All Forum Posts by: Eunice Villarroel

Rental arbitrage may not be a bad idea for now in certain states but a lot of states are tightening their grips around Airbnb which can lead to laws and regulations changing overnight and you’d be left in a tight spot depending on the terms of the lease. That being said it’s definitely not illegal unless there is a state law against it. As a real estate agent in Florida I am not aware of any laws in place here that make it illegal to perform rental arbitrage on airbnbs. I don’t know that there are certain buildings particularly and heavily populated areas that do not allow for Airbnb rentals but that’s completely different Love you deals directly with the homeowners Association of the property and not necessarily Airbnb or the state of Florida. I will definitely get a second opinion maybe consult another broker on your firm. A lot of brokers are not even aware of what rental arbitrage is so maybe your broker understood a completely different concept. Best wishes fellow Florida agent :)

It all usually depends on the state law. As someone above mentioned in Florida additions are considered part of the square footage if it does have air conditioning/heating and permits for such addition. That is how the state of Florida determines livable space but every state has her own definition of livable space. some states may not function this way. 

Hi there. I have done the same thing and a lot of the advice here is very good. I’d like to caution against charging utilities though. Specially if you want A more passive investment. Otherwise it’s only a matter of time before all your tenants start complaining about who used up more utilities than the other  which can cause tension in the house and little arguments and drama that you do not want to deal with specially as a new landlord if that is where you’re at right now.  Instead what I do with the properties that I manage is that I include the cost of utilities so I charge each one of them about $200 additional to what the original rents are going for. When utilities are included tenants are OK with paying additional costs and it’s a win-win for me because I do not get the drama on my utilities are covered

Hard money loans require 20%-25% down payment depending on lender. Totally out of your budget unfortunately.

I recommend you find a good realtor. Here are some things I’ve done to help me get my buyers accepted in the tough south Florida market that may help you too. You can sweeten the deal by offering a little more money (above ask offer) to seller, write a personal letter (about yourself, family, why you want the house etc.) to seller and attach to offer. As a real estate agent I’ve done that and it works sometimes. I’ve also gone straight to meet with sellers and just introduce myself and ask them about their goals to see if I can include terms into contract that would benefit them. Example- had a buyer that really wanted to buy a certain  house. I drove by to see owners made friends and found out they wanted a certain amount of time to move after closing. My buyer and I wrote in an offer that gave them 20 days after closing to move out and I pitched in part of my commission to cover their moving costs. Offer accepted. Hope this helps :)

I have tenants that do their own lawn care. Changing that soon since one of them destroyed the sprinkler, and does not really care for the lawn at all. I recommend you state that sprinkler repairs are their responsibility and have PROOF THAT SPRINKLERS WERE IN GOOD WORKING CONDITION TO AVOID THE “SPRINKLER WAS ALREADY BROKEN” LINE. 

ALSO AD INTO CONTRACT SPECIFICS ON HOW OFTEN THE LAWN CARE SHOULD BE DONE AND WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE IN EXACT DOLLAR AMOUNT IF FAILURE TO DO SO. 

DONT EXPECT YOUR TENATS TO HAVE COMMON SENSE WRITE CONTRACT AS DETAILED AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN 

Dark gray/navy blue with white walls, and marble counters.

ive actually been looking into cabinets with glass in them too. They are a bit on the pricier side but they look amazing and it’s less work having to repaint them constantly 

I like to play it safe with any investment with adjustable rate loans they can fluctuate and with interest rates rising I would definitely be concerned. In purchasing a property like this in this market you are betting on appreciation going up as well as hopefully some cash flow. As real estate agents/Investors we do not posses a crystal ball to tell for sure but there are things we can do to mitigate the risks. If I was in your position I would sit down with  lender and see if you could later refinance into a fixed rate without incurring penalties or what my exit strategies could be. I would also keep a good amount of money in reserves. The less money you have in reserves the riskier the purchase. Home prices are also leveling out which means we are not seeing prices dramatically increase anymore so it could be a while before your property builds up the 25% equity organically -depending on your market of course. If you have the funds, you’ve researched your market, done the numbers, done the research, found ways to mitigate the risk, asked the right questions and you see that this is a good deal then jump in it. If not then DONT DO IT PLEASE.

P.S ALSO USE HYPOTHETICALS WITH YOUR LENDER TO GET A BETTER PERSPECTIVE “ IF MY INTEREST RATE WENT UP TO 10% HOW MUCH WOULD I BE LOOKING AT AS MONTHLY PAYMENTS” THEN DO THE MATH AND SEE IF THE BUILDING COULD COVER THAT AMOUNT.

BEST WISHES :)

 Try going directly to the city in person to ask for it. Sometimes that's the only way to know for sure.  Good luck 😊