All Forum Posts by: Jake Cohen

@Joe S. My business partner used to work for evolve. I have also worked with a number of people who went with evolve and as they learned more realized they were leaving a lot of money on the table. The issue is you will not have someone who is personally invested in your property.

I think your best bet is someone to cohost your listing if you decide you don’t want to self manage. @Valerie Rogers is a great option to help. She has been very helpful to me with questions I have had and I’m not even a client.

Good luck!

@Matthew Meunier welcome to the world of Colorado investing.

I own 5 units in Steamboat Springs, a gorgeous ski town in Colorado. I did a lot of research before purchasing my properties there instead of other ski town. The bang for your buck was much higher in Steamboat than other areas.

At this moment all mountain communities are extremely competitive. I am actually thinking of listing one of my properties because it is so hot right now.

As far as occupancy, we average about 65-70% for the year. Our busiest time is from Christmas until end of March. Slower in April and May. Busy with slightly lower rates in June- Mid Oct. Then slower again in Oct to mid dec. Our gross revenue on our 1 bedroom units is around $35k. 2 bedroom around 50k, 3 bedroom around 70k. All our units are about 1 mile from the base area of the ski resort.

If you have additional questions, happy to help.

@Michael Elefante

Great work. I am on a similar path. We have 6 STR units but looking to sell our duplex to buy a larger house or 2 to hopefully hit FI this year as well. Amazing how this can change ones perspective on life.

To the folks out there that are saying this is unattainable, it takes time, effort and unconventional thinking to work through the low paying jobs, side huddles, bad investments, but if you keep trying you will be successful.

Keep working hard and good things will happen. If something is in your way, keep working on a solution until you find it.

Cheers Michael!

@Ryan Kawash @Garrett M.

I have a bunch of lists of the items I use with links to where I buy them to make my life easier. Happy to share if you send me a PM. Good luck!

@Luke J Nelsen try a Niagara Stealth. They are very low water consumption and work great.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/205611735

@Rafael Ramon is your property still killing it? Any recommendations on a realtor you recommend in the area?

@Krista Goodrich it is not impossible. I own a duplex and a triplex in Steamboat Springs,CO. I bought these in 2017 & 2018. When I was crunching numbers, the condos were not penciling due to HOA dues. I found both multi family units that needed work and was able to capitalize on this market that people were overlooking. Both properties make money and we are able to use them a few times a year. Happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

@Greg Gillespie not a problem. If you need any additional help let me know. 

@Greg Gillespie I used Zillow rental manager quite a bit this year. I have 6 units, most of which I rent short term. I used to own a number of long term units but haven’t been in that market for a few years.

When Coronavirus shut down the economy and no on was staying in my STRs I advertised them as long term rentals on Zillow. I rented them all quickly and easily. It is not the easiest platform to customize but is a one stop shop if you can deal with their templates. It worked fine for me. It allowed me to advertise the property, see applications, create a lease, and collect rent in one place for free. The listings after your first property do cost 10/ week but I found that to be very reasonable.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

@Nancy Bachety thanks for the mention. 

@Megan Ristine we started a website that was aimed more at first time STR owners or people looking to make their STRs better and put up some of the products we use and software recommendations etc. We were not trying to charge anyone for this info, just getting a few bucks here and there from affiliate links. We created some webinars on how to best manage as well. We are working on some other projects now and haven't updated our products in a while. Happy to chat with you if you have questions.

Good luck on the business!