All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

STR is different market to market. Most single family investors who could not get loans based off LTR numbers qualified based on STR numbers. We are talking cookie cutter properties here. The majority do not hold unique STR property. 

My instinct is that the hosts most likely to "go under" would be first time hosts who jumped on the bandwagon without knowing what they were getting into. That type of borrower is more likely used their personal DTI to qualify, not projected numbers.

The name says it all . .. . Unless it's for 420 friendly rentals 

Quote from @Matt Brazis:

@Max Murin I think you can learn a ton just off of free education with youtube or learning from someone locally and provide free labor. We own and manage 3 ABNBs in Tampa and have not taken a formal course. I would absolutely teach someone in my area if there were willing to do random tasks that are needed weekly when it comes to managing ABNBs. 

Agree with this. Paying big bucks for masterminds and courses is putting the cart before the horse. Plus you could be out of place in a mastermind with experienced operators discussing high level strategies and issues, whereas you may have basic questions and issues. It would be like casually jumping into a weight lifting circuit with a group of powerlifters. 

Get into a property with good fundamentals in an area with decent appreciation and learn as you go. If you really need someone to walk you through it then maybe find a private coach who works directly with you and tailors their advice to your situation. 

Quote from @David Street:

Thanks for the help! We are pulling out with Vacasa, and planning to self manage. Do you have any suggestions on management software for STR, and smart pricing? I'm planning on putting the property on multiple listing platforms, so am searching for the best software to manage pricing and calendars.

I honestly don't think it is necessary to use software unless you have at least 3-4 properties. Focus on having a good cleaner and good service first. You can sync calendars between the platforms to avoid double bookings. 

San Luis Obispo County has regs within individual cities but for now the County seems to leave unincorporated areas alone. "For now" being the key words. That could change at any moment because STR owners make for an easy punching bag for low housing inventory, and the county can pass the buck for their past decades of housing development obstruction. Most other counties along the coast seem to regulate the unincorporated areas.

Ann Arbor regs are tough but STR numbers look good. Not sure about Ypsi and either way I don't see the appeal there. I don't think you need to choose because you can easily pivot from one to the other. You could do MTR during the school year and STR in the summer, but I would want to take advantage of football Saturdays during the fall so maybe you pivot after the holidays?

Quote from @Heidi Kenefick:

@Asury Johnson

How do you manually generate the code?

 Maybe check the post date? This post is 5 years old. 

Quote from @JD Martin:

Our cleaners do all laundry on site. They get it started as soon as they get there as they have to clean a 3000 sf house. 

As far as brands, always buy American and with the least "features" possible. We provide washers & dryers in all of our long-term rentals as well, and if you buy basic units without fancy doodads from the major US made brands (Whirlpool-Maytag-Amana-Roper, GE (owned by Chinese but made here), Frigidaire (owned by Electrolux), they'll last a long time and be simple to repair.  

Spot on! All of the electronics/CPU stuff is a solution in search of a problem. Mechanical breakdowns are much less common and easier to repair. I buy used machines for my personal home partly for this reason, the other part being that the dimensions are tight in my laundry room and the newer machines tend to be too big for it. 

Quote from @Keith Mintz:

Very interesting! What do you mean by game rooms?

 A room with games in it (pool table, pingpong, arcades etc) 

Keep in mind that even 2 bedrooms worth of bedding plus towels for 4 guests is more than what most washer/dryers can fit and clean sufficiently. Plus the time of the cleaner to wait for a huge load to wash and dry. Much more realistic to have extra sets that they swap out and have the laundry cleaned off site IMO. 

If you insist on doing it all on site then get the biggest machines you can it. Either way it's still great to have a W/D for your guests. My cleaner does some of the stuff onsite and takes some home depending on the situation, but she is a one-person show so YMMV.