All Forum Posts by: JD Martin

Quote from @James Wise:

Update:

Motil pleaded guilty to multiple felonies last year.

Since then there have been several sentencing hearing extension. Looks like Matt Motil's prison sentencing will be happening any day now. HIs last sentencing extension is up.

@Matthew Albert Yeakey @Cecilia Arnulphi @Russell Brazil @Zachary Burkons @John Burtle @Ashley Corbett @Geoff DelGrosso @Mitch Deminski @Reggie Desir @Michael Gansberg @Will Gates @Robin Hines @Michael K Gallagher @Jim K. @Steve K. @John Koster @Rob K. @JD Martin @Remington Lyman @Bonnie Low @Joe Splitrock @Joe S.

 I wonder what the prison sentence length will be? I don't recall seeing any parts in what I read.

Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

I bet that the majority of their guests use their phones to book anyway. I don’t want to discount 10% for that. It’s just another way to try to lure hosts into further discounts, and punish those who don’t do that by putting them farther down the list of results. 
I am really disappointed with the VRBO website and its usability. I booked a vacation on VRBO as a guest a few months ago.  I keep getting emails to complete the booking when I already did!  That and other annoyances there as a guest are part of the reason why they’re losing market share to Airbnb. 

 VRBO sucks. They want the hosts to constantly take a haircut but they're not interested in discounting their rates to encourage more bookings.

Quote from @Stephanie Heron Weeber:

Hi - I've completed about renovations in 14 years and have never come across this before. My insurance agent can't find me a policy that will cover more than $1m for a vacant house undergoing a renovation.

I paid $1.3m for the house and will be putting in about $700k. Will take about 9 months.

I'm told Builder's Risk can run anywhere between 1 and 4% of the covered amount - Yikes. I'm used to paying a few hundred dollars a month to cover a "vacant property under construction". 

I approached a broker and have filled in the 6 page application which asked all sorts of questions about the nearest fire hydrant/fire station, will I be flying in any of the building materials, are there lights on all sides of the building? Kinda intense. Just want to make it looks pretty and sell it LOL.

Any ideas? 

I'm building a new house right now and my builders risk insurance for 600k approximate labor & material value is $900 annual. This will be location specific of course - I'm in Tennessee. 

Two things that come to mind here:

1. Telling people 2 days before they arrive to bring their own linens is unreasonable, even in a market where it's common. Not everyone's stayed at the shore and knows this. Saying that it should be obvious because it's not checked in a long list of amenities is a loophole. If you do not provide certain things necessary for a stay it should be obvious, printed, if not in bold. 

2. Why not just wash linens on site? Our cleaners do it every single stay, even with back to back turnovers, no problem. I wouldn't stay somewhere that I had to cart my own linens, especially if I had a number of people staying with me. You'd have to have a suitcase just to carry sheets, pillowcases, etc. Besides, why chance the guests even know how to make a bed right and don't just sleep on the mattress or the protector? 

You can't really put this off on old timey ways because you're 25. It's an extremely short sighted way of running an STR.

Before 2024 we had a lot of international visitors, all through Booking.com. I had a payment transfer dispute with them a few years ago and took my site down from there for almost a year but my international visitors fell off when I did, as they all use it. Last 2 years Int'l visitors has fell off a cliff so it hasn't made any real difference.

I hate all 3 major platforms. They all suck and I'm just waiting for a Houfy or other disrupter to eat their lunch. All of them suck at host support.

Comforter inside something washable is usually best but also depends on your climate. We actually swapped comforters for cotton spreads, layered, in our Florida home because we consistently got comments about wanting thinner blankets. That wouldn't work anywhere colder. If you don't use that setup you need something washable and a washer that is big enough to wash them in.

Best idea is just a hardwired on/off switch for controlling anything you want the guests to have access to. On our pool they can turn pool lights on or off and change colors with the same switch. 5 second learning curve, no inquiries or tutorials required from me.

It depends on your market, your asset and your target market. If you want to market low cost houses to Class C tenants, you don't want to waste money on granite countertops and Viking appliances. 

Your property should be similar or slightly better than similar properties in your market catering to similar clientele. If you're not sure where to spend money, I have never gone wrong focusing on things that will cause you neverending aggravation - old roofs, ancient heating systems, etc - and items that modern renters don't want to live without - dishwasher additions, central heat & air, etc. My experience is that renters don't care about fancy windows or countertops or appliances. They appreciate storage space, amenities common to homeowners, low utility bills, and proximity to work and shopping and schools. 

It sounds to me like you want to sever the lot from the house, buy just the house and leave the lot with your brother. As long as zoning allows it, and there's no current mortgage from your brother, yes usually it's pretty simple to just survey off a lot (assuming both lots pass zoning muster) and then buy the house separate. Without doing that the house and land are enjoined, meaning a loan is going to lien everything. 

Quote from @Ben Tutewohl:

I knew going into it that STRs wouldn’t be passive. But it’s hard to quantify the burden they can place on you. You might only spend a few hours a week actively managing a property, but those hours are completely unpredictable and they almost always pop up at the worst times. A guest can’t figure out the smart lock while you’re at dinner. Your cleaner cancels the morning of a check-in. A toilet backs up at 11 PM. You can’t plan for these things, and they demand your immediate attention.

That constant, always-on pressure can be mentally draining. It’s not just the time, it’s the availability that wears on you.

I’ve been able to handle a handful of STRs so far because I’m young and in a hustle season of life. But this experience has made it clear that I don’t want to do this forever. When the time comes to start a family, I fully plan to repurpose my rentals and offload management contracts so I can be fully present with them.

Self-managing STRs can be rewarding and profitable, but they absolutely come at the cost of your time, your peace of mind, and your flexibility.

Great post - you put into words exactly what I wanted to say. It is much more time, energy and mental bandwidth intensive, and you are right - I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum and if I was 30 years younger I would have a different outlook.