All Forum Posts by: Jason Bilbrey

@Jason Bilbrey Other than the increased income from the extra unit, what would would the benefit be of building 5+ compared to 4 and having it be commercial?  

Good afternoon BP community! After about a year of dipping my toes into real estate investing (purchased one duplex, renovated one half and listing it for MTR while LTR the other unit), I'm strongly contemplating starting up my own Handyman and Home Renovation Business serving Central Wisconsin. 

Our niche will primarily be serving real estate investors and agents and their clients by doing handyman jobs for fixing up rentals, getting a property ready for sale, addressing inspection findings either before or after a sale, and renovating kitchens, baths or whatever for anyone that wants some quality work done.

A little about me: I've 25+ years of experience with home construction - not as a contractor, but as an 'old-timey' kind of guy who knows how to fix things. In addition to helping my handyman grandfather when I was younger, my wife and I have completed four live-in flips over the years. I spent a couple years while in the military on a team to renovate the building my unit was using (25,000 sq.ft. building with offices, restrooms, etc.). I've helped numerous friends with their home renovation projects, from concrete to decks, to windows, siding, roofing; the list goes on. And unlike work (which IS a four-letter word) at my W-2 job, I genuinely enjoy building and fixing things. I also like helping people. 

Just posting today to get my name out there and see if the BP community has any advice on servicing this niche. 

Do you think it's a tenable idea? 

How would I build a clientele? 

What are potential pitfalls? 

How to market quality over quantity?

How would you start up a business like this?

Anyway, thanks for reading and offering any advice. I'm interested to see where this conversation goes.

Cheers

I've been working on a tool to analyze this for Airbnb listings.

I work in data science, specifically in marketing research, and I've run analyses like this before. The issue is getting the data scraped that shows what each listing has, then combining those amenities into like amenities (e.g. Wifi and "Internet" are the same amenity). Then, the model analyzes how each unique set of amenities impacts the slight differences in ADR, Occupancy, or revenue (as estimated by Airdna). Most differences will be due to location, size, or rules/availability. The model would estimate the marginal $ value difference that each amenity adds.

Running the model is pretty straightforward if you know how to scrape the data.

That tool really sounds ideal...

I think in most major markets now that are either saturated or balanced in terms of supply/demand now more than ever amenity rich properties are a must.  In FL that means a pool (unless you are a quick walk to beach), barbecue, nice outdoor area, etc.  Bonus points for kayaks/paddleboards, etc.  In the mountains I imagine it is a hot tub, views etc.

Using a tool like AirDNa can cut down on research time sifting through listings and gives you a better idea of occupancy.  Find the best outfitted properties and compare them against the less amenity rich.  You may find a 3/2 of equal quality and same neighborhood one producing $100k a year in income the other doing $55k and then you know about how much having a pool will affect income.

 Absolutely!

Then there is location and views.

Amenities are great...but IMHO, the main amenity is a nice, clean, warm, welcoming house with good coffee and a good bathroom. A BBQ is a nice first extra. But before we go on the quest for all the fancy amenities, I think a lot of STR owners should focus on the basics first.

Just my .02