Skip to content
×
Pro Members Get
Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
ANNUAL Save 54%
$32.50 /mo
$390 billed annualy
MONTHLY
$69 /mo
billed monthly
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Pick markets, find deals, analyze and manage properties. Try BiggerPockets PRO.
x
All Forum Categories
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Jon Martin has started 32 posts and replied 968 times.

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Collin Hays

@Jon Martin

i agree that tax considerations shouldn't, by themselves, drive business strategy.  but with that said, it seems like you're assuming OP will be able to have a high performing / top performing STR (which i think we would all agree would beat unleveraged market returns.) and maybe he will. but isn't that worth interrogating a little bit?

@Nicholas L. yes absolutely, everyone should do their own DD. I am comfortable saying this because I have seen it work and replicated it. I even kept the cash flow number conservative and the math still works, $1K/month on a $400K property is good but not a home run by any means. Caveat is that you should be reinvesting those profits back into other smart investments so that you aren't missing out on compounding gains. 

Paying taxes on early withdrawal is not much different than taxes on any other income. All are profits/income tand you are still coming out ahead, even if you have to pay taxes on them. 

Quote from @Kevin S.:

@Jon Martin

Are you investing in your hometown/state or OOS?  Are these Class C zip codes?  You are talking 2% rule!  Care to share more?  Thanks.   


Out of state, southeast and midwest college/mid-sized towns. High bedroom counts to attract guests for weddings, families etc. Mostly class B because the purchase price is accessible and still profitable. 

Hi @Kevin S. yes you absolutely can. I picked up a home for $422k that does $8k+month in revenue, some months well over. After all expenses paid the profits are closer to $2k at $8k/month revenue. 5+ bedroom homes in mid-sized cities is my strategy. 

The math I posted above get's a lot more impressive if you can push $2k+ cash flow. 

I'm surprised to see so many posts favoring blinds over curtains. Most blinds are tough and time consuming to clean, prone to breakage/creases, strings break and get stained etc.  Whereas curtains you can easily throw in the washing machine. Not to mention the cost. 

Am I missing something? I thought that curtains over blinds was something that a lot of the STR gurus pushed.

Definitely do blackout curtains in the bedrooms. Not sure which color though 

Post: The Next Deal...

Jon MartinPosted
  • Posts 978
  • Votes 839
Quote from @Jeremy H.:
Quote from @Jon Martin:
Quote from @Todd Goedeke:

@Jeremy H.there is no need to self manage for the passive investor looking for a fixed NNN return in the 15%+ range.

Smart business owners and retirees looking to diversify their investment portfolio are not looking to run a hospitality business.  Turning over management via a triple net lease is a great way to lock in superior cash flow thru a 15%+ long term lease.

Self managing is easy money with tech and systems. I do relatively well in my day job by today's standards but my hourly rate for self managing is closer to that of a surgeon. 

I have partnerships where I take a management fee off of topline and split profits from bottom line. Partners are happy because I don't charge an exorbitant fee and do a much better job. If I scale to a point where I no longer have time and have to outsource, that line item is already accounted for and the property will still be profitable. 


 It sounds like you are running a small management company for STRs? Is that somewhat accurate? 

Can you explain your partnership? Trying to figure if the partner is the STR owner or another management company that facilitates things through you.

I like it though. I think if you have a little extra time, operating a smaller STR business can pick up some good income. And you can provide a good value by charging a lot less than the big operators. I know of a few in the PCB Florida area

Pretty basic, and I am small scale. I take a percent off of total top line (including cleaning fees) that is 5-10% less than what a local "hands on" operator would charge. I am managing remotely so I am not much different than Evolve, so I don't feel I can justify 25% like a local operator would, but I do care a whole lot more! Then split bottom line 50/50 with the partner (individual) after all other expenses are paid. Went in 50/50 with partner for all upfront cash expenses. 

Currently finalizing a deal for another property with a different individual investor where we will have the same payout model, but they will put up a bit more cash to cover all the admin work I have to do to set things up. 

Works great because I get guaranteed revenue either way and the partners are happy to be silent investors who get a check every month. 

