All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Conaghan

@Mike Gotti if the money is sitting in a savings account, it is a nominal difference, but there are online savings accounts that pay more than .8%. Outside of that, nothing wrong with looking for deals. I would say to be extra cautious in the present environment with making offers as any type of property could be going several months with little to no revenue against it. Who knows what the market is going to look like in a few months. Maybe nothing changes or maybe a bunch of anxious owners decide to sell, cause inventory to spike and prices go down.

Stay safe.

@Wayne Fung I purchased my first STR in Kissimmee in Windsor Hills last year. Obviously the virus has had quite an impact on the bookings/rental rates and depending on how long this goes for, we might not be profitable in our first year. Prior to that though, we were projecting better than originally anticipated for our first year considering a new STR seems to take several months to pick up steam. In my opinion, due to the sheer amount of competition in the market and the current prices, anyone buying an STR in Kissimmee needs to put a significant investment into renovating and decorating the property so they stand out compared to nearby, similar sized properties. Focus should be on proximity to the parks and having an updated house that stands out. A great thing about STR is you can scout other properties thru Airbnb/VRBO pretty easily by just looking at their pictures and calendars to get a rough idea on what you can do to update your property and what that might result in from a revenue standpoint.

@Joey Morea If we didn't have some bookings fill back in, we were seriously considering making the drive from NY to Florida to shelter in place as well! Might as well enjoy the property with its pool and warm weather!

Stay safe everyone!

https://www.businessinsider.co...

Well, this is something. California Governor has said that banks including JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citi and others have agreed to waive mortgage payments for 90 days in light of the virus' impact on individuals. A Bank of America spokesperson separately told Business Insider that, "Bank of America is deferring mortgage payments on a monthly basis until the crisis is over."

@Adam Tafel where are your STR?

I think AirBNB planned to go public this year. I doubt that will be happening now.

Additionally, I wonder how property owners will respond following all this and if they will decide to stop listing with them.

@Will G. What is your definition of trouble? I think it’s safe to say that most STRs will be less profitable this year and maybe significantly. Though I expect Real estate in general is going to have a tough stretch here. A lot of industries are losing a lot of money from this. Layoffs are already happening. Consumer spending will be going down. These things will have an impact on renters. It’s a good time to have cash reserves.

@Lucas Carl I will look out for the post on the new property. Destin looks like a great market.

@John Underwood to be honest, I am not expecting any real assistance from the government. I have sufficient reserves to carry costs and it looks like there will still continue to be some revenue from bookings albeit at lower rates and more vacancy than usual. If this continues for an extended period, there are certainly steps the government should be able to take in regards to tax changes/credits or having loan payments halted and tacked on to the end of a loan to help with current cash flow.

The following link from Business Insider discusses proposed relief that AirBNB has asked Congress to implement in light of policy changes they have made impacting property owners revenue.

https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-asking-congress-give-tax-relief-and-loans-to-hosts-2020-3?utm_source=yahoo.com&utm_medium=referral

As has been discussed at length on the forums, AirBNB changed its policies for refunding guest cancellations regardless of the property owners own policies.

“...In the letter sent to the legislature, they have asked to pass a combination of tax relief and loan measures that would specifically benefit its network of hosts. The measures would provide both short-term help for property managers and, longer term, potentially make the short-term rental business more profitable for them...

..The company is pushing for the legislature to allow property managers to get a tax credit for the money they make offering accomodations through its service and its competitors. Alternatively, it urged Congress to allow those hosts to defer the taxes on their short-term rental income.

Airbnb also urged the legislature to make it clear that the property managers that list on its site and others are eligible for the disaster loans that are being made available through the Small Business Administration as a result of coronavirus relief law passed earlier this month.

Additionally, the company encouraged Congress to exempt more short-term rental income from taxes. Under current law, people who rent out a room in their house or other property for 14 or fewer days don't have to report the income from those transactions to the federal government or pay taxes on it. Airbnb asked Congress to bump that limit up to 60 days.

Finally, the company asked the body to encourage lenders to offer low-interest loans to hosts, using tax cuts or other such incentives...”

It will be interesting to see what, if any measures are passed to assist property owners. We surprisingly have received replacement bookings in Kissimmee for March and April. It appears some people with the ability to drive to the location are taking advantage of discounted rates. Either way, it’s times like these everyone is reminded why we keep reserves. Stay safe everyone!!

@Avery Carl I agree drivable leisure destinations will be more insulated and likely see a less significant impact, but I think it is potentially far too early to understand the impact the virus will have on travel behavior. Whether this is media driven or not, people are scared and most people’s decision making is driven by emotion.

It looks like the numbers are going to get worse before they get better. Let’s hope the summer weather improves the situation, a vaccine is created and this becomes some kind of a learning experience on how we react to health crises moving forward.

@Bo A Vanecko this is pretty fast moving and people’s perceived severity of the situation is changing by the day. We have had two cancellations this month for March dates related to the virus. In both instances, we provided a 50% refund even though we didn’t need to in one of the bookings, but in both cases the dates were rebooked by a different guest albeit at a 45% lower rate than we normally listed at. Not so relevant, but one of the new bookings covers two additional nights, so technically it worked out. It’s hard to know where this is going in the short term (3-6 months?) but I am expecting more cancellations and higher vacancy unless we reduce our rates. With the just announced travel ban to the US and major events being cancelled left and right, I don’t see how it doesn’t have an impact on tourism including STRs.