All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

The general consensus is that 10% down loans no longer make sense in most situations because they add so many points that it depletes the purpose. If you are paying an additional 4-5 points, then you may as well get some equity for it and do a 15% down loan. These are Fannie Mae rules put in place in response to the flood of these loans for STR investors.

That said, DYOR and ask around. I've found that I often get options for lenders that go against what I hear from the "consensus", so don't take any single person's word for it. 

Did they say anything about Word Art? That trend needs to die already, as in 5 years ago. 

I would check the average lead time for your market. Most have come down significantly. If the average lead time is 3-4 weeks, then don't worry about what's 6-8+ weeks out, unless your trailing vacancy is poor. 

As of right now I am well booked about 10 weeks out, but yesterday I went through my calendar and dropped the price by $15-20 during the odd 2-3 nights windows between longer stays. If nobody books them I don't care, but it would be worthwhile if someone did. 

As for your listing, overall looks really nice and has great finishes. I would make a few tweeks: 

-Add more art to the walls that have color, preferably beachy colors. You have some nice pop with the cushions on your sofa and beds, so apply that concept elsewhere 

-Make sure your art work fits the theme of your area. The buffalo (or long horn cow?) prints look cool and would make sense in the Wyoming but I'm not seeing the connection to Myrtle Beach?

Otherwise, part of what you are experiencing now could simply be seasonality. Summer is over, so I'd expect it to be lean for a while. 

I could see Wilmington NC as a good fit in terms of COC numbers because of the modest entry point, outside of beach adjacent neighborhoods. Annapolis MD has a higher but still reasonable median as well and lots of business and government activity, so I could see vacancy being strong there as well. Both would probably work as MTR markets as well.

Otherwise I'm not sure how you can make the numbers work with the rest of the markets because the cost to entry and revenue required just to break even is high. 

Rent the whole house, however you could base the rate on the number of occupants. Have the price scale up above 6 or 8 people. You could always put a smart lock on 1 or 2 of the rooms and unlock them with larger bookings.

 Maybe include an ATM machine that spits out singles?!

There's a place in California (Container Stop) that does 20 by 8 containers for $45K (2022 pricing, likely more now) with basic mechanicals and finishes in place. IMO 8 feet is an awkward dimension for anything but a bathroom so you would need a sandwich at least 2 together to make it feel like a somewhat normal home. When I talked to the rep, to add the 2nd one on without an additional kitchen or bath was maybe 70% the price of the base unit IIRC. They aren't as economical as you think because they still have to frame in and insulate the interior wall, so the container itself is really just the subfloor and glorified siding. 

Plus, once you factor in the cost of a foundation, utility connection etc who knows if you are actually saving money. The example above is close to $300 SF, so might be more economical in California but doubtful in the Southeast. YMMV 

$93k/year in Kalamazoo Michigan?! LOLZ

1-2 hours is rough, I would comp them at least half a night stay. Also, plus 1 on having a backup lockbox. 

On a side note, is there no remote app for the Schlage Encode where you the owner can unlock it? If not, score one for the August, and maybe look into that.

I've heard at least 14-15 days booked/stayed. Not sure if it's a hard/fast rule because like everything the IRS can always deny/audit and then it's on you to make your case. Best to overshoot it as much as possible and spread between at least 2-3 guests.