All Forum Posts by: Eric P.

 Ha! Most teams get 5 or 6 home FB games. But we’re talking about places with RABID fan bases and not nearly enough hotels to account for demand on these 5 or 6 weekends. Plus, of course, a house can be more fun than hotel when you’re in town with your alumni buddies to watch some ball. You can grill out after the game, etc

It was shocking to me too as I combed through the AirDNA data but the trends were unmistakeable - I kept seeing huge spikes in revenue in Sep, Oct, Nov in these college towns with big FB teams (it happens in Knoxville too, though perhaps illegally ;)

I went to investigate further & found that there are people who live in college towns who rent their entire place out ONLY for the 6 FB wknds & it seems to cover their mortgage for the entire year. (Yes they vacate their house for 6 wknds ea yr!)

Also keep in mind that Fall is slow season for many places (cities, beach towns, ski resorts) so many college towns are CRUSHING them in Airbnb revenue each fall. 

Now, all this said, this pretty much only works if you happen to live full-time in a college town & you have an extra room (or are willing to vacate your house 6 wknds per yr). So it’s an opportunity that very few can take advantage of. I mean, I suppose the best way to leverage this opportunity for everyone else is to buy a place & put traveling nurses (from the University hospital) in there for 9 months/yr. And then get the big football money during fall season. Seems a bit challenging though & you’d have to get the timing just right.

Sample listing ($3900 for a FB wknd in a non-renovated 3-br house!): https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14294240?location=State%20College%2C%20PA%2C%20United%20States&adults=8&check_in=2019-09-13&check_out=2019-09-15&guests=1&source_impression_id=p3_1559416759_goL%2B2pTfN5vAN7nT&s=nG69S5pr

 This is a GREAT idea! In my extensive research of best areas for Airbnb nationwide, I came across a trend I wasn’t expecting. Do you know what markets are the most profitable Airbnb markets every fall? Tuscaloosa, State College, Knoxville, South Bend, Ann Arbor, Columbus, etc. People are KILLING it by renting out rooms (or full homes) for home FB games. Go for it! You can probably charge a LOT!

 The Rentalyzer is pretty awesome in theory, but it isn’t sophisticated enough to detect things like “this property is waterfront; this one isn’t”. Or “this property was recently renovated; this one wasn’t.” Or “this property is cabin-style which is more attractive than its drywall-based neighbor”. It does give basic directional advice though - you can see in general which neighborhoods tend to earn higher gross rents. As always, caveat emptor!

 What does the Exit Strategy clause in your partnership agreement state?

Is anyone here really good at managing their own STRs & looking to expand & manage other people’s properties remotely?

Looking for someone who can manage everything: pricing, SEO, tweaking the listing, managing cleaners, managing handymen & repairmen, customer service & communications, guest experience, etc, etc

 I’m curious what insurance deductible people here have been getting. My quote from Proper doesn’t have much difference in premium for $10k deductible vs $1k deductible, thus making me inclined to get the $1k deductible for max safety. But then the ultimate question becomes - if you have a $1k deductible - do you find yourself filing claims for small-ish amounts like $1200 frequently? And do your premiums rise if you file too many claims?

Finally, I’d like to add to this discussion by mentioning that insurance is a very important asset and you shouldn’t just jump on a company bc the insurance benefits sound great or the quote sounds great. The most important thing when choosing insurance is the stability of the insurer. After all, a low quote or great benefits are worthless if they can’t afford to pay out when you need it the most!

Good responsible insurers are well diversified with policies written all over the country. Smaller insurers may be over-concentrated in one area. And for example if that area is North Carolina, they may go bankrupt when a hurricane hits NC & does billions of dollars in flooding damage across the state.

That said, I’d recommend everyone go to AMBest.com and check the rating of your insurance company before signing up for insurance. It’s free and takes about 10 seconds on AMBest.com. AM Best has been rating insurance companies since long before your house was even built. Probably. They’ve been around since 1899.

Anyway, Proper is backed by Lloyd’s of London which is highly rated for financial stability by AM Best. All of the big insurers (Geico, Nationwide, USAA, etc) receive AM Best ratings and have for many, many years. Some of the other companies mentioned on this thread are so new that they don’t appear when you search on AMBest.com - I would be wary of using those insurers unless they are backed by a highly-rated underwriter as Proper is. Just my 2 cents. Better to be safe than paying thousands of dollars in premiums to an insurer that later goes bankrupt when you need them the most.

 I don’t have a realtor for you but I do have some general advice on the Poconos:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/711235-vacation-rentals-in-the-poconos

You will need a good property mgr + great handyman + great cleaners. Many people invest & manage remotely bc much of the country is surrounded by areas that are either illegal for STR, about to be illegal for STR, or only get like 20% STR occupancy rates which makes it not really worth it to invest locally in STR in most areas

 Happy to help, Lorraine! If you want to focus on locations with 80+% occupancy rates rather than 20%, here’s a few folks who have been super nice to me along the way:

E TN: @Avery Carl

FL Panhandle: @Matt "Roar" Gardner

S FL: @Share Ross

I posted about this the other day in response to someone else’s question:

I've spoken to a few STR investors in the Poconos & here's some things they've warned me about:

1) Super low occupancy rates: you can rent for full weeks in summer but that's your only real guarantee. If you're super close to one of the ski resorts you can also rent for winter weekends (though the ski season has been getting shorter recently). Fall & spring are apparently super tough - very low demand - both weekends & weekdays. 75 annual rental days is considered good in the Poconos and 100 is considered excellent (so 20-25% annual occupancy). Compare that with Gatlinburg, TN & Florida spots that get 80+% occupancy year-round

2) Apparently there's a shortage of good cleaners in the Poconos. I've had numerous Poconos Airbnb owners tell me this shortage of quality labor is causing real problems.

3) Expenses can run high, which is a real problem with only 20-25% annual occupancy rates to produce income. Very high power bills, increasing property taxes, costly HOA fees, snow removal costs, hotel tax, septic & well maintenance costs, etc, etc

4) Perhaps most damning is this: I've talked to quite a few Poconos investors who are looking to sell after only 1 or 2 years of operating. To me this is a huge red flag. When I talk to STR investors in Pigeon Forge or across Florida, they're looking to BUY more STRs not to sell what they own! It worries me that so many Poconos STR owners sell so quickly after buying.