All Forum Posts by: Dre N.

Well..everyone's story is different. I started Airbnb arbitrage 4 years ago and here's why I'm quitting the arbitrage business.

I'm quitting because I don't need to do it anymore! I used rental arbitrage to scale from $10k in my pocket to nine arbitrage properties in less than 2 1/2 years and then used that cash flow and profit to hire a full time operations manager, build a STR property management business with a partner and work with investors to purchase properties out of state.. We manage 7 STR properties and just bought 2 single family homes and a tiny home. All that will be rented out on Airbnb! Not to mention our existing airbnb arbitrage portfolio ;

I say all this because, for me.. rental arbitrage was a stepping stone to building a business in real estate. And while it might not be attractive to all real estate investors, I believe it can be a fantastic way to start to build experience, build profit/cash flow and establish yourself as a STR professional in your market and then use that to build a co-hosting/management business and work with investors that want to you use their knowledge and expertise to partner on projects.

Point is, don't believe everything everyone says about what is "bad" and what is "good". I know people making $20k+ months couch flipping and investing in vending machines. Don't knock the hustle, just knock the operator. Become great at what you do and you can make any vehicle a success. We will do over $750k this year in revenue form our Airbnb portfolio and that's because I took a leap of faith in myself to start an Airbnb arbitrage business 4 years ago.

That’s awesome, congrats!

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@Geoffrey Paugam Lancaster, Harrisburg and Columbia areas are pretty good for that. There’s a couple Facebook groups where investors post off market properties

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Umbrella policies only kick in to cover any excess of what your initial insurance coverage doesn’t cover. So if the initial insurance company denies the claim, you’re out of luck.

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Los Angeles County, California

Quote from @Jeremy Jareckyj:

Quote from @Hali Cordle:

I am in the process of purchasing my first STR. I found a condo I like that already is an established STR. The seller is booked out until August. She said the way it would work is she would add me as a co-host on her Airbnb account while all those dates are fulfilled and I would take all the earnings. After the dates are fulfilled, the Airbnb property would be removed from her account and I would add the property to my own Airbnb account. To me the seller seems very knowledgeable and I would most likely benefit from working with her the first couple months in learning more about STR while we are "sharing" the Airbnb account. Is this how it works? Should I not do it this way? I am aware that Avery Carl's book says to have seller cancel all future bookings and ask renter to book again with the new buyer. Like she also mentions in her book, that already leaves a bad taste in the renters mouth. I'd appreciate your opinions as like I said I am new to this and I'm sure I still have a lot to learn.

One way I have actually done it, is if the seller is willing, airbnb allows you to completelty take over their account. The seller can remove their ID, banking info, and anything else personal and you can login and add all your information in addition to changing the email. This works best when the seller doesn't really use this account for traveling purposes or have other listings on it.

I did get approval from AIRBNB and they 100% allow this. VRBO listings and bookings can be transfered so no problem there.

Interesting, I asked Airbnb to transfer my account to someone else and they wouldn’t do it. It was last year though so maybe times have changed.

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Quote from @Marc Shin:

Is it possible to manage an out-of-state short term rental without a property manager? I don't want to spend a lot of $$ in property management. What are the challenges and how do I overcome those challenges? Any tips/tricks?

Yes sir. As a rookie investor I bought my first STR 6 months into investing (I had an LTR too) but my STR under my management was way less of a headache and better run than the LTR being managed.

The STR was in Ocean city Maryland which is about 3 hours away from me. Whenever something went wrong I just picked up the phone and lined up someone to fix it. Overtime I had contractors that I could trust. You’ll want to start with a cleaner first and branch out from there. Handyman, plumber, HVAC, etc. I now have an agent who is also an investor and he has a lot of contacts for me to use as well.

Most STR PM's also charge a lot. In OC it's roughly 10% upwards of 50% (50% from what I've heard)

Of course you are 100% responsible for listing the property, guest communication, things like that.

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Great post, thanks for your perspective

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Manchester, New Hampshire

@Geoffrey Paugam I saw that one with Laura coming up. I’ve seen her stuff on social media so I am tempted to go even though I’m not currently interested in flipping. Also I want to see the VRA office.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

@Robert Coldwell if you look at my other posts you’ll see some of the headaches that I had to deal with on the LTR. Long story short, terrible PM, 3 bad tenants back to back and a lawsuit. I had the property 2 years and only the first 6 months were good.

I sold the STR due to what was going on with the other property as I couldn't keep both financially. Tried selling the LTR but it wasn't the right time in that market so it sat. The second time around it finally sold but total DOM was 100 days or so.

As far as what I learned, I prefer STR's and managing it myself vs a PM. Things in my self managed Ocean city property were smooth compared to my PM managed property in Lancaster. When I do another LTR I plan to self manage and in a different area but for now my focus is STR.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I'm in Downingtown, but grew up in WC. Bought and sold 2 properties in the past 2 years. LTR in Lancaster and a STR in Ocean City. Done with the LTR's for now, but looking for another STR in Ocean city. Just made an offer on one earlier in the month but it fell through so I may hold off until later in the year / early next year to catch the beginning of prime season vs mid season.

I haven't been yet, but have been meaning to get out to the VRA meetups, have either of you been? @Robert Coldwell

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Quote from @Jeramey Rogers:

Hi everyone - posting an update here for my fellow investors. Summer went extremely well. Had a 100% occupancy rate. Overall going to net somewhere between 80k - 85k through 12 months with an average occupancy btw 70 - 80%. While I am happy with this purchase overall, I am no longer focused on investing in ocean city due to transitioning away from condos. The construction from the assessment on the building I referenced in a previous post has been completed....... for only 75% of the building. The board is new voting on covering the additional 25% next year. This will cost me around 10k. While I have profited significantly more than expected this year, I purchased another property (SFH) in North Charleston where I am pacing to drive slightly more revenue and I have much more control of costs vs the condo. I would say this property served its purpose as a relatively easy to setup investment that helped me get experience in real estate investing.

thank you to everyone in the chat for your help here.

That's awesome Jeramey! Great numbers for a 2 BR. Crazy how different the bayside vs the ocean front is. I sold my bayside mid town OCMD condo last June and am looking for another one. Mine was a 1 BR, 1 BA so for my next one looking for something bigger.

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All Forum Posts by: Dre N.

Dre N. has started 0 posts and replied 43 times.

Post: I'm quitting Rental Arbitrage after 4 years...here's what I learned

Post: Looking for off-market investment opportunities

Post: Is Airbnb's liability protection enough?

Post: Seller will add me as a co-host on their existing Airbnb account….

Post: possible to manage out-of-state short term rental without a property manager?

Post: Is now a good time to buy or refinance ?

Post: Anyone partnering up?

Post: Anyone partnering up?

Post: Anyone partnering up?

Post: Ocean City, MD - STR investment