All Forum Posts by: Kiki Helland

The answer depends on your market area. If you have a lot of competition with other short-term properties in your area AND if you have a slow season then I would consider corporate long-term for a few months when it's low season. Of course you have to consider if there are colleges/universities nearby and/or major employers. I tried a longer short-term rental over Winter season and got a lot of interest and ended up with an excellent corporate emplumas whose employer paid me directly! It was easy turnover and I avoided having to pay hotel taxes because in my jurisdiction rental of 30 days or more are exempt from that tax.

Hello BP community I've been looking at various cities to buy and hold rental. I've focused a bit on the San Antonio area. I live in SoCal so I obviously need some boots on the ground for some assistance. Does anyone have a referral for good agent in that area. There is possibility of making an offer on a property I might be interested in, so I'd like to connect with someone pretty quickly. Thanks!

Hello BP community I've been looking at various cities to buy and hold rental. I've focused a bit on the San Antonio area. I live in SoCal so I obviously need some boots on the ground for some assistance. Does anyone have a referral for good agent in that area. There is possibility of making an offer on a property I might be interested in, so I'd like to connect with someone pretty quickly. Thanks!

I've been using Evolve for almost a year now. It's worked out very well for us. We have day jobs and get busy and don't have time to manage a calendar and manage bookings. Even though we live an hour away from our vacation home it's very practical to have Evolve do the bookings, payments etc.. I have a local cleaner for turn around and Evolve will notify them of my bookings and in and out dates. They also collect my cleaning fee and occupancy tax that I pay to my local city. For added convenience, I use Avalara to pay my occupancy tax to my local jurisdiction. It sure takes a huge weight off me.

Evolve lists my home with all the popular vacation rental websites. One problem I've encountered is that I need to babysit my listings! I've had issues with Airbnb in that my listing seems to be hidden and doesn't show up on a search which is very concerning. It mysteriously showed up when I called Evolve to ask why and they seemed to have found it... and lo and behold I got a new booking within 24 hours. I was concerned why i hadn't been getting bookings. Also turned out that my listing was suddenly near the top... so I don't know if that's an Airbnb thing they do with their "metrics" or Evolve. But I would keep an eye on that if you decide to use evolve.

Other than that if you are hard pressed for time to manage your rental and want exposure on major sites Evolve is great for the cost. 

Hi Jay! You mentioned the overlay special zone in Portland. Is that the (a) overlay? I checked into adding a small ADU on my property in SE Portland that is zoned R-5(a), I can't because my existing home is a duplex. Don't understand what the intent is of an (a) overlay.

Do you have to get a variance for the tiny home project?

Kiki

I had my daughter in a similiar situation with a home we own as a rental. We set up a lease with each room as a "Unit" A,B,C. I used a lease agreement from a local landlord association, which had built In language that applied to the specific state landlord-tenant laws. I was able to customize the forms online and then download. 

I checked references and I found that students were a good source because they have student loans that basically pay for their rent and are longer term. My daughter was in charge of screening applicants that she could measure if they were compatible. Luckily we had two long term tenants sharing and they always paid on time. One caveat, is that your daughter needs to establish the rules right away. If she intends to be friendly with her roomies, then she should set a list and schedule of chores and duties and who is replacing household goods like toilet paper, kitchen paper towels, taking out trash can to street, etc... But these things are typical of any roommate situation, however when roomies see your daughter as live-in manager they may see her as the one ultimately responsible. 

I would include all the rules in the lease, but allow some wiggle room to keep them happy and long term. Depending on the market you are in, it's supply and demand and you've got to make your rental more attractive. 

Good luck! 

Nadine, congrats for taking the leap of faith and coming out smiling on your way to the bank! 

May I ask if the purchase price was at market value? Or did you score a deal? How were the comps at the time? I know that market has been crazy! Looking for a good flip, so I wonder if you got the money on the deal or the appreciation for the time you had it..and if the fixes/reno you did made the difference in pushing up the sales price...

Thanks

My two humble cents...one thing I can say is that the weather is very wet and rainy in Portland.. and basements can be or become a big issue especially in older homes, but even in relatively more recent homes. For investment purposes you really need  to have a reputable inspector and one that works for the buyer. I had experience with a basement that had problems that were hidden behind wall and purchase was in the summer. I too am from California with no reality check regarding basements... I ended up havi v to remove tenants to fix the problem . Not fun.

One great thing with a basement is you can turn it into an ADU if feasible with a seperate entrance. You can either rent two units or sell it as a duplex.. PDX has lifted certain costs for ADUs making it more financially sensible..

I also found in my hunt for SFRs that it is not uncommon that there is no basement...

Well, that looks pretty bad! is surveillance legal on a rental? I'm assuming you can't inside the home.  Wonder if you have to inform your guests? 

Well, that looks pretty bad! is surveillance legal on a rental? I'm assuming you can't inside the home.  Wonder if you have to inform your guests?