All Forum Posts by: Kristofor Rahmas

I current am a tenant in a short term rental on sebago lake.  Loving the Maine winter lake life :P  My landlord does seasonal winter rentals and uses it in the summer.

Hi all,

Wondering if there is anyone on the boards that have a rental property in the Dover, Wilmington area of Vermont near Mount Snow. I've driven through the area many times. Considering picking up one of the chalets in the area. Most seem to be part of HOAs with low fees of 150 or so to cover plowing and garbage. Typically, i avoid HOAs like the plague but these prices seem reasonable. Curious if anyone does full time AirBNB in the area. Trying to figure out the what profit margin (if any) is possible with a full year STR. Appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Id personally still factor in Management Fees (even if self managing for now) because you never know...which would bring this down lower into the no deal range for me.

Im in a similar boat and ponder the same questions everyday. Most economists I've read seem to think disinflation will come first and then some major inflation. Hard to find deals with all these major price increases. I'm seeing alot of houses going up expecting ridiculous prices...many of them actually selling at those prices. Part of me feels I should just settle to get my cash in an asset so it will adjust with the inflation. Tricky times... 

I've lived all over: upstate NY, Vegas, San Diego, Portland Maine, Burlington Vermont, and St Petersburg Florida. My heart is in San Diego. You can't beat the amazing weather. Vermont is a close second :P

Regarding foreclosures, I think we will see maybe a short term increased due to the foreclosure mortatorium ending and all the bottlenecked foreclosures coming through that were in trouble pre-pandemic.  I don't foresee a lot of foreclosures in general though as a result of the forbearances.  Once the forbearance has been completed, the delinquency is tacked to the end of the loan under some sort of a Payment Deferral plan (the different investors call them different things...same concept).  Its essentially like getting a free loan.  If there is an ongoing hardship, there are other options on top of the payment deferral such as deferring a portion and doing a loan mod.  In summary, there are strong retention options for borrowers.  The real question is if unemployment remains high and the investors don't extend the 12 month forbearance period.  That is when we would see sustainable spikes in foreclosures.

One of my favorite subjects!  I'm a fellow gypsy.  I wish my reason for moving around so much is the same reason as yours: investing.  Instead, I have a remote job so ive been doing furnished short term rentals for the last 4 years.  I love it.  Its been a great way for me to feel out different cash flowing markets.  My rule of thumb is: if it can't fit i the back of my truck, i get rid of it.  If the item doesn't have an active positive functional affect on my life, I don't need it.  Too expensive to be getting uhauls all the time.  I'm the opposite of a hoarder though...once i get started purging, many times I go overboard and regret things I got rid of.  

I personally wouldn't touch Cobleskill if I wasn't in the area long term self managing.  I grew up in area and come back often to visit family.  Its rural so I would factor in a large vacancy when running my numbers.  It may be lucrative if you got into the college game but turnovers every year may be hard to manage.  There are no property management companies out here i know of however some realtors will manage on the side.  For me, having a legit stable management company is key so I can scale.  I have seen places come through so cheap that I've had to think really hard, however, ultimately, too many risks and potential headaches to pull the trigger.  Even if there is alot of section 8, you definitely don't have to worry about war zones or anything like that.  Its too rural for those types of issues. 

Has anyone worked with WRI Property Management?  They are transitioning to a new name of ResiHome.  Looks like they are a national company centralized in Atlanta.  They partner with local teams to reach various markets in the US.  They seem to be pretty cheap.  5-7% management fees.  Reviews are pretty dismal from tenants...which seems to be the case for most property management companies...wondering to hear any experiences from an investor perspective.  My market is small and the local players all seem to charge 10-12%...double that of WRI.