All Forum Posts by: Jessica OLeary

Thanks for all the advice peeps. Turns out all 4 of the condos have already sold. Zillow and Realtor just haven't caught up, so that was discouraging. 

But, I did make contact with a Realtor in the area that says she will keep an ear out for me and let me know if anything pops up. Also, she sent me the agreement that will come in to play that answers majority of my questions! 

Canceled our trip down there cuz we also now have the 'rona in the house. We'll just keep on keepin on!

Quote from @James Wilcox:

Quote from @Jessica OLeary:

Quote from @Brooklyn McCarty:

What’s the vendor pool look like there? Is there 1 cleaner, multiple? Handy people? Do they understand door code culture? What’s the seasonality? So many questions. I’m not sure what you mean by door culture?

Adding to the list! I assume multiple cleaners/handymen because all condos are individually owned, and the owners must use their on-site property manager that handles the booking, cleaning and maintenance. Seasonality seems pretty decent, as the water doesn’t freeze and they have activities year round, including spa and indoor pool. Going in Feb to see what winter is like there. I’m not sure what you mean by door code culture?

She probably means what is the check in process like. Do you have to go to the front desk and get a key card or regular key, do you have to download an app to open your room, do they have electronic door codes that you are texted your door combination, ect...

I would almost bet that there is some seasonality with this kind of property so go in expecting that. That can be reinforced by the amenity fee changing to be higher during the peak season (summer) for lake properties. I would still ask what their occupancy rate is on the monthly basis so you can see that seasonality change over a 12 month period. I agree with the comments above as well as good questions to ask.

Gotcha. Yeah, I’ll find out what the check in process is like when I get there Friday. The amenity did slightly go up when I looked at summer dates, but wasn’t outrageous. Added occupancy rate to my list of questions, thank you! 

Quote from @Drew Sygit:

Try to speak with other owners while you are there.

The BEST info is looking at someone else's P&L!

Great suggestion! I will definitely see what I can do about that 

Quote from @Brooklyn McCarty:

What’s the vendor pool look like there? Is there 1 cleaner, multiple? Handy people? Do they understand door code culture? What’s the seasonality? So many questions. I’m not sure what you mean by door culture?

Adding to the list! I assume multiple cleaners/handymen because all condos are individually owned, and the owners must use their on-site property manager that handles the booking, cleaning and maintenance. Seasonality seems pretty decent, as the water doesn’t freeze and they have activities year round, including spa and indoor pool. Going in Feb to see what winter is like there. I’m not sure what you mean by door code culture?

Quote from @John Underwood:

I would want to know how much of your gross profits and extra fees they are taking in. It has a huge hit to your bottom line.

You see some of these fees when you book. Look for hidden fees such as an admin fee etc. These can make you non competitive compared to another property.

Then the obvious how much of gross income are they skimming right off the tip? More than 20% and look into self managing.

All great questions, and I've added them to my list, thank you! According to the MLS listing, all rentals must go through the property management co. So self management is not an option at this resort. We saw an "amenity fee" of like $27 when booking and it jumped to $37 in the summer. The resort seems to have great reviews, so I'm not super worried about competition besides my neighbors. I could do a little something inside to make my listing more desirable.

Looking at a few turn key properties in the KY Lake area. It’s a resort community where the resort handles everything, so I’m not concerned about regulations. Reviews are great on Google/TripAdvisor and it doesn’t seem properties are listed anywhere on VRBO/AirBnB. Going to stay there next weekend for the “guest” experience. What are some things we should ask the management company besides rental history for the specific units and their fees? Any down sides to a somewhat turn key property that you can think of?

I purchased my primary home as a foreclosure in 2009, currently sitting on about $100k in equity. Boyfriend/business partner and I have good W2's (200k combined annual) with longevity and 401k's (120k combined) boyfriend has very good DTI and I am working on paying CC debt down. 700+ credit scores with $50k cash in savings. I feel like we are in a unique situation because we have so many options and I am confused where we should go from here. We would like to do several things working towards a goal of building a portfolio including LTR, BRRRR, STR and flips. We are knocking on 40 :( He wants to be more aggressive than I would like, but we both agree 15 year mortgages would make the most sense to meet our goals.

Where do we start??