All Forum Posts by: Dina Schmid

We've done deliveries in Hocking Hills before. The location can certainly be a challenge and something to think of for sure. Things I would think about when considering furniture deliveries and larger trucks: Are there paved roads up to the house? How sharp are the turns? Would at least a 16 ft truck be able to get to the property? Are there any weight restrictions along the way (i.e., bridges)? We've had FedEx freight refuse deliveries up a mountain before and leave the load at the bottom of the mountain so it definitely can happen. Highway trucks do not have 4-wheel drive (actually had someone ask me this recently) and are not made for off-road environments.

Also, someone else mentioned it, but I would reconsider a home that made you feel uncomfortable getting to in an SUV. Your guests will complain and that is not something I would want to deal with over and over again.

So my concerns about getting deliveries weren't overblown and the worst-case scenarios running through my mind are real!

I would never buy a property I wasn't comfortable driving to. The one I mentioned in the original post was one we never even went and visited because the initial approach to the property scared me. I just checked and it's still on the market with the pricing having been dropped over 30% since its initial listing. I have a feeling I'm not the only one who looked at that drive way and said "heck no!"

I'm sticking to easy-ish access properties because peace of mind is too important to me.

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Thanks everyone who responded. It sounds like getting furniture and appliances to these places isn't an impossible task, but for my own peace of mind I think I'm sticking to places that aren't that difficult to access.

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Quote from @John Underwood:

I have had no problems with the big box stores delivering.

If you order online then UPS or FedEx should deliver.

Good to know. Thanks.

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Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Dina Schmid, that is for sure a challenge.

We have a rural lake house, but it is on a paved road in a tiny little lake town. The distance from town is the main constraint in delivery.

So I will say that Lowe's owns their own delivery trucks and staff. They will deliver to just about any rural address. Costco and Home Depot farm out their deliveries so you won't get them to deliver. They were able to deliver my washer/dryer no problem.

What you can do is check with Lowe's or another local stores and tell them your issues. I am betting they can help get the stuff there.

But first thing, keep looking for a rural place that has better access. If it makes you nervous to get to the place, then every guest will have the same issues.

Very helpful. I'd thought about Lowe's/Home Depot and it's good to know that Lowe's will deliver to rural locations. More importantly was realizing that if I'm uncomfortable with the accessibility, then potential renters will be too. So I am going to continue to mentally cross off those places that just seem to be a logistical challenge, no matter how great the view.

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I'm continuing to search for a vacation home that we can use list as a STR when we're not using it. We walked away from one that we really liked after it was found to have some serious foundation issues. We've been looking primarily in the Red River Gorge (KY) area and also in the Hocking Hills (OH) area. Occasionally we see places listed that need 4 Wheel Drive to access or require climbing a lot of stairs to reach the front door. I didn't even go up the long, steep driveway to one because I felt completely uncomfortable driving it in my SUV. In my mind it seems like it would be hard to coordinate furniture and appliance delivery as it may require a special vehicle and/or extra manpower to take something up 70+ stairs. I've been mentally crossing places like this off my list, but maybe I'm overly pessimistic.

Is there a trick to getting furniture and appliances delivered to a place like this that I'm just not aware of? Even if we buy turnkey, eventually it will need something and I want to make sure I'm not ruling out places that I shouldn't be.

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Quote from @Dale Bertrand:

We self-manage our STRs. In my experience, you don't need a management company. You need a cleaner and a handyman. 30% is WAY too high!

In a few years we may be in a position to self-manage, but our jobs right now make that very difficult. It's a service that I'm willing to pay for although I understand from the responses that I should explore other options that may be less expensive.

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Cincinnati, Ohio

Quote from @JD Martin:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. It made me examine a few of my own beliefs. When you've been "saving for the future" for all your life, there's no point at which you envision stopping saving because "the future" never arises. I think it will take a while, but "this is what we've been saving for" needs to be something I become comfortable with.

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Cincinnati, Ohio

Quote from @Brian Barch:

Several Thoughts here, from someone who owns a successful STR and uses it monthly for personal use:

1) don't give away 30%!!!!! That's an oldschool PM. Many modern options (none of them perfect, most adequate) that charge much less than that. Keybee (9%) and awning.com (15%) are good starting points. Also, don't go with the place that limits owner stays. Too controlling when you own the place, and frankly not needed.

Part of this is in how you phase it. "lose $5K/year" could just as well have been "people will pay for 95% of our vacation home for us." Suddenly it doesn't sound so risky. But if nothing else, shop around MUCH more for a PM. That should help your projections a bit

The 30% is for a local boots-on-ground, full-service company. There are several of them in the RRG and when we've rented down there for getaways, we've always gone with booking directly through one of these agencies. (They also list on VRBO and AirBnB for owners) I don't know if that's unique to this market, but it seems that they take up a huge part of the market down there.

I like your take on someone else paying 95% of our vacation home for us. I think I need to look more long term. We might lose $5K/year the first year or two. But in 5 years we could be making a lot more than that and have built equity.

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Cincinnati, Ohio

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

On a different note...have you check into the Hocking Hills area here in Ohio? It would also be a wooded area that is a couple hours from Cincinnati and is a great location for a STR! If you need any help running numbers or just talking through a potential deal, feel free to reach out! We help new and current investors look at potential properties. Lastly 30% is too high for a STR management company, especially one that says how often or how long you can stay at your vacation home.

Hocking Hills would be our first choice, but inventory seems to be very limited and more expensive than RRG.

A few of my husband's colleagues have STRs and one pays 40% for management, so we thought 30% was good! While I would love to pay less, based on my discussion with them and what they provide, I was comfortable with that.

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Cincinnati, Ohio

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

That being said, we went down the same journey and decided our hang-up was the debt- we couldn't fathom the property "just paying the bills".

That is one of my biggest issues for sure. There was a time in which I was looking for something we could pay cash for. Won't work for this one due to looking (slightly) outside of my original price range and the amount of upfront work needed. My husband was thinking we could take the mortgage interest deduction (since we don't have a mortgage on our primary residence), but now you have me wanting to run the numbers with 75% or more down.

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Cincinnati, Ohio

All Forum Posts by: Dina Schmid

Dina Schmid has started 7 posts and replied 71 times.

Post: Furniture and Appliance Delivery to Rural/Difficult to Access Locations?

Post: Furniture and Appliance Delivery to Rural/Difficult to Access Locations?

Post: Furniture and Appliance Delivery to Rural/Difficult to Access Locations?

Post: Furniture and Appliance Delivery to Rural/Difficult to Access Locations?

Post: Furniture and Appliance Delivery to Rural/Difficult to Access Locations?

Post: Analysis Paralysis on Personal Use + STR Vacation Home

Post: Analysis Paralysis on Personal Use + STR Vacation Home

Post: Analysis Paralysis on Personal Use + STR Vacation Home

Post: Analysis Paralysis on Personal Use + STR Vacation Home

Post: Analysis Paralysis on Personal Use + STR Vacation Home