All Forum Posts by: Gary Ennis

If you can find a rock star housekeeper/caretaker in the area (certainly easier said than done), and pay them well, they can take care of all of the cleaning / boots on the ground issues for you. 

And it really doesn't take that much time - with one property at least - for the owner to handle the Airbnb/HomeAway booking inquiries, communicate with guests, and keep on top of reviews. 

The customer experience that you provide and the reviews that you generate are everything in the VR business, and in my opinion are too important to outsource to VR vendors, who are focused on getting as many property owners onboard as possible, and not necessarily in delighting your guests. 

I suppose that one could hire a VA to handle the interpersonal communication, but I haven't heard of anyone doing this.

I agree with what the other posters have suggested. Foremost, do thoroughly check out the current situation regarding legality/licensing/hotel occupancy taxes for short term rentals in the city/area. Some cities have really cracked down, and some that allow STRs have fairly onerous policies.

Airbnb and VRBO do vet guests to some degree, but it's up to the property owner to do their due diligence. Check out the guest's verifications and past reviews (from hosts about them, and from them about properties in which they've stayed). As @Andresa Guidelli said, we also use a separate Short Term Rental Agreement that we require all guests to complete and sign. And we always make sure that guests provide some background info on themselves, their fellow guests and their reason for visiting; if they don't provide this info when booking, we prompt them for it. You can get a decent sense about who they are by how they communicate (or don't communicate). 

And while Airbnb and HomeAway do provide some insurance coverage for hosts in case of damage, you'll absolutely need a homeowner's insurance policy that's designed for a short term rental property - which is different from standard homeowner's insurance. CBIZ is one company that specializes in this type of property insurance.

We've had hundreds of guests at our properties, and the vast majority are lovely folks who take great care of the property. But we have had a few bad apples / experiences. 

For items of dollar or sentimental value, definitely remove those from the property.

Farmers Insurance. If you'd like the contact info for my agent here in Austin, feel free to PM me.

I'm in that same mode right now. My wife and I are searching for a historic building or a property with acreage in Central Texas, to renovate and operate as a wedding/events venue.

@Dave Foster yes, I should have also mentioned zoning as a primary concern. If a property is not zoned for that type of commercial/events use, then that's an immediate deal killer.

I got married in my own back yard, which worked out very well. But in my opinion, suitability for a wedding venue really depends on the specifics of the property. Some considerations:

- How many guests can you comfortably accommodate? There are many "boutique" wedding venues out there that accommodate up to 150 people, so there's a lot of competition there in most metros. But not as many venues can handle larger affairs of 200-300 guests, so there's less competition in that niche. 

- Do you have adequate parking? Or can you set up shuttle service to a nearby lot?

- Regarding liability, definitely consult an attorney and or insurance agent regarding the type of coverage you need. You'd certainly want to have an umbrella policy in place, in case your business insurance policy doesn't cover everything.

- You mentioned mobile bathrooms (hopefully not port-a-johns). If your setting is rustic, this might work, but I'm not sure that most brides (and brides' mothers) are going to be thrilled about this option. 

- Caterers will want/need dedicated kitchen space to heat/prep food. If you don't have dedicated (and out of the way of guests) kitchen space, this can be an issue.

- Your time: most weddings take place on Saturday or Sunday. Are you prepared to spend every weekend either involved in wedding events, or delegating to other folks and making arrangements to be away from your property?

- And the big one: neighbors. They can make or break a wedding venue. Even if you are on a larger property in a rural location, they can still complain if they don't like noise on a Saturday night.

Good luck!

I own a couple of short term rental properties in Austin. It's gotten tougher for Austin STR owners in the past few years. City Council is not fond of STRs, due to a tiny handful of "party houses" that got out of control, and very vocal opposition from certain neighborhood groups (and I suspect also from lobbyists for the hotel industry).

City Council voted in 2016 to suspend issuance of Type II (non-owner occupied single family or duplex) STR licenses. And as of now, the plan is to phase out Type II STRs entirely by 2022. You can still get a Type I license (owner occupied, where you're renting out a room or ADU in your own home). And I think that Type III licenses (non-owner occupied multifamily) are still available.

You can find more info on these pages:

http://www.austintexas.gov/str

https://www.austintexas.gov/page/short-term-rental...

Thanks @Dave Van Horn - just registered!

@Andrew Allen Thanks for the replies. We refinanced this particular rental property not too long ago and got a sweet interest rate, so we're not looking to re-refi. We've decided to look at taking out a HELOC on our primary, which won't result in as much capital to work with, but still gives us some flexibility to continue investing.

Thanks, Andrew. Looks like TX regulations are a bit more stringent on this than in other states. I guess that's why I couldn't find a "HELOC on Rental Property in Texas" thread on BP. :)