All Forum Posts by: Jenessa NeSmith

Something like that might work best either parked in the backyard/driveway of your primary residence, or on an Airbnb property where you are renting out private rooms instead of the whole thing.  I've seen RVs, tiny houses and school bus houses advertised on Airbnb and they seem to be booked frequently.  The Airbnb crowd likes a different experience, and a vintage camper or something like that would be a great fit.

The problem with having the RV move around to different populated areas would be location - where would you put it? Walmart parking lots? Do you have friends or family in popular locations that would let you park it at their place? A short term RV park or campground? Also consider the cost of getting from place to place (gas, set up fees, etc).  It could work if you were able to stay a month or two at a time, especially if you were traveling to these places anyway and wanted to make extra money while traveling.  I've never heard of it being done but I love the creative thinking!  Keep us posted with what you decide to do

We also brew beer, and have a lot of great craft breweries in our area.  I really like your idea of the wine - but maybe with some local beer bottles instead.  My wife had her heart set on a kegerator in the Airbnb but it sounds like too much of a headache to be worth it!  

Any recommendations for a general contractor in Omaha? Looking to do some light remodeling on a property (installing flooring, tiling, new fence, rewrapping windows) have worked with several different contractors on our current property and haven't had stellar experiences, so hoping someone out there has a contractor they trust that they would be willing to share!

Has anyone put a kegerator in their Airbnb? Thinking that it may be a way to increase bookings and the price point...however am worried about potential liability issues with underage drinking, and also about the logistics. Do you supply the beer or do the guests? If you supply the beer how do you charge for it, how do you handle maintenance issues like changing/cleaning the keg, and what do you do with leftover beer? Just wondering if anyone else has a kegerator in their STR and what systems they have in place!

Since airbnbs tax returns ard technically independent contractors, I have been told by several lenders that it takes 2 years of consistent Airbnb returns to be able to count it as income. The same is true of starting any other independent contracting business and claiming it as income. A traditional lease that is signed shows at least a one year "guaranteed" return. Lenders are more comfortable with the traditional buy and hold model. There are some things you can do: 

1. rent out rooms of your primary residence to start building up the two years income needed

2. Get a one year signed lease for the property for the purposes of getting refinanced and then you can convert it to an Airbnb afterwards 

3. Or, Find a tenant that would be interested in hosting  the other room/rooms as airbnbs. (I have not done this approach but zeona McIntyre who has been on the podcast and blogs about Airbnb is a good resource) 

I have thought about this a lot as I am having to get creative with my own debt to income ratio. My hope is that as STR become more mainstream, lenders will see the benefits

I have found some lenders that will do 15% down. Just have to ask around and build relationships with local banks. Can you use a HELOC?

It definitely depends on your area. Do some research to find what houses have pools/hot tubs and how booked their calendars are. As an experiment, you could put pictures up of one of your properties with or without a pool/hot tub and see if there is a significant difference in inquiries (just make sure to have instant book off!)

Have you considered buying a traditional house and then putting a "tiny house" (ADU) in the backyard? Might be less regulations around that! We also looked into purchasing an RV park and doing tiny homes only. Good luck and keep us posted!

This is definitely all great advice. I would also add that the more experience you can get as an Airbnb host the better, both to strengthen your case to the LL and also to help increase your bookings. As I'm sure you have seen, managing an STR can almost be a second job. Can you take over the daily hosting duties that your girlfriend does for practice? This way you will get experience responding to guests, dealing with reviews, etc. She can make you a cohost on the app, which will also help especially if she is a super host. Can you find your own short term rental to stay at and then rent out your current place? Being able to tell a landlord, "I've done this for my property for 6 months and grossed $3,000 without any wear and tear on the property" will really really help your case!

Omahas REIA is on the 3rd Monday of the month and is also pretty good!