Quote from @Colleen F.:

@Kathie Mata well obviously we don't agree.   If you make it clear upfront, it is between you and the tenant and goes in the lease.  I have two properties where I ran into this issue. One the ice maker is not advisable. It freezes constantly.  It is a perfectly good fridge, tenants don't care. When it dies I won't replace it with an ice maker but they were over the moon to get the rental and this is the second set of tenants that said we don't care about the ice maker. First set stayed 7 years. I have a second condo property where the water quality became unacceptable (PFAS) so I put a filter on the sink and make people aware the fridge water no longer works. They generally don't care.  All your properties may be perfect but if you are transparent about why something is not in service, it makes sense, and they agree it works just fine for long-term rentals. That said I would spring for the connection if that was the only issue.  


Agreed- with a long term rental you can be very clear and upfront about all the nuances/quirks of the property and what is included because the transaction has far more direct communication. Whereas with an STR, even with clear english detailing any issues up front, is often booked on a whim with an overload of information digested in a short period of time. Which does not give the renter a pass for paying attention, although that is often the context of the transaction from the guest end.

Not to mention that in many states, appliances are not even required to be provided by the landlord. As with an STR, so long as you set and document clear expections, it is on the guest or tenant to proceed accordingly.

Quote from @Mark S.:

@Jon Martin What assumptions are you using to state that he can make ‘far more money' by pulling his money out of an IRA and investing in real estate? I am curious because that is a very broad statement and there are many variables to this - what is the IRA invested in? What kind of real estate would he buy? What experience does he have in real estate or in selecting investments in his IRA?

All fair questions and yes, there are far too many variables to say with any sort of certainty. Here is how I look at it:

If you have $125K in a Roth 401K that will earn tax free earning at just under 10% per year, you will get a doubling every 4 years based on the rule of 72, making that $125K worth $2M in 30 years. That $2M would be worth $100K on a safe 5% withdrawal rate at that time. Very significant, and demostrates the power of compounding interest. 

Now, if you pull out that $125K and pay the tax penalties, that would get knocked down to ~$100K after fees and taxes (rough numbers for easy math sake). Given that some of that would be your contributions that were paid with after tax income, especially after other REI tax benefits offsetting the blow, the cash eaten by taxes/fees wouldn't be as bad as the back of the envelope math suggests. Either way, you would be left with roughly enough to put 10% down on a $400-600K property and still have cash leftover for closing costs, furnishings and minor touch up renovations.

At 4% appreciation, that home would be worth $1.35M and be paid off by the end of 30 years which yes, is significantly less than $2M. However, if you can profit $1K/month off of that property and cycle that cash flow back into something that makes the same return as your boring 401K, that will net you another $1.8M in 30 years, pushing you well over $3M. That's without figuring in tax benefits, increasing revenue per year with inflation, picking a market with more appreciation potential, making more than $1K/month profit (very doable) etc that could supercharge those numbers even more. 

That's how pulling money from a retirement fund can net you far more in the end if you do it right. 

Cleaner is paid a fixed rate for a specific job, you are paid a % of revenue. My smaller property averages $450 per stay (3 nights) and the cleaners charge $90, so they make more than a property manager would. My larger property scales up similarly. Work on raising revenue so that you can pay yourself more.

Plus if you have good systems in place, you should be spending much less time on each booking than what your cleaner spends cleaning it. 

Post: The Next Deal...

Jon MartinPosted
  • Posts 978
  • Votes 839
Quote from @Todd Goedeke:

@Jeremy H.there is no need to self manage for the passive investor looking for a fixed NNN return in the 15%+ range.

Smart business owners and retirees looking to diversify their investment portfolio are not looking to run a hospitality business.  Turning over management via a triple net lease is a great way to lock in superior cash flow thru a 15%+ long term lease.

Self managing is easy money with tech and systems. I do relatively well in my day job by today's standards but my hourly rate for self managing is closer to that of a surgeon. 

I have partnerships where I take a management fee off of topline and split profits from bottom line. Partners are happy because I don't charge an exorbitant fee and do a much better job. If I scale to a point where I no longer have time and have to outsource, that line item is already accounted for and the property will still be profitable.