All Forum Posts by: Gerard Lester

If you can find a management company who will deliver the same or greater net that you can achieve self managing, then they have earned their commission. I would council owners to look closely at what services a manager is performing for the commission they charge, what they tack on and up-charge on and what you as an owner are still tasked with completing. The old model of vacation rental property management saw managers making profits on property management services and housekeeping but not playing offense on renting. This leaves home owners/investors with a unit that may only break even, as Gary C points out. Low commissions from managers can also mean lots of add on services that show up on your account, leaving an effective management commission that ends up in the 30-40% range. The vacation rental management business is great, but Investors and owners--don't be afraid of commissions that deliver a solid net income so that you can focus on finding more real estate deals. 

Hi JN--Galveston is a good value market both for condos and single family homes. Do your research on any HOA that you are buying into with a condo, as there may be deferred maintenance that will pop up and represent an increase in HOA fees that impact your profitability. I work with a management company and can offer detailed projections for short term rentals, so do PM me if you would like more information.

Do yourself a favor and work with Dave Foster. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to 1031 exchanges -- he's also passionate about the subject, so shares info freely. 

I'll bring some of the crew from Vacasa and see you all there.

Michael, this is the right scenario where short term rentals can win over long term, and where you might be able to find real estate prices that can lead to cash flow opportunities. However, there are a lot of restrictions on vacation rentals in California wine country. Check on local regulations--that can often be different from one street to the next--before buying. County and city regulations should be easy to locate on websites.

Hi CJ, Bend has made it difficult, but it's still a great community and fun place to spend with family. Cash flow may be difficult to achieve, but you can certainly help the home pay for itself. The team I work with can crank out income projections for vacation rental properties. There's no cost for this service, so hit me up offline if interested.

If you hire a property manager who can both market and manage the home and give you a greater net income, you win and will have an cash positive investment. Kevin's right, though--get as much historical information about short term rental as you can--reservation level data, not something scratched out on a napkin. If you're interested in an income projection for the property on the short term market, that's something I deal with all the time, but depends on where the home is located. Either way, it might be worth a conversation offline if you're interested.

I'm with Monika on this one. A domain without traffic is barely worth the $8. If you do set up your own simple website, you will then have to constantly update your rates and calendar so that you can provide the potential guests who go to your site real-time information. You can put a lot of energy into trying to compete with the major listing sites, but your time as an investor will be better spent finding and funding new deals.

Hi Aaron,

Welcome to BP--it is a great learning environment. The company I'm with works in the STR management business and we operate in Maine as well as many other destination and urban markets. I've been talking to a lot of developers who are interested in including STR's in multi-family projects. If you're interested in discussing further, do connect with me offline.

I agree that the current delay on restrictive ordinances is a good sign. I work with a company that manages vacation rentals throughout the desert, as well as in Big Bear and Idyllwild. As John D points out, there are good deals to be had in Palm Springs, but we have been reluctant to direct investors to buy there until the regulatory environment is settled. As others point out, there is more and more STR inventory, but if you are good at managing the constant changes in the marketing end of the vacation rental industry and don't mind the high touch property management work, Palm Springs will be a good market. Mike, as you suggest, geographic diversification is important and if you're interested in talking about other markets that may be appealing, hit me up offline.