All Forum Posts by: Gene Hacker

What is the norm in the area? What do the nearby houses have?  What do nearby rental units have? 

There are investors that build to rent.  Is it a good way to go for you?  Well...that depends. IMO the next step to compile local data and crunch the numbers. What does construction cost in your area?  Can you get contractors right now (almost impossible in some areas right now)?  What would rents be?  What would your return be? How does that compare with existing?

I know my county will not allow someone to live in a recreational vehicle in the driveway or on a residential lot.  You should check with our city/county before committing to such a plan.  

Generally a home with its own land and no shared walls are valued higher. If you are not sure if that is true in your area, run the comps and both and see what difference you can see.

Why don't you have a contract?  IMO your goal should be to get it locked up with a contract before marketing it to potential buyers.  Without a contract you don't have any real protection. Get it locked up.

@Rod Oliver, I had to try many different people before finding people that were trustworthy and reliable. I had supplies and tools stolen in the process.  I have projects that are behind because I am dreading looking for another maintenance person to help out. There are cleaning people that advertise locally, but their fees are pretty steep. I try to keep the cleaning fee reasonable.  

@Rod Oliver, I have a portfolio of long term rentals in the communities around Lake Isabella. There are only two property managers in the area and I don't think either handle short term/vacation rentals at this time. 

We turned one of our homes into a vacation rental this summer and it has done really well.  We are going to be converting others as they become vacant. We have a small cabin with the long term tenant moving out at the end of this month. That will be our second short term rental in the area. 

It is not easy to find reliable help. I have solid team in place for now but I am dreading having to find other reliable cleaners as we expand. 

We are converting several of our long term rentals into short term/vacation rentals.  I have heard good things about Breezeway and I fully understand the value of dialed in systems.  The reviews I have found online have all been from big management companies. I would love some feedback from smaller owners with just a few properties.  Also, they seem to be very guarded about the cost/fees.  Anyhow, any feedback would be amazing.  

Yes, I used Property Radar. It is web based. 

There are free amortization calculators that you can find online that are free to use.  You can also find MS Excel templates that will do amortization calculations for you.