All Forum Posts by: Heather Brown

I like California Design Den. I buy them on Amazon. They're 100% cotton, not microfiber. Not too pricy. 

@Erick Pinzon Hey Eric, had a couple of questions for you if get a sec. I'm also in the Hampton Roads area, and am also looking at Snowshoe, so thought you'd be a good one to ask.

I'm just now playing with the idea, but what I'm wondering is...I'm considering buying a small condo for cash, like a 1BR or studio, because it looks like they can be had for less than 100K. I believe the HOA is around $400 for the building I"m looking at. Of course I would confirm all the numbers before pulling the trigger, like looking at recent or upcoming assessments etc.

A couple of questions I have are about:

Fees: of course HOA, but what else to watch out for? someone mentioned a "mountain tax" in one of the threads

Cleaners: How difficult is it to find a reliable and good cleaner? I would be self-managing so would need to get my own I presume, not the complex's cleaners?

A friend of mine just took a vacation there and was telling me that her building had two separate check-in desks at the entrance; one for "airbnb" rentals and one for the complex rentals.

This seems encouraging that they're embracing or at least accepting the self-manage model.

Any thoughts you have to add on any of this are welcome.

Thanks!

@Bruce Jones Ah that price definitely makes sense since you were so near the Chesapeake Bay. Great information on things to consider when looking at market value. Thanks for explaining all of that!

@Bruce Jones Thanks for sharing your great deal. Always interesting to see specific real life examples. Curious about some of the property details as this is pretty high dollar for a townhome. How many beds/baths? SqFt? General location? I own a townhome in Chesapeake so interested for comparison. 

@Joseph Davis. That's awesome...thank you! I will do the same.

@Joseph Davis Those are both in great locations. I actually looked at a townhome in Mill Lake that I really liked but didn't get an offer in quick enough and it sold. I'm still figuring it out myself, as far as the best way to market this property, but as far as advice, I would say have multiple options for marketing the MTR. In your area the hospital thing will probably be a good target for you, but if it's not consistently giving you leads, then look at the insurance and corporate rentals too.

I would also recommend calling the HR people at CRMC and CHKD and letting them know you have the property available for monthly rentals. They can directly let contract employees know about your place. They should have a list they keep.

Wise move to make sure it works as LTR. That was my thinking too. Then the MTR would be all bonus.

The only snag I hit with that is that by the time i spent 10-12K to furnish it that baseline LTR option didn't look as feasible, plus I would have had to move all of the brand new furnishings out and eat the cost.

Anyway...still learning! Good luck with your places! 

@Wes M. Looks amazing! I love the furnishings in the LR and DR. Curious where you shopped?

@Joseph Davis Hey Joe, yes I did eventually get it rented thankfully. It's through an insurance relocation situation. They have been displaced due to a flood and their home is being renovated. I never have gotten much traction or interest as far as the "traveling nurse" thing goes. Depending on where your place is you might do better with it. My place is about 5 miles from CRMC in Greenbrier East, so if you're more central Greenbrier or West and closer to hospital might get more interest. Also, it seems lower prices do better for that, like up to 1600-1800/month. That's just been my observation so far. Hope that helps. Let me know if I can answer any questions. Good luck with your place! 

@Nick Robinson So true that many lessons learned with this deal. I am going to use that to help me to do better moving forward. Not going to let it stop me! I joined my local REIA and am doing some more education before my next deal. Thanks for your input. Lots of great points!

 @Chris Allen. This is great first hand perspective. Thanks for sharing this. Very helpful!