All Forum Posts by: Kiki Helland

Thanks Jeff! I suspected it might be a problem with a vacation property:(  I live about 45 minutes away from the property so fortunately I am able to make personal visits.  The online management company lists on several websites and manages "one" calendar. I think that makes this a little easier.  I will see how this pans out throughout the year.  My challenge will be to market the property to get off-season bookings and hopefully I can get the snowbirds to come out wet for the winter...

Unfortunately, my vacation home in Southern California is located in an area dominated by one vacation rental property management company.  I had the unfortunate experience where they required bookings to be called in rather than online (for my property).  They ended up showing the property if the interested party wanted to rent for one month or more.  what they called "long-term short-term." When I questioned why people couldn't book online that they didn't respond.  My property is located farther away from the beach (1/2 mile) and not in the cluster of the "on the sand" homes that attract much higher rates.  So, my property wasn't marketed well.  Anyway, I switched to an online management company that lists my home on VRBO, Flipkey and Airbnb, and my bookings have increased a lot!  I think traditional vacation rental management will be going by the wayside imho.

I bought an investment property in a beach community in Southern California..The home is not on the sand, and I decided to switch from long-term rental to short-term vacation rental with a more affordable rate to attract the budget traveller who can't afford to pay "on the beach" rates.  If we continue to get bookings like we've already started to get in just a couple months we will do much better than long-term rental.  We were careful with the money we spent on furnishing the place by buying online and doing work ourselves, and we were able to create a nice ambience for vacationers. We are now in the process of pulling permits to build another unit on the property.  The only question we have thought is how the numbers work when getting financing and what lenders consider when it's a vacation short-term rental.  That might be the only downside when using a vacation rental property to leverage for other investments.  Perhaps someone can chime in on this?  We're excited to build the new home, and as yet haven't shopped the financing until we know what it will cost to build after we get approvals.  But overall, short-term vacation rentals look promising. The local jurisdiction has rules about this, but they are reasonable. So, we won't be doing this under the radar.  We also found an interesting company that "manages" the vacation rental online for a fee.  They manage the calendar and list the home on VRBO and Flipkey and soon on Airbnb.  Not sure how they make that work.  What attracted me to this online management company is that they set up the local contacts for cleaning services and emergency maintenance calls....don't want to be bothered with that when I am enjoying my own vacation!

jay, regarding the personal residence tax free advantage.. How long did you have to claim the home as your personal residence (I'd it two years?)and what do you need to show that it is? I have a duplex (added ADU-- yes PDX is very accommodating) in SE PDX that appreciated nicely and is getting great rental income. I pulled out cash from that to buy another investment property in California that is considered a vacation home, but I am also renting out for short-term vacation rental when we're not using it. We're thinking of pulling out more cash from PDX investment to build a second unit at the vacation property in California. Not sure if that's the best strategy of if we eventually claim the home in PDX as primary residence down the road and turn our primary residence in California into a rental? Getting closer to retirement so we don't know what best strategy is save money in taxes.

good points! Regarding your duplex... Are you getting rents that support a decent positive cash flow? It seems like there is a demand for rentals despite the commuting horror. 

I am wondering if anyone has looked into areas that shoe potential for growth in the newly expanded light rail line from Dowmyown LA to Santa Monica. Perhaps there's some gentrification along the line that would be good for appreciation and higher tents?

Hello. 

Have you considered looking in the Vancouver, Washington area? I gave up about a year ago and got an Investment property in California. but I still have my eyes open for a good deal there. I understand that there are big plans for developing the waterfront area  in Vancouver to connect with the downtown area. Maybe someone can chime in how that development is moving along and if it's still possible or advisable to bank on buy and hold for awhile? 

Thank you Robert! Can you PM with names and numbers?  It's a whole home we are building from foundation. 

Thanks again!

Hello,

I've been on BP for a while now and trying to learn as much as possible.  We have a few other investment properties in California and Portland, Oregon  After exhausting efforts in Portland, my husband and I purchased a new investment property in City of Ventura.  My husband and I have just started the process of plan check with the City to add a second unit.  We are looking for a contractor in the area.  Does anyone have any success stories with a contractor?

Thank you!!

I was also considering doing an Airbnb in Portland or Vancouver, WA. I found out that Portland and I believe Vancouver as well regulates the industry so that a permanent resident has to be in the home for majority if not 12 months of the year. Portland is not too keen on short-term rentals if someone isn't living on the property 12 months of the year. I understand that the city is cracking down on that. We considered option of buying a rental home with room to add an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) and use that as an Airbnb. In Washington the homeowner must be in the main dwelling 12 months of year to have an ADU (which killed the idea for us) and in Portland they do allow a non-homeowner (renter) in the main home to legally do ADU and Airbnb. We considered hiring an Airbnb management company but they have fees as well plus the hotel tax. Seems like it's a wonderful idea if you can do it yourself and/or live on the property.

We ended up  buying a home to in Ventura, California near the beach where they allow short-term rentals. But in that neck of the woods I wasn't able to find an Airbnb manager (yet). So we decided we're listing with a vacation rental company for at least one week and possibly monthly vacation or corporate short-term rental. If it works out, we'll make some decent income from that and intend on building a second unit on the property for short-term rental as well. 

I have two other long-term rentals in Portland and California and prepping the home in Ventura fir short term rental has been a new challenge and another perspective in appealing to the renter. It's like you need to create a "resort"/ vacation home and have to look at it through those eyes. It seems like good reviews and repeat customers are the life blood of a vacation rental. 

Good luck with yours. Let us know how it goes! And if anyone knows of an Airbnb manager in the Ventura, California area please let me know! Thanks!!