All Forum Posts by: Garry C.

Met a new person at a meetup the other night. She wanted to talk to me because she was about to get started doing STR in Denver, as a tenant had just ended a long term lease. I asked if she lived at the property? "No, but that's not really required. It's a grey area." was her response. I said, "You mean 'illegal', right?". She quickly went to find someone else to talk to.

Lots of folks renting out STRs these days are upset by the level of recent competition in the marketplace. I believe that's going to shake itself out in the near future. 

I own two and manage one in Granby. I also have units in Fraser and Winter Park. While Granby is less expensive than Winter Park, prices have been steadily rising (in all areas of Grand County). I haven't bought anything here in over almost a year.
Obviously, your 'rental income' or 'cash flow' depend heavily on the price at which you can purchase a property. But in general STR can be more lucrative than LTR. However, something to keep in mind is STR regulations, and what those will cost your business. And this can influence where you buy. The Town of Granby is currently looking to increase these fees significantly, whereas Grand County currently has no plans to change the fees in unincorporated Granby. You may have less stress and regulatory hurdles with an LTR, which might make up for the decrease in cash flow, especially as regulation shrinks that gap.
Also keep in mind that there is a high demand for affordable housing here, and unfortunately a low supply, due to the fact that so many properties are used for STR, which there is also a high demand for. This means that LTR may bring in a little more income than it can with a similar sized Denver property.

Haven't seen anything like that in years. Not sure if I should feel 'left out' or not.

SMART in Littleton is a go for the normal date in December, Tuesday the 18th, 6PM at Living the Dream brewery.
If your down south and looking for some great beer and even better conversation, check us out!

I think mine is pretty solid. Happy to share if anyone wants to see it. But thought I would note that I also require this to be accepted by AirBNB users. It's in my house rules, so they should not be surprised when they get the (automated) email asking for their digital signature/acceptance.

One of my units is RIGHT NEXT TO railroad tracks. We get a few coal trains a day that come by. Kids LOVE it! (And frankly, so do I.) I actually put it right in my listing headline, "Right Across the Railroad Tracks from the Tubing Hill!" But that's all I say about it.
In six years I've had a handful of people ask if the trains will keep them awake at night. I let them know that I want them to have a good vacation, so if they are light sleepers, they might want to look elsewhere. But truthfully, it's never awoken me, and I tell them that too.
Half of this handful have written a 5 star review where they called it out, said they were worried about it initially, and that it didn't bother them one bit. This could be why no one ever asks anymore.
Only one person actually complained, and that was privately, not in their review.

In your specific situation, is your property Pet Friendly? If so, not only is that a niche that can help you attract new customers that sometimes have a hard time finding accommodations, but they will likely also be more tolerant of a barking dog.

With that said, I agree with what some previous posts have mentioned, you may want to talk to your neighbors and/or the HOA about the noise and the junk.

@Mike V. thanks for the heads up. Just updated 5 rental agreements. Gave me the opportunity to update some other parts and pieces that needed it and make them more consistent too. I require the same rental agreement be agreed to on VRBO, AirBNB, and my web site bookings, so I had to update your wording a little bit to refer to OTAs. But overall, it looks to me like it should provide the protection required in case anything like that ever comes up.

I run STRs at properties with HOAs all the time. I'm on the board of two of them.

An HOA is a HomeOwner's Association. As an owner of one of those homes, YOU are part of the HOA. So when you're asking "can they amend the rules", what you really mean is "Can the Board of Directors amend the rules that govern myself and the rest of the HOA".
The short answer is "Of course, as that is one of the jobs that you and the rest of the HOA ask them to do."
The longer answer is "If you are concerned about the bylaws within your HOA, then you should join the board and help to shape them."

If you're not interested in volunteering your time to make your community work in the way you want it to (as opposed to the way others want it to work), I get that. Not everyone has the time available to donate. However, if your business depends on it, perhaps it becomes a higher priority?
Besides, the board may already be full (although there are usually openings, in my experience). But you should at least attend some meetings and let them know you are a homeowner in the community and that you're interested in being an active participant. Make sure to get out in front of any negative thoughts on STRs by providing information about why it's a good thing for your community.

@Ned Carey, he sounds like a potential podcast guest.

Anyone know of any good podcasts on the subject? Can't believe I've never considered this...

I use OwnerRez booking software, which does third party alerts for new bookings, cancellations, and date changes. This notifies both Housekeeping and Front Desk/Reservations staff. It also allows me to grant limited access to both these staff and owners that I manage for, so that they can view my actual calendars, no need to sync anything.
OwnerRez really did change the way I run my business and freed up a ton of time. They offer a free trial and have amazing support staff in place.

I looked at Properly, but would have to train my staff on a new system if I had wanted to use that. One thing that Properly does seem to offer is a marketplace for finding additional staff. However, the pool of available housekeepers depends on them already knowing about and using it. In my areas, there were none registered with the app.