All Forum Posts by: Joseph Bafia

I just signed up with Natalie Kolodij our of Charlotte.  SHe walked me through some things and is even helping me amend 2019's return.

definitely agree that its market & geographic specific.  We had a 1.5 month ban for ours just north of Asheville, NC.  After ban lifted in Mid-May, we are having our best year ever.  We are booked solid through December.  We have guests asking if we have good wi-fi as some are still coming to WFH but working from our cabin.  We've raised our rates multiple times and the bookings continue.  We are a remote area where I believe people are looking to get away to.  

@Andrew McKinnon Let us know if you need any more insight.  My son @Antonio Bafia is the one who is doing the High Point renovation and has studied that market well (knowing areas is a big must as the A/B/C/D lines blur quite a bit. 

@Andrew McKinnon We bought in High Point, NC.  All you need to do is do some Zillow searches for that town and you'll quickly see how low you can buy.  Stuff there ranges from very bad shape to fairly decent and good value.

@Ashley Mitchell good luck and let me know if you have questions!

@Anand S.

On what platform are you renting? VRBO does not allow you to choose both as far as I can see.

so VRBO gives the option to either charge a non-refundable fee for coverage (like buy a $1500 coverage policy for $59) or we can charge a refundable security deposit of any set amount.  We have 14 days to take from it or it auto-refunds.  Currently, we charge $150 refundable security deposit (probably my mistake for not making it enough).  The renter is currently in the home and leaves tomorrow, but we are already aware that they turned our GAS grill into a CHARCOAL grill and a few other items.  If the damage exceeds the $150, am I just out due to bad luck and not charging high enough?

They are not disputing anything yet as I'm waiting for them to leave just in case my discussion would potentially trigger more damage. 

@Joey Morea

@John Underwood

Opening this old thread with a scenario I just encountered. My current STR renters just damaged some items and this amount of damage exceeds my security deposit amount. Do I have recourse through VRBO to get more above that amount? I know I can withhold their full amount but it won't cover.

First one like this...ugh.

@Daniel Jones check out Natalie Kolodij. She is based in N.C. and does everything virtual and specializes in REI accounting. I've recently had her review my past return and she uncovered several items that should have been done differently.

The person we found to do some repairs to our STR when we bought it gave me the names of 3 cleaning people that he knew did homes in that area. I spoke with each and the one we landed has been amazing (and now happens to be a long term tenant in one of our properties). We manage everything from a distance!

Good luck!