All Forum Posts by: Donald D Michna

Hello all, my wife and I are new to the short-term rental game, but have had long term rentals in the past. We have the first unit of a three-unit property go live this week. I wanted to see if fellow hosts can provide feedback on the listing to see what we could improve upon. I will include the link below.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5...

What is your opinion if a potential tenant requests to stay in your unit for the first two months, after that extend the stay outside of AirBNB? We have the proper insurance for a short term rental on top of the AirBNB insurance. I don't see a downfall at this time, but want to see others opinions. We would have the tenant sign a short term rental lease.

I installed the Truesubmeter system in the property. The system worked well while we owned the property and allowed us to bill the tenants the water which helped to decrease the overhead on the property. I would say the biggest drawback is the upfront cost. If I were to do it again, I would look into a rubs system. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but hear many people recommend it. We sold the property early this year and made a nice profit!

Thanks for the input. Looks like I will be proceeding with the 25% down.

The Bigger Pockets Daily Podcast #186 mentions how to protect  your property with landlord insurance. We have had the same insurance for our long-term rentals  for a few years as well as a million dollar umbellar policy. We have dwelling insurance including the garage, rental values to cover a years worth of income and personal property of $10K. We live in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. We are trying to be safe with the coverage that we have, I also do not want to leave us exposed to risk. 

This property has existing long term tenants that we plan to transition to short term tenants 2-3 months per tenant. We are not interested in 2-3 day short term tenants. Let me know what we should be including and if there is anything specific for short term rentals.

I am working with a seller on an off market tri-plex investment property in Wauwatosa Wisconsin and have been searching around for leaders. We have a few lenders that we work close with and are seeing 25% down at most credit unions and banks. Is anyone seeing 20% down or less for an investment property? I understand rates and points will vary. The purchase price is $290K.

@Brock Mogensen I have been meaning to stop in at the Wisconsin Apartment Investors Meetup. With COVID I am not able to go due to some family circumstances. Is there a video feed available to watch?

@Jack Medford This is some great data, where did you get this information from? 

Obviously everything about 2021 is speculation and none of us know what will happen. Depending on when people start to feel comfortable again, which will most likely not be until late fall based on when vaccines are scheduled to be distributed. I think we may see another year of low inventory. Many people do not want strangers in their homes. Though the trend line itself will most likely match what has been shown in previous years. I am also interested in how the economy itself will impact the housing market. There are many things going on in the economy that may impact the inventory. 

That being said, if the numbers make sense, purchase the property and execute on deals in 2021! 

This is not made to be political in any way just one person's perception.

@Cosette Trantow Municipalities such as West Allis, West Milwaukee, Butler and Menomonee Falls all are areas that have nice investment potential. Why do you want to invest in the Milwaukee area? If you still have family near Wausau, it may be a good idea to find a market that is closer to Wausau. This way you can have someone that you really trust check on the property if absolutely necessary, a drive by is even nice once in a while. The Fox Valley area may be a nice option as it has had a lot of investment recently with more coming down the pipeline. Racine, Caledonia, Kenosha and the secondary markets between Milwaukee and Chicago are all areas that are seeing growth over the past few years. You can not really go bad in Wisconsin right now if the numbers make sense. 

@Steven Fischer I have invested in West Milwaukee in the past and actively looking at West Allis. I think a market to look at that is looked past is Walkers point East of I-94. you can still pick up properties for relatively inexpensive compared to Bay View. I think it is a nice area to do a long-term rental, short-term rental or house hack. 

There is also a lot of growth occurring in Franklin if you want to go that far south. 

You really cant go wrong with any of the markets near Milwaukee or Wisconsin as a state for that matter as long as the numbers work. 

@Anthony Vaiana Congratulations on the house hack! Its funny you mention reserves, when purchasing my first property with the intention of house hacking, the lender required that I have 6 months in reserves due to the property being a duplex. I spoke to a few other lenders and they required the same. Good luck to you on your future investments!