All Forum Posts by: Javier Emilio Tirado

 Thank you. This is basically the answer i was looking for.

I currently live in Puerto Rico ( US territory). My wife and I have some properties here and have a lot of equity but PR doesn't have Helocs. Our only option is Refinance. We have lost so many good opportunities to cash bidders it isn't funny. Obviously I don't want to cash out refi and start paying a loan and then wait for an opportunity. Basically my question is " Can I cash out refi my home buy a property in the states cash. Rent it out and get a Heloc on that property even though i don't live in the states?" 

Hi Devin, my properties are in Puerto Rico. I’m looking at conventional loans using cash out refi for the 20% down on a new property. I was just considering getting more than i needed to cover some debt at once. 

Hi Guys! 

My wife and I currently own 2 STR properties and sub-rent 2 apartments to STR BUT we don't currently don't have a home for ourselves and our 3 dogs. We were moving between the homes as they were not rented but currently are mostly always rented and we want to leave that moving-around life behind. So now we would like to buy something for ourselves.

We have plenty of equity so I was considering a Cash Out Refi to cover the down payment ($80kish 20% Down) +20K minor repairs of a new home. 

My question comes in that we have around 100k in debt (mortgage not included) between loans and credit cards mostly things we used to fix up or improve our homes. All credit cards are 0% interest and loans are 5-6% interest. We tend to buy things (big ticket home items) with 0% Credit cards and pay them off in 18-20 months of interest-free time. This creates a bit of a heavy cash flow burden on us since the repayment of this 100k will be paid off in about 1.5 years. This makes our monthly payments in loans and credit cards around 5-6k a month.

So since i am considering Cash Out Refi of 100k for a new home why not just get 200k and pay off the debt? 

Refi would pay around $1200 monthly

New Home loan would pay around $2000 (which being STR people we would look for something we can house hack for at least $1500 a month)

As i see it this could free up around 4k of positive cash flow monthly which could be redirected into either other investments or more improvements on our properties but it would essentially mean more liquidity in our pocket faster. 

Question is. Is it worth it to get the extra 100k and commit it to a 30yr loan ? Or should we just push through this next 1.5 year and pay off our debt the old fashion way and wait 1.5 years to buy our home because adding another mortgage payment on top of this would make it harder on our cash flow. 

(take into account it can be mentality exhausting not to have a stable home with 3 dogs this is not just a financial decision but also for our well-being) 

And not renting one of the properties as an STR was an option taken off the table as they both generate too much. (We currently live comfortably with just STRs we have no 9-5s)

Let me know what you think! Would love to hear your feedback. :) 

I'm looking to start renting directly on my strs and not rely solely on Airbnb and Vrbo.  What insurance company gives good insurance similar to the Airbnb/vrbo ones for residential homes?

Hi, 

We own 2 plots we would like to build on. Was just wondering if anyone has experience on whether it would be more convenient to use a Heloc to build and then refinance to pay off Heloc or just a standard construction loan to a permanent loan.

A little bit of  extra info: 

-it would be our first build 

-it will be a full concrete build (roof too) 

-We have enough equity in one of our houses to cover the build cost of both builds if we use a HELOC. (but it is our only paid-off home, our "safe place")

Just wondering what someone with a bit more experience in builds would do. 

Thank you in advance :) 

@Eliza Sparks 

I just listed on VRBO as well for the low season. This is what they told me to sync the calendars: 

To export an Airbnb calendar

1. Log on to your Airbnb Dashboard
2. Go to your Listing/s on Airbnb and select the listing you want.
3. Go to Pricing and availability > Calendar sync.
4. Click Export calendar.
5. In the Export calendar window, copy the link, then paste it into your other iCal-based calendar.
6. Exit the Export calendar window.

To import a calendar to VRBO

1. Log on to your VRBO Dashboard
2. Go to the Listing you want
3. Go to calendar {located at the Left-hand side of the screen}
4. At the top you will be able to see Import & export
5. Select Import & export, select the arrow at the right of import a calendar
6. Paste the link you exported from the alternative Vacation Rental site in the space provided.

To export an VRBO calendar

1. Log on to your VRBO Dashboard
2. Go to the Listing you want
3. Go to calendar {located at the Left-hand side of the screen}
4. At the top you will be able to see Import & export
5. Select Import & export, select the arrow at the right of export a calendar
6. Select the check box right above where you link is provided that states
7. {Include tentative bookings. These will show up as blocked in the exported calendar.}
8. Select Copy URL
9. Go to the alternative Vacation Rental site {Follow the steps of how to import a calendar}

Then paste the link in the space provided.
To import a calendar to Airbnb

1. Go to Listings and select the listing you want.
2. Go to Pricing and availability > Calendar sync.
3. Click Import calendar.
4. Copy the URL for your non-Airbnb calendar into the Calendar address field.
5. Name the calendar you're about to import.
6. Click Import calendar.

So you would 1st:
Export your Airbnb Calendar and then Import it to your VRBO Calendar.
Afterwards you would:
Export your VRBO Calendar {after you unblock the dates} and then Import it to your Airbnb Calendar.

Hope this helps :) 

Hi Mark, I have a 3/2 here in PR with 4 mini-splits (1 is in an office) 2 12,000 BTU & 2 18,000 BTU. Other big spenders pool motor, dryer, electric stove, and tank heater. It is an STR and we got to around $600 in electricity in summer.

 Wouldn't long-term rentals be more "wear and tear" an Airbnb could have between 15-40% vacancy in the year if not more? Not to mention an Airbnb should be professionally maintained vs a long-term tenant that might not care about the property. 

Thank you for the response, Josh! 

It was more of a curiosity as I have 2 properties that do pretty well on Airbnb and was wondering if the value of the home is actually more than the comparisons in my area. (Very few homes in my area do Airbnb and not for any negative reasons either they can't or they don't need to) 

I don't plan on selling them any time soon.