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All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Jon Martin has started 34 posts and replied 1034 times.

 @Corby Goade do you or anyone else know of lenders who will HELOC against an investment property? Thank you in advance.

Quote from @Dan Thomas:

@Bruce Woodruff

I've had pretty good luck with their super host line. I've called half a dozen times and they have always resolved my issue. I have seen previous posts of yours and know your feeling on Abnb vs vrbo so it may not be worth your time but if you find that you need their bookings try the super host line. You could say your an influencer and that may get you more clout!


 Bruce's tiktok is pretty lit 

Post: Yard maintenance and pet waste

Jon MartinPosted
  • Posts 1,045
  • Votes 917

I imagine that the action of mowing the lawn will grind up the poop for you and turn it into fertilizer? You could always ask your guests to pick up the poo but whether they will or not is a toss up. 

Definitely be on at least a 2 week rotation. Colder months you can back off on that but the poop would pile up. Then again, if the guest wants to live that way it's on them at that point. 

Good call! After all the hard work you owe it to yourself to see it through. You can always change strategies in the winter, although i think that even winter numbers could surprise you. On top of that you need to build up your review base. 

Also, forgot to mention that it's worth keeping it STR through the remainder of the year so that you qualify for 80% bonus depreciation. If you are self managing and can maintain an average stay of 7 days or less, you could be allowed to offset the losses against w2 income (disclaimer: I am not an accountant or tax professional).

Quote from @Tyler Herlihy:

I also like Greenville, SC. I think it has a great little downtown and river area, but I think the city doesn't allow STR so you'd have to go outside the city. It still may be tough at your price point though.

This is correct but doesn't seem to be enforced. Plus there is a state law being discussed that could overrule local laws on this issue. My STR is slightly outside the city limits but only a 5 minute drive downtown. You can still get in for under $300k but you probably aren't going to hit a home run at that price. Would be a decent base hit to get started and potentially some significant upside with appreciation as the town is attracting a lot of attention.

I had a similar inquiry very shortly after listing for June and July. I was tempted because it would've turned a decent profit and relieved some anxiety but I decided that I need to see for myself how the property performs over the course of 4 seasons before I consider MTR. Especially during peak season. Eventually I may go a hybrid route where I MTR in the winter to early spring and then STR in the summer and fall.

I'd rec not taking the bird in the hand! You already put a lot of work in to make an STR so you should really see how it does in peak season.

Quote from @Ray J.:

@Jon Martin - Congrats! Looks like a great property, and the pictures came out really good! Keep those 5 ⭐s going!


 Thank you Ray!

@Shawna Walker I started with American Modern and they seemed okay until I realized that they would not cover theft under any circumstances iirc. This made me nervous. I upgraded to Proper for an extra ~$40/month and their coverage is much more extensive. Theft (even while unoccupied), pet damage, even a guest flushing the wrong thing down the toilet are all covered. I don't worry about my place being left unlocked anymore. 

A similar thread popped up a few weeks back, and some posters shared some interesting data that the 1 bedrooms have better COC return (IIRC that was the metric used) than 2s and 3 bedrooms. The nice thing with a 1 bedroom is you can be more competitive with both your base price and your cleaning fee. Lots of couples and single travelers end up booking 2 bedroom houses even if they only need one bedroom because they want the amenities that typically come with it. I wouldn't write them off.

Post: The STR loophole

Jon MartinPosted
  • Posts 1,045
  • Votes 917
Quote from @Greg O'Brien:

@Jon Martin the rules have been around since 1986! The “loophole” is just a specific subset of Regulations for transient rentals, which have been around forever, but of course became more popular recently.

The IRS cannot change the law so it will likely not change until a major tax package gets passed but even then, this isn’t a blip on the radar of tax policy.


 I agree, however AirBnb was not a thing at the time they made that rule. My point was that it would not surprise me if congress went after it with the next tax bill.