena Srostlíková, I own a venue so I understand how managing a venue can be intimidating. It's great that you learned how a new skill of project management.

Investment Info:

Retail other investment.

Cash invested: $3,600

I run my event venue/ event space like an Airbnb.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I have been interested in commercial deals and short term rentals for long time. As a new real estate investor searching for my first deal and knowing what my long term goal is for commercial real estate I joined an Event space investor group and found a lot of similarities between short term rentals (such as Airbnb) and Event Spaces.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I looked at 200 locations prior then a member of the event space group I am a part of asked if anyone had an event space in the area. I thought to myself that most of the people that have their event space are in a specific part of Georgia and this city is 45 minutes from me so I will look to see what I can find. On my lunch break I check on Loop Net and found this building and drove to go see it after work. I saw the building in person and got the property leased under contract the same week.

How did you finance this deal?

Some personal cash and lines of credit.

What was the outcome?

I have been in business for a year and 2 months and business continues to pick up. My weekends are completely booked until January 2023.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Lessons learned:
- How to start up with less capital
- How to create partnerships
- How to focus my marketing so my Event space is primarily know for a specific type of event
- How to negotiate
- Systems are your best friend
- Create an event space environment that has a unique selling point

Challenges:
- Competition, 2 new venues are attempting to copy by business model
- Positioning the business for long term growth
- Developing better systems

Hey BP community, I am having discussions with an investor to fund part of his deal and I am asking for recommendations for an attorney to review the partnership agreement for the deal and make recommendations.

I am a Mechanical Engineer, I am new to REI.