All Forum Posts by: Fiza Ah

With the price I'm in the contract at and the rents that they were getting ($375/ room), using the 2% rule it comes in at a 3%, and shows potential for some strong cash flow.

It's in a good location, across from a bus stop, close to down town and close to stores, business, restaurants and bars.

I am planning to use a small property management company that has been primarily managing their own properties up to this point and has never managed a rooming house (though the manager has lived in one in the past). He said he would manage it for half of first month for a new tenant and 8.5% thereafter.

Any advise is much appreciated!

These could really work depends on the location if you invite the tenant from specific group of crowd, for example, if it's located very near to university. One fellow will bring their friend and other friend and so on. But I would not do multiple background/multiple genders folks as room-mate as there would be higher safety issue and continuous drama.

Also if you can, try to find property where you can divide the wall, and add bathroom/walls/kitchen,etc. Managing "two" tenant that's sharing space is way better than having different four family that lives in the same unit.

Also be mindful of parking space.

Carlos is spot on. Though I noticed when tenants bring in friends or even become friends, there's more drama and cleanliness declines. Either way put up boundaries and get your systems in place.

this situation is ultimate trial by fire.

1 Vote

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I own a rooming house. Like the other posters mentioned, it's can be a headache. We almost didn't buy it, but looking back glad we did and dealt the work and pain.

It took a year of trial and errors (and multiple evictions/almost evictions). The key is to do VERY good tenant screening on every tenant and stick to your criteria. Also, start everyone off with a 3 month lease to ensure they're a good tenant. Then you can move to yearly or month to month. My best tenants are those with stable blue collar jobs, typically moved to the US to work (think contract workers, laborers, etc). They stay out of trouble more than traditional younger tenants.

The 8.5% PM fee is really good and I'd absolutely recommend using a PM if possible. For us, we didn't have a local PM who felt comfortable with the arrangement. Make sure to keep communication open and increase the % if they ask based on the amount of work.

It is a lot of work, so be aware of this.

1 Vote

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Also, no W&D is a deal breaker for most people who you want as tenants (credit qualified, etc)

0 Votes

Looking at the Zillow listing, it looks like almost 300 people have reached out. I usually get a tenant by the time ~35 people reach out! I'm not sure if it is the PM, but constant and frequent communication to interested tenants is the only way to get someone in. If it's not working with the PM, it could very well be them.

Other items:

1. Comparable rentals are priced higher than yours. Yours should not be sitting vacant.

2. Pictures for comparable rentals look better than yours. It doesn't look like anything was done to the pictures to make it appear more desirable and it ends up looking dingy. Have you painted the unit?

If it were me, I would ask the PM pointed questions around how they're marketing and how quickly they respond to interested tenants. I would personally also consider replacing them for someone more "motivated". Good luck.

0 Votes

Columbia, SC or Charleston, SC are both excellent options where these types of properties exist. I am bullish on the south vs. midwest.

0 Votes

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Joseph Amaturo:

Quote from @John Underwood:

North or South Carolina Beach house would be a great place to have a vacation rental.

I was looking in South areas, is there any suggestion in areas? I was looking at Murtle, Charleston and Hilton head, but are there locations off the beach area that are good to look at but still get rentals for beach goers? Thanks for responding, appreciate your time.

The Mytle Beach area is Great. Charleston has some STR regulation that I would check into, but Folly Beach or Isle of Palms would be nice areas. Hilton Head would also be great.

FYI Folly Beach just announced restrictive STR regulations which would make about 50% of the STRs illegal in a year when the new permitting process is fully in play.

3 Votes

Quote from @Alanna Williamson:

What would constitute me to pay a client $80,000 for a townhouse? 2015 build in Charleston, SC 2k sq feet, 2 years in on a mortgage, turnkey 3b/2.5 bath, 20 minutes from beach, assuming mortgage. Trying to understand if its better as a buy and hold (rental) or find a buyer. $80k feels like alot. Client is moving for work states away with family.

Grateful for insight…

I'm an investor in Charleston and interested in taking it off you/your clients hands. Can pay cash

0 Votes

I would invest in my own market as a first timer. You're much more likely to end up with guests who trash the place or throw parties because you're not used to vetting them yet. Also, many cities don't stop parties on your behalf or kick out renters. I tried to long distance manage a STR - never again!

1 Vote

Quote from @Jason Smith:

@Jay Hinrichs Agree on the fees, housekeeping and accomodations being hit or miss. The rating system is out of whack we have stayed at 4.8-5 star rated AirBNBs that would 3.2-3.4 stars if they were a hotel on Google reviews. Plus they want you to start the laundry, start the dishwasher (we don't cook on vacation), take out the trash, etc. Plus pay $130 cleaning fee.

Pretty sure you don't have to start the dishwasher if you didn't have any dishes ;)

I concur on booking revenue being down 50%. We're seeing this in our Charleston market.

0 Votes

Quote from @Jacob D Adamczak:

@Fiza Ah I have a few short term rentals in North Charleston and hadn't heard about the potential changes. What have you heard?

https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2023/03/28/north-charleston-mayors-race-to-be-competitive-crowded/

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Fiza Ah

Fiza Ah has started 1 posts and replied 77 times.

Post: Rooming house, good or bad?

Post: Rooming house, good or bad?

Post: Reducing rent to place a tenant?

Post: Reducing rent to place a tenant?

Post: $400-$500k Small Multi-Family Property Locations?

Post: Another newbie. Best areas to buy my first STR

Post: $80,000 K for a townhouse?

Post: Longest Distance to Self- Manage First STR?

Post: 50% Crash in Airbnb Revenue reported in some Cities

Post: Is market demand on airdna meaningful?