All Forum Posts by: Justin Ellis

@Abdul Turay too many people put WAY too much emphasis on getting the right things in place (the perfect look, the branding, the logo, the website, the shirts, the..... well you get my point). All of that is for not if you're not in motion (in my opinion, some will disagree) and I often think people subconsciously do this to avoid getting started.

Make a flier that says what you're looking for, put your contact info on it, make 200 copies (spend maybe 30 min doing this) and get out there TODAY! If you're driving for dollars you really don't NEED anything as you're not making contact, just gathering info to send mailers (or sending them on the spot from your phone if using deal machine, maybe they'll give me a free month for the plug :p)

In the back end: have a branding package developed, get business cards made, brand your clothing, get a website (I think this is a #1 priority), etc but all of this should take a back seat to activity, activity, activity.

"MASSIVE amounts of action" - Tony Robbins

Now go get em!!!

@Aly Vizcarra @Douglas Spence

Just FYI if you ONLY use Airbnb to get bookings (as opposed to other sites like VRBO and Booking.com) you'll never have to worry about remitting any taxes as they collect and remit on your behalf (in most major markets, I imagine SD would be included on the list but look into this). Which, if you're not going to be hands with this, I would highly recommend. I think technically you're supposed to file monthly disclosing how much Airbnb remitted on your behalf (I do, but I have monies to send in because I take bookings from other sites), but I'm pretty sure most just just do it annually. I'm not an accountant so please check with yours!

@Deonte Ademiluyi

1. Start digesting everything you can on wholesaling, specifically driving for dollars. As many will tell you, this technique isn't really scaleable BUT it can be effective at cracking a few deals to get going ($5k-$10k per deal isn'tout of the question). Don't spend a ton of money on this, audible a few books and dig into groups. Learn the craft and get started!

2. Get a high per hour job so you can make ends meet but have enough free time to focus on the big picture. Someone told me once that Mark Cuban said if he lost it all and had to start over, he would become a bartender. Great pay for the time investment.

3. Play defense! You can make all the money in the world but if you have poor spending habbits you'll just be spinning your wheels. Drive crap cars, wear 2nd hand clothes. Let em laugh at you now, you'll have the last laugh, trust me.

4. Hustle! There's no substitute (unless you have piles of cash). Stick to it, constistant action every day. Don't get impatient and quit, keep going!

5. Keep learning and build quality relationships. You can't do it all alone, don't be stubborn and think you can, that's the slow road.

You're young bro, and seems like you have the right mentality (I truly wish I had your focus at 20)! Stay focused and you could be financially free and able to do WHATEVER YOU WANT by 30!

I got introduced to Brian Page's course "BNB Formula" while listening to the Mike Dillard podcast. I decided that (the then) $250 price point was fair so I took the course. It was a wealth of information and I liked the strategy (Rental Arbitrage). I hit the streets (2 days only) and met 2 DYI old timers that agreed to lease me 1 of their properties each. I've never had to hunt again as BOTH of them own a ton of property and when they come off lease, I get first dibs!

Although I like the rental arbitrage approach, and I'll never knock Brian's course as it's a great place to start into STR and LEARN; I don't like the fact that I'm investing a ton of cash up front for staging and I don't have ultimate control of the properties (I own more furniture than most small furniture stores, which is more a liability than a asset IF the leases were pulled).

So I'm pivoting into STR management with a focus on $500+ per night units here in Scottsdale and partnering up to build a portfolio of properties that I'll have full control over and can STR (or convert to LTR when (when not if) the STR market gets flooded and prices fall below the LTR rate)

@Don Konipol

So $2350 before mortgage, cap ex, and repairs.

What's your mortgage on the unit?

How much cash do you have in the deal?

Thats what I would base the keep/sell decision on. But I assume you've got a good bit of equity sitting there and want to roll it into something with a better ROI?

Could you get your money our with a refi or heloc and still cash flow? As a super newbie I'm cringing at the thought of getting rid of a property as I'm trying to scoop em up! :) But I know things look different from different experience levels.

@Ken Latchers I think we can all agree that it depends what area you're in. I complain about booking BECAUSE in my area it doesn't bring tens of thousands. It does provide some bookings but in my opinion who's to say that those dates wouldn't have been booked if left open on Airbnb?

There's also something that I've noticed. I manage a "shared space" for a friend of mine. It's just a room and private bathroom and that unit KILLS on Booking but not really on Air or Homeaway/Vrbo.

All of my 1-3 bedroom "whole unit" listings do good on Airbnb but not so much on Booking or Homeaway/Vrbo.

And I have a 5 bedroom unit and it does nothing on Booking, but pretty good on Air and Homeaway/Vrbo.

I think bigger units that facilitate large groups do well on Homeaway for some reason. (Not to get off topic but I think it's interesting).

@Julie McCoy

Nope! Interface is still terrible. Every unit has its own "microsite" of sorts with seperat msg threads and you can't write your own descriptions (which is understandable as they don't have seperate websites for different countries so they write "translation safe" descriptions for you), but still, it's no Airbnb.

@Ken Latchers

Booking.com is terrible in Tucson IF your properties aren't on "payments by booking" where they collect the money for you.

It brings all local people for short stays. And there's been MANY times I get bookings that come through for same day check-in and they "pay" with an invalid card but because Booking simply collects and passes along the card number, if I don't notice the card declined in my system they get a check-in code and I'm chasing people down for money. Remember, this is ONLY if the units arent on their program.

So, why wouldn't I put all my units on the program? Good question! Because they have to select EACH of your units for the program (not just your account) and there's no one there that can override this apparently computer generated selection criteria (trust me I've "let me speak to your managered" the hell out of this and gotten nowhere).

Another thing that I don't like about Booking is that Ive got to remit taxes on my own. It's not that big of a deal, but it's just another thing to do that Airbnb takes care of for me for a lesser fee.

Just my 2 cents.

@Don Konipol

Check the rules, but I highly doubt they've gotten LESS strict. And the only way around CCR's is to disregard them and do what you want (hahaha) however that's obviously not sustainable. So STR won't work for that unit.

I assume the $3850 is way above market rents? Or else why wouldn't you pop another graduate student in there for another few years rather than sell? Is it the fact you would have to handle the minor stuff yourself? If so I would be willing to help with that stuff.

@Don Konipol I have 9 arbitrage units (rent to re-rent) and 2 other units I manage in Tucson and it's not a "vacation" or "destination" marke per se. These units do just fine, so I wouldn't rule out your current units until you do the research (airdna.co or just look on airbnb and see how others are doing).

Also, I respectfully disagree with @Lucas Carl in that you can't make money with a manager. I manage 2 units at 20% (str management is more expensive) and both of them make about 50% more than they would with LTR, the owners don't have to deal with anything and have their properties cleaned and inspected every week on average!

I have to admit, Tucson is really the perfect storm though...

- It's big enough to have plenty of traffic but not so big that the competition is really fierce (yet)

- Arizonas laws prohibit cities regulating STR (for now)

- Property/rent costs are low enough even in popular str areas (near the University and downtown)

But I imagine there are similar areas around the country (I know Tulsa is a VERY similar market to Tucson for example. In general, not necessarily when talking STR)

But as a cash on cash investor even if you made another 15-20% better than ltr doing str with a manager handling everything wouldn't that be a huge ROI boost? So the question isn't "whats a target ROI" it should be, of the 2 options in your particular selected market where can you do better WITH a manager included in both scenarios. Because if you have to manage the STR to do better I would say all bets off (the day to day is not easy).