All Forum Posts by: Karin Crompton

Hey, @Hans Christopher Struzyna- welcome to BP. I say do both. Continue looking for a good deal and practicing your analytical skills, and simultaneously educate yourself about financing and get a pre-approval lined up. It's a good exercise to go through to talk to banks and learn about the products out there. You can also speak to hard money lenders, as that might be another avenue for purchase; you might buy a property with a hard money loan (or private money) and then refinance into a traditional bank loan. But you won't know which route to take until you've explored the options.

Now, had we been talking about a single family flip, I would have said just find a deal and the money will follow. But that's a different game.

Awesome job, Captain Ahab, er, @Darren Sager! See you there.

Good suggestions, @Sukhbir Grewal. One clarification: the previous posts did not recommend spending a bunch on beds, headboards, etc. The recommendations were to spend as much as you can afford on the mattresses but that you can save $$ on the headboards and bed frames. You added the idea of mattress toppers, and I think we're all coming from the same school of thought on that: ensure a good night's sleep and some comfort for your guests.

We paid $100-$150 to have our 3/2 ranch in New Hampshire cleaned between guests; it was about 2200sf between the main floor and the finished basement. In addition to vacuuming, dusting, general cleaning, the cleaning service changed all of the sheets and laundered them as well, plus towels and a regular cleaning of the blankets. It usually took about 4 hours for 1-2 people to clean the place.

As for what we charged the guests, I believe we advertised a $75 cleaning fee, which often didn't cover our whole cost but was comparable to what other owners were charging. So I wouldn't be surprised if the charge you see on the listings doesn't reflect what the owners are truly paying. Eventually, we just included the cleaning fee in the rental fee and didn't break it out separately.

Agree with others, this is not a place to count pennies. In addition to a clean house being crucial, our housekeeper was probably the most important member of our team, as we were managing the property from a distance and she served as our eyes on the ground and gave us a status update after each cleaning.

@Gary Ennis, sounds like you did it the right way and that it's paying off. You can't really cut corners on a higher-end retreat, though it's always good to evaluate.

I should add that tag sales and second-hand shops can be another source, either if you have some time or just by way of keeping an eye out if you know you'll be buying another one (and have somewhere to store items). But go for the nice item at a good price, not anything flimsy. Or if you are or know someone creative and handy who can take that tag sale item and turn it into something great, go for it.

@Gary Ennis, I'm going by memory here, but I think we furnished our 3/2 ranch with finished basement for about 10k. I think it partly depends on your price point and style of rental, as in, is this a fishing cabin or a luxury retreat? Ours was a house in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that appealed mainly to families and outdoors enthusiasts, so we were somewhere in between.

I think the approach is similar to a flip in that you decide where to spend the dough and where to save. You should have comfortable mattresses but the frames/headboards don't have to be expensive; sheets should be of good quality, as guests will likely compare this to a stay at a hotel. You want couches that will withstand the rigors of a rental while understanding that, yes, it's a rental. We also bought a pool table, ping-pong table, grill and patio furniture, and washer/dryer for our rental along with a couple of TVs, a DVD player, etc.

One area not to skimp: chairs. As was pointed out in Christine Hrib Karpinski's excellent how-to book, you don't want your guests falling on their backsides (and keep in mind that some of them may have substantial backsides, so plan accordingly!). So make sure your dining room chairs and patio furniture are decent. Like, can they hold up a 300-pound person, just in case?

Otherwise, we found a really large and sturdy kitchen table for $100 at an auction; same with end tables, lamps, etc., which we bought for something like $10 each. We found some other furnishings on Craigslist. We found plates and glasses, etc also at an auction, and would flesh them out from Christmas Tree Shops (that's where we'd replenish wine glasses, silverware, coffee mugs - can't beat a buck apiece).

Bottom line is that there's a lot to purchase when you're starting from scratch. I'm interested to hear what others have to say.

You buy it right, it'll cash flow!

But yes, as with any endeavor, you need to do a thorough analysis and accurately account for all expenses. It's a unique industry and there are some good threads here that discuss various expenses.

It can also be a nice way to own a vacation property and have the place pay for itself. After all, if you're only using it 2 or 3 weeks out of the year, why not rent it out when it's otherwise sitting empty? It's kind of a spin on @Brandon Turner's "house hacking," no? Vacation hacking, perhaps?

Congrats on making it happen, @Karen Margrave! And thank you to @Scott Trench for providing the muscle. This will indeed be a popular forum!

If Vision shows it as a two-family, I'm sure it's fine. Town Hall is the definitive answer, however, and again, a good place to see if there's any history you should know about.

The @ thing is pretty easy ... just type @ and then either the first few letters of the person's name, or a question mark, and you'll get a drop-down menu of names.

Hi @James O'Connor- head to the rental properties calculator underneath "Resources" at the top of the page and plug in your numbers there for a more detailed analysis. It'll also give you a good idea of where you're lacking in information.

I agree that 15k is probably going to wind up really low, particularly if you have extensive water damage. Keep in mind also that a house built in 1930 will always have surprises inside of those walls. You'll probably need to upgrade the electrical, might have asbestos, perhaps lead paint, etc.

Most towns in CT are on the Vision Appraisal website, where you can get the field card online. If that doesn't work, try typing in the name of the town and "assessor" to get to the tax info. And finally, you can head to the town hall and poke around. It's always good to know your way around town hall and where to locate various bits of info. You can also check to see whether the property has any existing code violations, what permits were pulled, even whether the 2-family is a permitted use (don't assume that it is). You could learn that previous owners did things to the house and never pulled permits, for example; those repairs would be on you to make it right, as the bank isn't going to do anything.

If you want to get into more particulars concerning this property, feel free to message me and I'll look it up for you.