All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Sounds like a cool project! If you do add a pool I would recommend making it a shared amenity for all of the units, which will increase the marketability for all of them, plus it's a place for guests from different units to meet and hang out together. This goes for all amenities that are meant to be shared, plus it makes it more likely that the whole property will be rented out by larger groups such as reunions, companies, church groups etc

As far as liability, make sure you follow all applicable code pertaining to pools. Even if those types of laws don't apply I would still have basic safety measures in place such as full fencing, self closing gates and safety equipment for insurance sake. 

IMO you are only scalable in STR if you have multiple properties in the same market because at least you can consolidate your vendors. Eventually you could create your own cleaning company to reduce cleaning expenses, and have a QC inspector to get ahead of the inevitable complaints and headaches that come from having so many units in operation.
Even then you still need a lot of units to justify investing in those personnel and having enough work to keep them consistently busy, and that is a brutal no mans land to traverse between being a small STR investor with a W2 and someone who makes their living from it exclusively. 

The other scalability problem with STR is that each unit has its own mortgage, insurance policy, a property tax bill, outdoor areas requiring maintenance, HVACs that go out and cost a fortune, and many other potential expenses and time black holes that are specific and exclusive to each unit you own. 

This is what I have been saying for a while now. In most markets you are either one bedroom or 5+ bedroom. Renovating a property as we speak that will have 7 bedrooms once finished. I would only buy a 2-4 bedroom property if it were in a A+++ location and/or a market where that bedroom count works the best and there is no premium for having more bedrooms. I know these markets exist, although they seem to be the exception. 

As for the 1 bedroom route, at that point you are competing with hotels so you may as well be one. Buy a commercially zoned properties and build extra units with pooled amenities. The fixed costs are a killer with small properties. 

I only look at 5+ bedroom properties or those that can be converted into it. The 1-3 bedroom space is saturated in most markets. The revenue slope goes parabolic in most markets once you are 5 or more bedrooms. Plus you get people booking well ahead of time for events. 

I would opt for twins (doesn't have to be bunk beds) in the 3rd bedroom in almost all situations, unless it is somewhere that you know you are more likely to get 3 couples traveling together than families. Which seems rare outside of markets that are mostly centered around non-kid friendly activities. 

3rd bedroom over game room. Depending on the market, a 2 bedroom may not even attract the guest avatar that would regularly use and appreciate the game room. The more rooms/heads, the more likely they are to want a game room because more people can enjoy it together. 

I would definitely convert the garage so long as you have ample parking outside. Garages go mostly unused by STR guests. a 2 car gives you a lot of space and options, because a pool table with clearance will take up that entire master. With the garage you have double the space, so you could do a pool table in one bay and still have the other side for arcades, shuffleboard etc

Thanks for the Clifs Notes! I think if you reach out to the host and give them a fair chance to address the issues, and in response they are complacent and making no effort, then leaving a negative review is absolutely fair. 

TLDR

Try to condense and get back to us

Santa Fe has similar revenue to Sedona but much lower entry price. Greenville and Savannah are still affordable as well and have very good occupancy year round. 

Can they be painted?