All Forum Posts by: Stephan Kraus

make sure not to pay anything upfront and be VERY skeptical. those to-good-to-be-true facebook group posts by "older white gentlemen" are often african scammers. 

one if my previous answers shows the second of the only two profile pictures of one of those posters - a young black guy dressed in a sari. most arent as stupid as this one 

None of the answers so far seem to actually come from people who have done / are doing airbnb / STR in Las vegas. All answers sound like echoed half-truths of what people "have heard" about "how Airbnb's work in Las Vegas". Of course a Property Manager will tell you to do "monthly". Ask a painter if you should have your house painted ;-)

The reality is: There are a few ways to do it, and it can be pretty lucrative, and especially the way you proposed it (owner Occupied home, certain time a year rented) hasslefree doable. Legal, ethical, and without negativly affecting house prices. You are even doing your local economy a service.

And even for non owner occupied properties, there are options again now, Henderson just passed a new ordinance in October, and Both North Las Vegas and City of LV, as well as the county want to draft new ordinances, after the previous policys obviously did not work. (1XX permits issued, 8XXX actual listed properties) 

Do your homework on the legislature depending on what part of town you are planning to buy, and most importantly DON'T rely on STR rental as the only exit strategy. Make sure the numbers at least break even if you had to rent it out conventionally. You dont even have to resort to a year lease, i currently have a 4 month travel nurse client for 2740 in a home that otherwise would rent for 1250-1400. (But i'd still cashflow on that one if i would only got 1000 for it tomorrow)

My Airbnb's had two record months back to back, after a ton of covid related cancellations in march. Mostly locals, looking to get out of their homes for a day or two. But if it didnt, i would change my marketing / tenant search accordingly. 

I think in your position its a great way of "house hacking". You dont need a license for that and can just start (unless there's an HOA that permits this form of renting out) you wont get insane fines, you are unlickely to get shut down unless there are major complaints for noise or similar. If you do change the way you host to a more commercial angle eventually, yes the city might come after you, and demand you get licensed. (which in LV currently is a PitA to be honest) But you wont get fined at all, let alone "insane fees" (unless you ignore the city's notices)

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions & good luck! 🤙🏼

@Steven Macdonald

For a owner occupied Refi with a favorable low interest, you have to have the intention of continuing to use it as such - refinancing knowing that you will use it as a rental COULD constitute mortgage fraud.

That beeing said, i would absolutely try to refi now, as long as you dont have anything else lined up. If you do find another property shortly after refi'ing, your intent can change ;)

Let me guess, older gray haired gentleman posting in those groups? I clicked on one of these posters the other day, he had two profile pictures - one of said friendly looking older gray haired gentleman, the second one was this: 

Not all of them are as dumb as that one, and probably not everyone offering good terms is a scammer. But as the saying goes, if it sounds to good to be true... 😉

The scam works by stealing your identity OR they are probably going to request payment for fees upfront.

In general, dont give them sensible data like your SSN etc before you have vetted them.  A serios Partner will understand why you will want to check them, especially in scenarios like this.

Im in Las Vegas too, always looking for cheap money as well, so happy to go meet him for you if he's down to find new clients 😉

stay safe!

@Jay Hinrichs

i may have to pick your brain on how that 75% depreciation works 😬🤞🏼

on another note, the plane has been apparently in fact listed for a while.. 🤔

Thanks man, i actually got it under contract! now i need to find the missing 30k i still need, i have a 75K commitment already, anyone looking for a quick 15-20% CoC for a 2 Month investment in Vegas? ;)

As others have said before, be careful with the 4plexes in vegas - there arent even many PM´s who take them on, they are usually to much trouble for small returns for them. Most are in bad areas, and are in desolate condition - new ones haven`t been built in 30yrs, the existing ones are therefore a minimum of 30 years old, 30yrs of low income tenants, go figure.

I would personally not get a condo to rent out for many reasons, however there are a few exceptions too, i know @terry lao is pretty happy with his, despite paying 500-600 in HOA fees - he didtn buy at the current market prices though, so keep that in mind. For me, condo`s in vegas are mostly flip potential only. i consider a BRRRR as a potential exit, just to leave the door open, but for a rental there are usually better investments out there.

As a local investing in Vegas:

buy and hold investing is getting tough in vegas with purchase price to rent ratios spreading further and further apart. BRRRR is the only way i'd still consider this possible, but deals are rare, competition for those is fierce - i hear about 1/3 of all purchases are from investors these days.

You (or someone you know) need to know the areas and where to invest, and where to stay away from. Condo's can be great, but if you're only out for cashflow then why not look further east then vegas, like Indianapolis, Cleveland & the midwest in between for example? your 88k can yield a better rate of rental return there, i would only consider vegas if you're also eyeing on appreciation as well - but that may be vanished now, due to the crisis for the foreseeable future 💁‍♂️

Don't get me wrong, im still buying here (looking at a 100k condo tomorrow morning actually), but mostly for a flip - not surr this would also work ad a hold. 

If you decide on any area make sure you find a team of people you can trust, and then never trust them & verify everything 😝

@Storm S.

The purpose of a bank ordered appraisal in a purchase is NOT to determine the exact value of a property, it is to determine if the agreed upon purchase price is backed by the value of the property.

This is the reason appraisals rarely come in above the purchase price.

But i too share the frustration of bad appraisals. we just had two appraisals done for the same Property (Working with two banks to make sure we were gonna close) and its absolutely astonishing to compare them both, especially with things like rating of the market / neighborhood. one attests the neighborhood declining values, the other says values are rising - interestingly the one that said values are declining came back at PP, the other was 15k below.

And another appraisal we just had attested our flip with a 385k sale price a value of 367k. he made some factual mistakes, stating "newer laminate flooring" when its all new waterproof bamboo, and "laminat counters" when we put brand new cabinets and quartz counters in. he ignored the mountainview and missed checkmarks on some existing appliances, and his comps were half the lotsize and not remodelled.

we wanted to challenge it, but the buyer was so shoked about the apparent beginning decline in values, that he cancelled the deal after a month in escrow. 💁‍♂️💸

On the other hand - i was on the receiving end of a bad appraisal before too, and ended getting a 235k Property for 200k - so i guess it all equalizes in some way lol 🤙🏼

how is the new sf supposed to generate income if you're living in it? roommates? 

what other income sources do you have / how would you finance the new new property if your credit is bad? 

theres a few too many variables you leave open to give you advice 🙃

What's up Kevin, welcome to the forums & "Hi" from a fellow Las Vegas investor!

Some noble goals, whats your plan to achieve them? All the best, 

Stephan!