All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Woodard

 It's not just the coastal zone according to the website, but you're right it is limited. The point of this list (which isn't meant to be exhaustive) is that every single one of these cities/counties allows non-owner occupied STRs in one way or another.

Nice! Sounds like you have a great potential investment. Since I don't know what's confusing you, feel free to DM me and we can set up some time to walk through the numbers.

@Leilani L. here's a list of areas in CA that allow non-owner occupied STRs and are tourist destinations:

Yosemite

Monterey

Sonoma County

Palm Springs

Fullerton (closest city to Disneyland with favorable regs)

Santa Barbara

Joshua Tree

Malibu

Big Bear Lake

Newport Beach

@Stanton Carter FL is one of the best STR states in the country. You have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to legal and cash-flowing STRs:

• Miami
• Miami Beach
• Destin
• Panama City Beach
• Kissimmee (near Disney World)
• See here for all city regs including St. Pete: https://pinellasrealtor.org/sh...

I own a Miami property and I'm closing on a Disney World property in the next 2 weeks, so if you have any specific questions feel free to DM me!

@Wes Phelps check out Rabbu and Airdna. Both tools will give you revenue potential for any property across the country just by inputting its address.

Rabbu is great if you want to see seasonality and comps for free. Airdna is great because it's integrated with BiggerPockets (go to the Tools section) and will show you a map of an entire market if you're willing to pay for it. 

No matter which one you choose, you want to find properties with a gross yield (revenue/purchase price) greater than 15%. This is a shorthand method to finding properties with great cash flow potential before doing a full pro forma analysis. 

If you have any more questions related to acquiring, renovating, or managing STRs, feel free to DM me!

@Robert Sullivan you can still get a good COC return, but in markets with higher purchase prices you might be better off with the BRRRR strategy (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat). Finding off-market deals lowers the money you invest upfront, and if you can get cash back from the refi that lowers your initial investment even further.

My company closed on a property in Gatlinburg last month using this strategy and we're excited to launch the STR by the end of this month. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions I can help with!

@Miles Fabishak save your money and self-manage if possible. You can do everything a property manager can do and it'll only take 1-2 hrs/week at most to keep up with the property. If you decide to self-manage vs. paying a PM 15-40% of your gross revenue, below are important points to know about self managing:

• Research local regulations to figure out what you need to do to have a legal STR
• Research properties near yours on Rabbu or Airbnb to figure out what amenities sell and what you can add to stand out
• Hire a professional photographer
• Implement a pricing tool like Wheelhouse, Pricelabs, or Beyond Pricing. You’re leaving money on the table if you try to do pricing on your own
• Find a solid cleaner and handyman (this may take a couple tries) as they are the lifeblood of your business and will help you with any last-minute requests that you can’t do being far away
• Use a Property Management System (PMS) tool like Guesty or OwnerRez to automate messages and run your business more efficiently

Good luck and DM me if you have any further questions!

@Brett Ramos it's trial and error in pretty much every vacation market across the country when it comes to cleaners. In both of my live properties in Tahoe and Miami, we had to cycle through multiple cleaners before landing on ones that were reliable and at a decent price (hopefully it won't be the same for our upcoming Smoky Mountains and Disney World properties). Just keep searching on google and don't accept anything below your standards.

In terms of deep cleaning, it really just depends on the property. A good cleaning crew will spot that out for you, and typically you can accomplish it on days you don't have a same-day turnover. However, a bigger issue than cleaning in San Diego is the change in laws to a lottery system. What do you plan on doing if you don't get a permit?

 I agree @Jay Breitlow, there are a lot of people out there getting fleeced. Tbh, even 15% is too much for me. That means on $100k in revenue I'm giving up $15k to someone for work I could've done myself. To each their own though, if you're hitting the returns you want with a 15% PM fee more power to you!

@Virgil Gonzalez there are condos across the country that are STR-friendly, you just have to be aware of the risk that the HOA may change the rules on you later down the line. With $30k saved you're looking at about $180k for a 10% down second home loan, assuming you leave $5k for renovations/furnishings.

Arbitrage is a numbers game with the unfortunate reality being 1) most landlords won't allow it, and 2) you don't own the property so you get none of the benefits that come with that. Much better to buy and hold your own property. And if you want to partner up, feel free to DM me!