All Forum Posts by: Patrick O'Shea

No issues here. Started 6 unit building all LTR. Been transitioning to MTR. I'll have the 3rd moved to MTR this month. I keep moving this way till I have issues renting the MTRs.

Looks good to me. My units are close to hospitals and universities. I've heard blackout curtains are important for medical pros and desks for students/remote working. YMMV, but I'm always booked. Most of the time it's thru Airbnb. I keep it "sparse" as some might say. I have solid furniture, a couple fake plants in the apartment, good internet, and smart TVs. 

Also, I find medical pros typically extend their stay. I've had people book before the current tenant had a chance you extend. Now I block the calendar out so I don't have to kick out a good tenant for another who might stay for a shorter period. It seems if they don't extend it only takes a few weeks to find a new tenant if they don't extend their stay. I have one nurse who has stayed 9 months and extended in 3 month increments. Good luck!

I have units in Pittsburgh's southside. You have medical, tech, and universities in the area. Who are you trying to appeal to in Cranberry? I know I am looking for grad students and health professionals in my area.

 I have a 6-unit building.

I manage myself in Pittsburgh, PA. After setup, my effort is really low. I use turno.com (formerly turnoverBnB) and cleaners accept jobs based on my Airbnb calendar. I don't accept rentals short of 30 days and most guests stay 3-6 months.

I would look for extended stay hotels in your area. Corporations usually know where the demand is and setup shop in those locations. If they are there, I bet the demand exists. It's up to you to determine that demand and market to them. Good luck!

A few thoughts...

* I'd fix typos on slides 12, 17, & 21
* Are there other extended stay hotels in the area? That's always a sure sign of demand.
* How to do you market it since there are no internet booking fees anymore?
* Your gonna need people to maintain (common areas) and keep it clean (linens, towels, etc). Is that accounted for? Who does that $50/month cleaning?
* Have you accounted for initial renovations/improvements from the start? If it's for sale, I'm betting there is deferred maintenance (at least) and potential capex projects (parking lot, hvac, pool, roof, furnishings, kitchen, etc?).
* 7k for insurance sounds like a great deal. I pay $2k/year for a 6-unit building.
* Investors/lenders are going to want to see experience running a similar project/business. Do you have or know others with applicable skills?

It's a cool idea. Best of luck! Keep this thread updated if it moves forward...

It seems people are anticipating rates falling before prices do. I can't predict the future, but at least one of those two things need to give for transactions to increase. Prices don't always go up and I believe historical rates have averaged around 6-8%.

 @Will Fraser this will be be only my properties. I have my MTRs on FurnishedFinder, but haven't had much luck with it. I am on Airbnb for my MTRs, too. I like the website idea as I try to attract tenants thru google searching and as I buy more buildings for MTRs and potentially posting vacancies after buying a mobile home park. I hope that helps.

I self-manage a small apartment building in Pittsburgh, PA. It's a mix of LTR and MTR. I'm looking to advertise with my own website for the MTRs currently and I plan to buy move investment properties in the future. With my website, I'm looking to have it be more generally and professionally named.

My question is if I call it say, "PROPERTY PROS", do I need to be incorporated as a self-managed property management company? This is strictly for "vanity" and trying to look professional to a potential tenant. I would only see it used for a website and maybe business cards for people to contact me (vendors/tenants). Since it's all self-managed properties how official do I have to make it? I hope this makes sense, I did some googling and didn't turn anything up on this topic. Typically it's about starting a property management company, hiring employees, and managing other's investments. In my case I'm only interested in self-managing my properties.