All Forum Posts by: Erich Wolff

I'm looking for a real estate photographer for our STR in the Gulf Shores area - does anyone out there have any recommendations?

Thanks!

Erich 

Thanks for the feedback! 

My wife and I are under contract for our second STR and I'm wondering how to handle the financials and bookkeeping as we go forward here (and hopefully continue to grow). We currently have an LLC, a business cc and bank account, and a quickbooks account for our first STR - it's been fairly smooth. I hired a CPA for the first time last year to help with the taxes, but I pretty much do all my own accounting. We self manage our current STR and intend to continue to do so.

I see a few options as we grow. We can obviously just create a new business entity and duplicate everything for each new STR (new LLC, cc/bank account and QB business). This seems like it's going to get complicated, but I feel like you have to have two separate businesses in quickbooks to keep everything separate, right? I've heard of some people creating a parent LLC and then having separate LLCs (one for each STR) underneath - that seems a little unnecessary and complicated as well. It seems like it's probably worth it to hire accounting help at some point here - I do have a QB expert to rely on for consultation as needed but I don't use anyone on a regular basis.

I'd love to hear how people have handled everything when they've grown beyond a single STR.

Thanks! 

I use a Schlage encode.  I haven't found a way to automate codes with our VRBO platform, that would sure be nice.  I have to set a code manually for every guest (just use the last 5 of their phone number) using the Schlage app then copy/paste the instructions from there (which include the code) into the VRBO messaging system.  I haven't had any significant problems, and the battery life has been pretty impressive so far.  I also really like the fact that it accepts a key, and we have that backup key in a lock box in case the digital system fails. 

On a related note, we were required to have a lock that was compatible with our condo building's master key system, so we had to go with Schlage.  If you have a similar situation (condo, etc), you might want to check with your management to see if they have any requirements. 

Thanks much for all the great feedback!

I did a quick search and found some older discussions but nothing recent so I thought I'd ask here:

For those of you who list your STR simultaneously on both airbnb and VRBO, what are some methods to avoid problems such as double bookings? I know there are various programs/apps out there but I thought I'd ask for advice based on personal experience. Are there other problems/solutions to know about when double listing?

We self-operate a STR and so far have only listed it on VRBO. We did that initially to avoid the double-booking problem and to focus on ramping up reviews on just one platform. We've got great reviews on VRBO so I don't think we need to exclusively focus there and I'd like to be able to hopefully capture more potential renters by also listing on airbnb. I've seen the numbers and our market is split pretty evenly between the two platforms - it seems to make sense to market on both at this point unless there's a significant reason not to.

Thanks!

We've had a few late cancellations on our STR. One was literally the day before check in, on xmas eve, which is the apex of peak season for us. The renter told us their family got covid and was in quarantine. I told this renter that I couldn't refund the $ and explained why (this is a business for us and this is peak season, we have a mortgage to pay, etc). We immediately relisted and got a new renter for part of the open time (albeit for a much lesser amt given it was last minute) and I was able to provide a partial refund to the canceling party (we didn't lose any money). I also offered her a free (except cleaning fee) stay during our very slow season - no skin off my back there. I think they were as happy as could be given their family xmas plans were cancelled last minute. I did ask if they got travel insurance (no) and after this incident I added info about travel insurance to my listing page in order to be proactive. Try to work with them to some degree if possible, it at least shows you are trying. If you do relist and don't use an automatic price adjusting tool, lower the price yourself to try to lure in a last minute renter.

My philosophy in the STR game is to try to keep the renters as happy as possible, great reviews work wonders.

I have a condo in Summit County that we use a bit but mostly rent out as a STR on VRBO. I'm getting ready to open up the calendar for ski season, which is obviously very busy out here (I've been told that 70% of annual income is from mid December to late March). I'm curious if anyone has a good minimum night strategy for a ski town or similar area. Typically I just do a two night minimum but bump it to three for holiday weekends like MLK and such, and four for Thanksgiving. Then there's the Xmas/New Years time as well as spring break (which is not just one particular week of course). Do you think extending minimums to 6 or 7 days for these longer stretches is a good strategy or will it perhaps turn people away? I can obviously start with a longer minimum and decrease it if need be later on, or adjust minimums to fill in gap periods.

Just curious how other people handle this. 

Thanks

I'm looking at a multi family property that is currently classified under section 42 rules and will be for at least another 20 years - rent is locked in at low income rates and this won't be changing anytime soon.  The property analysis that is being provided (I've done my own analysis as well) shows the financials at both the current rents and the potential "market rents".  The argument is that if a tenant who qualified for this housing under section 42 rules also had a section 8 voucher, they would still pay the low income cap that is currently being charged but that the actual paid rent would be higher as it would be subsidized with the voucher.  Voila, the rent income is higher. There are actually a few tenants with the section 8 voucher currently and the rent income from these units is indeed higher.  So it certainly seems valid.  

Seems great in principal - if I really could get the majority (or all) of the tenants to be section 8 voucher holders and get market rent I think it would be a very good investment.  It's not a bad deal as is, without any section 8 increase in rent income, but certainly could be a lot better. 

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge about this sort of section 42/section 8 combination.

I'm also trying to figure out how difficult it actually is to get these section 8 vouchers.  Is there a long waiting list?  It is harder to get these than it is to qualify for section 42 low income housing? Ideally one could assist the current tenants in getting these vouchers as I don't really want to be the guy to boot out all the current tenants in order to get only section 8 voucher holding tenants in place.  I'm not even sure if they could be removed with the section 42 rules anyway. If the process of having current tenants get section 8 vouchers is really challenging or would take a long time (or would they even bother?) I certainly want to know that ahead of time. 

Any advice or tips appreciated.  

Hey everyone. I'm a rookie from the Denver metro area. I'm in the educational process still, but I'm very excited about getting started. Obviously I wish I would have jumped in several years ago, but hey, better late than never! I'm looking to do long distance rental properties (buy and hold) via the BRRRR method, either single family or small multifamily. Hopefully I can slowly accumulate units. I haven't decided on a market yet. I really like David Greene's method of finding a core 4 team first, then looking for properties. I have a full time job and will definitely need to rely on a good team. The only drawback I see to this approach is that I'm sort of limited to one market (unless I take the extra time to find a team in multiple markets, which seems impractical given how busy I am). Given how hard it seems to find deals right now, limiting myself to just one market to make my first deal could be a negative, but perhaps outweighed by the positives of the approach?

I'm looking forward to learning a ton from everyone here!

Erich