All Forum Posts by: Kristina Kuba

@Derek Fike

I am in Tampa and own a few short term rentals myself here. Born and raised in Tampa, Obviously I think Tampa is an amazing market. Regardless, make sure your city and neighborhood that you are investing in have different types of STR travel demographics.

For example, here in Tampa not only do we have theme park and beach tourism (#5 ranked beaches by TripAdvisor in the world in 2021), we have educational tourism (one of the largest universities - USF and then UT), and also medical tourism (we have some of the best hospitals in the country especially for outpatient services). Tampa General Hospital has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States, according to Newsweek. The 1,041-bed hospital was recently ranked as one of the news magazine's World's Best Hospitals 2022.

Look for agents that align with your interest. Interview a few and see what is a good fit for your STR aspirations. The agent you choose should be an investor themselves because they are going to have the rolodex of plumbers, cleaners, lawn care, etc. that are reputable and low cost. If you are not self managing, make sure to see if they can provide you with plenty of referrals of STR hosts that are cost effective and have superhost status.

Reach out if you have any questions.

Best of Luck!

@Jason Medina

I recently shopped nearly 10 brokers for two of my personal properties as both of the policies drastically increased on renewal. I found Professional Insurance to be the lowest out of all of them.

Gunnar Schafers

Professional Insurance Services

13907 Carrollwood Village Run

Tampa, FL 33618

@Peyton Millirons

I’m glad you are going in on such a customer centric business model!

Here are some of the questions that I ask contractors before I engage them on my own personal flips or rentals:

1. How long have you been a contractor?
2. Have you ever operated under a different name, declared bankruptcy, been sued or sued anyone before? Explain.
3. Do you service your work if something goes wrong? Such as a 1 year labor warranty?
4. How much do you require up front? How much when you’re finished?
5. Best method of payment?
6. Are there any areas or repairs that you will not work on?
7. Do you have insurance (general liability coverage) and workers compensation insurance?
8. Do you provide customers with written lien waivers?
9. Do you have a list of client references? Do you also have a list of subcontractors, vendors (material suppliers) and architects and designers that have partnered with you that I can call?
10. Describe a typical work day and how you maintain a clean and safe job site?
11. How many projects do you have going on right now?

@Matthew Martin

Ruben Cruz at Crulliance is a great CPA in Tampa that actually works very proactively meaning he will do tax projections in Q3 and Q4 and proactively let you know where your tax bill is and give you documented written out options in order to decrease your tax liability. His wheelhouse is all things real estate related.

Cruillance

400 N Tampa St 15th floor, Tampa, FL 33602

@Kelly Cynamon

I am in Tampa and own a few short term rentals myself here. Born and raised in Tampa, Obviously I think Tampa is an amazing gmarket. Regardless, make sure your city and neighborhood that you are investing in have different types of STR travel demographics.

For example, here in Tampa not only do we have theme park and beach tourism (#5 ranked beaches by TripAdvisor in the world in 2021), we have educational tourism (one of the largest universities - USF and then UT), and also medical tourism (we have some of the best hospitals in the country especially for outpatient services). Tampa General Hospital has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States, according to Newsweek. The 1,041-bed hospital was recently ranked as one of the news magazine's World's Best Hospitals 2022.

Reach out if you have any questions.

Best of Luck!

@Ed Winczowski

Our team likes Follow Up Boss. Very client centric dashboard. All text, email and call communication are attached to a single record in a chronological way, sort of like a Facebook profile.

Batch emails are easy and there is a single line dialer where you can quickly call through a certain tagged list that you want.

@Daniel Kelley

I personally have (1) multifamily building and a few LTRs and STRs. That being said I focus on the Tampa urban area and come across commercial and multifamily off market in the Tampa metro/ South Tampa area.

@Venel Rene

We recently switched to a new property mgmt team for our personal multifamily property in Tampa proper. The best things I like about the new company are:

1. -Someone who can respond to my questions via text 7 days a week
2. -A clean, easy to use portal where I can view statements and work logs
3. -A 12 month guarantee, if the tenant is evicted, the property mgmt company puts replaces the tenant without charging us 1st months rent
4. -Allows us to put a MAX threshold hold of $250 for non-emergency repairs. Anything over $250 requires our explicit written approval with at least 2 estimates presented to us from their vendors

PM and I can send to you

@Claudine Stering 

If you received it from family, they can write a gift letter and/or as long as it came from somewhere and it can be sourced you can use it for a mortgage downpayment. I would double check with a seasoned and experienced mortgage broker. DM and I can connect you.

If you are looking to buy and build wealth, have you considered a FHA on a multi family?

If I could do it all over again and not have a spouse and dogs, etc. I would use my FHA loan for a 4 unit building. It is more difficult to house hack later in life if you have a larger family, so keep that in mind.

For example, in Hillsborough an FHA loan can finance up to $809,150 for 4 living-units. That is only 28,000 plus closing costs, very close to your 25k savings. Tampa, the main seat of Hillsborough county, has seen a cool off just like the rest of the country and getting a 4 unit in that price range is attainable.

I know you are in Clearwater but I am I am bullish on Tampa because of Bill Gates multi billion dollar investment into downtown Water Street and the GasWorxx projects, both are transforming large swaths of the downtown and the urban core.

Feel free to reach out with any questions!

@Dillon Cook

I think something that was left out was old school door knocking. It has worked for me to sell many listings over the years.

I’ll door knock 10 houses to the left, 10 to the right and 10 across and hand out information about my upcoming open house. While it may seem counterintuitive to advertise the open house to homeowners who already live in the area, there are two reasons why I do this:

Local residents could have family or friends who are looking for a home, and they can help me spread the word.

People will see how dedicated I am to selling homes in the neighborhood and be more inclined to work with me if and when they move. (especially if I am farming the neighborhood).