All Forum Posts by: Keith Davighi

Hi Keith -

I'm new to investing and am just start my RE journey as well. Totally get the analysis paralysis part. I've personally shifted my strategy from looking for a buy and hold in New England to flipping in New England in order to raise more capital. You got this!!

I wouldn't rule out higher HOA's, those fees will generally include 24 hour live guard, fantastic grounds, pool, clubhouse, lazy river and all the other amenities PLUS cable, internet, trash and lawn maintenance. If you separate those on a P&L, they will likely add up to the amount. Plus in one of these communities, you get the peace of mind that they won't be coming after you for running a STR, they are purpose-built for this. If you want to risk going in a 'regular' neighborhood, you likely face this issue sooner than later.

You mentioned Calbay Parc and Highlands, I don't have either of those in my top 10-12 communities. If you want to be successful in Orlando, you must be in a top tier community with great amenities and close to Disney, there just isn't another option IMO, its not worth it.  

@Keith Davighi The Orlando market has 10's of thousand of units and trying to compare one to another based off of a few peoples financials could be a waste of time. When purchasing a STR here, they come fully furnished and generally with any future bookings in place, so you could walk into a decent amount of revenue. However, the past performance doesn't necessarily reflect what you will/can do. The overwhelming majority of owners are out of state or out of the country and aren't that involved in marketing or day to day operations.

That being said, I would suggest you narrow your search to a few of the better known , well amenitized communties (i.e. Championsgate, Windsor Island, Storey Lake etc) and define your budget and focus on the size home that you are comfortable starting out with. From there find an agent that can help narrow the search and help find actual motivated sellers that are willing to negotiate. Keep in mind, everyone that owns one is also an investor, they want top dollar and you want a deal and as long as their unit is cash flowing, they may not be too motivated. 

You have to have a unit that stands out here. You can't just throw up a 5 bedroom close to Disney and expect to do well, there are thousands of those. So choosing the right property (already well themed out or easily transformed) and location. We don't have mountain or ocean views, it is all about proximity to the parks and how well themed out it is..period. So generalizing with data from the sites you mentioned doesn't account for performance based on an outstanding property from an average one....think of a 'zestimate'..it doesn't know the house was just remodeled and is superior to the neighbor, it is just taking averages of the area. 

So don't get discouraged, but talk to agents and property managers that know the area and can help.

Best of Luck!

I wouldn't be too worried about not finding an opportunity you're excited about after only 3 months. I'd say the same thing about not finding a market and strategy too. You don't need to jump into a deal right away. There's nothing wrong with taking a few more months to figure out your strategy and build up your capital. You presented a few options, but you can look at dozens more until you find one that makes sense to you. I'd agree with you about taking your time so you don't jump into a bad situation. 

I'm also looking to acquire an STR and am also finding it difficult to accurately predict revenue. My current process is very manual and involves having the seller providing their rental history and future bookings, a 3rd party management company giving an estimate, me looking at comparable properties on Airbnb and VRBO, and consulting with my realtor and other local professionals more in the know on the rental market. I'm making the best guess I can with the best data I can and then adding in room for error.

I live in Westford, MA and joined BP maybe 2 years ago but really did not do anything with it. Now is the time.

I own an exterior remodeling company and have my Construction Supervisor License in MA. I also have an inactive Broker’s License which I need to activate. 

For now I am going to ingest as much as I can until I figure out what path I want to take: multi-families, rehabs, or sOne other thing. 

I also would like to attend a meet up so I will look for those as well.

If you would like to connect, send me a message.

Thanks for reading!

—Paul

About a year and half ago I attended a conference where we met up with AIRDNA. I reviewed their data with them for our area. They were showing the top property manager as someone who owns timeshares in other states and has nothing to do with our area. AIRDNA did not have our data despise we are the one or one of the largest PMs in our area managing over 200 properties.   After that meeting they manual started adding our data as I saw it populate during the conference.