All Forum Posts by: Kevin Pillow

@Alex Ballesteros Airdna is okay because it's easy to type in an address on the rentalizer and have it spit out an approximation for revenue. May I suggest a different method I use with my own investor clients. 

Use the Pricelabs market dashboard feature (very affordable) to do a comp analysis similar to the enemy method:
1. Create a dashboard for your area of interest
2. Filter to match the number of bedrooms of the subject property
3. Filter for AirBnBs in the neighborhood of your property by using the box or laso tool
3. Then Pricelabs will generate a list of all the active airbnb listings within that box/laso that can be sorted by different categories and is downloadable 
4. The categories will show occupancy rate, listed rate, revenue and some other metrics
5. There is also a link to each property in the list so you can see the actual Airbnb listing for the property. If the property has high occupancy rates, lots of reviews and solid revenue you can go to their airbnb listing and analyze what they did to their property to get those kinds of results. Your job would be figuring out how your property compares and what you need to do to be in the same bracket as those best preforming airbnbs in your target area. You can also get a better idea of what your revenue numbers can be based on comps with other active airbnb listings in your immediate area. Here is a screen shot to see what it looks like when you filter for specific area. Hope this helps!

@Deborah Fischer How long did it take you to go from knowing nothing about flipping real estate to purchasing your first flip property? Also, what method did you use to find contractors? Great Job adding so much value that you were able to get a record sale in what is becoming a tougher market to get full price offers locked in.

Quote from @Jared Hottle:

Midwest markets scare me a bit as they are not destination type places to stay. However that being said I had a similar experience in Omaha when I travelled there for a weekend. Seems like demand was high and supply was low. Price seemed high for what we got so maybe there is something there. Also, those midtier markets may not be bad as likely the zoning and use ordinances have probably not expanded to address short-term rentals.

I may be biased because I was stationed in Omaha for five years but I loved that downtown area. You have the following major events most people don't think about:
1. Annual Berkshire Hathaway Share Holders Meeting
2. College World Series
3. Major Concert Venue at the Downtown Center 
4. Major Hub for business conferences due to its central location in the midwest
5. The downtown area is going through a revitalization aka gentrification in North Omaha that was known for high crime low income
6. Midtown area is expanding as well with big outdoor events like Octoberfest
7. Creighton University basketball is a big attraction downtown 

Those are just some of the things that made Omaha so much fun and there was always something to do between spring to fall. I will admit during the winter its pretty slow but there are still concerts with big headliners attracting people from other nearby metro areas and states. The only other place I can think of thats close to offering what Omaha has is the Power and Light district in Kansas City Missouri. 

@Peter Brown it depends. I’ve heard some people have the handyman just for on call situations when something breaks and they pay for transactional work. Others have the handy man go in after each guest stay to inspect the property. If you have a good cleaning crew they can do the post stay inspection and send you photos. Then your handyman is on call for the emergency Makes more sense to me. 

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Kevin Pillow:

My past clients report about 45 min to 1 hour a week to manage 1-2 STR properties.

I think that's pretty close.....not including cleaning or any maintenance of course.

 Yeah that’s assuming you don’t do any of your own work. Funny story, I asked a cleaning crew if they were available for another client while I was doing a showing. Turns out they were the owner of the condo, 😂.  Who would of thought!

@Peter Brown plan on hiring an on call handy man and a cleaning crew to handle those emergencies. Most of your time will be allocated to managing checkin/checkouts and client communication. My past clients report about 45 min to 1 hour a week to manage 1-2 STR properties.

@Erin Mullaney Im sure your agent can back me up on this but if you're looking to buy it is easier to get in during off seasons. For our market in Destin, if you can try to close by Feb to mid March that is a sweet spot that gives you little down time until the season starts to pick up for spring break and into summer. During those peak months most units can only be toured during the turn, which is the time a unit is cleaned after guests leave, which is usually just one day. 

Quote from @Peter Brown:

Hello guys, I'm new to STR's. I'm looking at buying one in the Shenandoah and am working out the logistics. Could anyone give me a summary of the differences between having a property manager vs. a co-host? What are the pros and cons of each? Thanks in advance!

PM Pros
1. Local experts
2. Systems in place
3. Marketing Systems 

PM Cons
1. No skin in the game 
2. Take a big part of the profit
3. Can be difficult to switch managers if you want to leave

Self Management Pros
1. Keep more of your profit
2. Can scale after building your system
3. Better understanding of the market 

Self Management Cons
1. Learning Curve to get up and running
2. Direct interaction with needy/Karen type guests

Quote from @Ryan Clouser:

Hello! I'm looking to get into the str market in florida but I was curious to know if it is harder to find bookings for beach towns on the mainland vs the key beaches. For example if you were to buy a str in Sarasota would it suffer from not being in Siesta Key since that is where the direct access to the ocean is? I grew up in New Jersey and most of the time here when families rent a beach house they look to rent on the beach with access to the ocean, not in the town connected to the bay (ex. Seaside vs toms river) ....hope this question wasnt to confusing haha. Thanks!

 Here in the Destin/Miramar Beach area, STRs closer to the beach or south of Highway 98 perform better than those farther away in the city areas. That’s because most vacationer’s want to be closer to the water. But it in an area like Orlando that would not be a factor so it depends where in Florida you are looking.

I would love to see what people come up with too. We have a lot of TDYs for military folks in the area that are a great target demographic also.