All Forum Posts by: Lisa Loesel

Hi everyone,
I’m reaching out to see if anyone has experience dealing with local regulations that seem to overstep property ownership rights. Lately, I’ve been encountering some challenges with municipalities imposing new rules and restrictions that impact my properties and operations.

I’m interested in learning how others have successfully addressed these issues. What strategies have you used to communicate and negotiate with local authorities? Are there any resources, legal advice, or best practices you would recommend for pushing back against overreaching regulations?

Any insights or advice you could share would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help and support!

- Lisa.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment in Milwaukee.

This is a 4 bedroom, 1 bath renovated property in the Honey Creek neighborhood. I worked with an out of state investor to help her acquire this property. I managed a few updates & then I handled the set up, including design and furnishing. It is walkable to a great area, is a 10 minute drive from the city center and there are several hospitals within a 10 minute drive making it a perfect mid-term rental. We will likely do a combination of short & midterm renting.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This is a great location, walkable to one of the most sought after areas in the city. Also, purchasing in December when you had the ability to negotiate made it enticing.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My client bought at exactly the right time, in the December 2022 'slump.' There were quite a few good properties just sitting on the market with not much reason other than people seemed reluctant to buy. Right after the seller took a price reduction, we offered $10,000 below the list price & asked the seller to do a couple of repairs as he was a contractor. He countered back at $5000 below list price.

How did you add value to the deal?

The property was renovated a few years prior so there wasn't much to do. My client put some money into a fresh coat of paint & we did a few deferred maintenance items.

What was the outcome?

This property is doing quite well as both a short & midterm rental. We are at roughly 90% occupancy since we listed it in early February and are currently booked through April. A house 2 streets down with a similar renovation, one less bedroom, but a dilapidated garage (our property doesn't have a garage) sold just one month later for $22,000 more than my client paid for this property.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I am a broker so I helped her purchase the property & I manage it.

Just closed on an STR at the end of February. 20% down, with a rate of 6.25%. I've been a Realtor and owned STRs for over 10 years so I know my market pretty well. Conservatively, this property is 25% Coc, I'm actually hoping for closer to 30% based on Airdna, Awning.com & comparative analysis. I think most investors on here would agree 25% Coc is a solid return. To be fair, I did buy off-market & feel good about my price. Last year I introduced an agent who works on my team to a local investor looking to offload some properties. He ended up buying a duplex from him with seller financing. Decent price, amazing interest rate. After credits and pro-rations, he showed up to closing with a $6500 check to buy a $200,000 cash flow positive duplex.

My point is, although in a general sense you may be right, there are still plenty of opportunities out there for good investments. You might need to expand your search & look in other areas. Just like at any point in history, the investors who adjust their strategy and learn to think outside the box make money. They always have and they always will despite what the market is doing. My advice would be to stop spending your time researching reasons why not to invest and spend that time networking. Once you find that first good buy, you won't be questioning the overall market.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Pewaukee.

Purchase price: $290,000
Cash invested: $59,500

Fully renovated 2 bedroom, 1 bath lake access property. It was renovated in 2022 & used as a short term rental for a couple of months. I purchased a few additional items to make it more desirable as an STR (paddle boards & outdoor area). I listed it on Airbnb late in February 2023 and within a few hours had a request to rent it March-April. Given the seasonality of our market, I will plan to midterm rent during the off peak season and short term over the summer months.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

It's fully turnkey. I don't mind doing updates and furnishing, but everything was done on this property. I bought it off market, so no competition and I feel good about the price. With current expenses I can still LTR and having that as a back up option made this a good investment.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this deal through networking. Another Realtor in my office was planning to list it, I asked to see it early & put in an offer in right away.

How did you finance this deal?

I have a good relationship with a local commercial lender. For my last few STRs I've used them. Rates are decent & the loan process is unbelievably easy compared to conventional lending. I provide an estimated rent roll & a PFS and their committee meets to discuss and approve. I also like that the property has to be in an LLC.

How did you add value to the deal?

I didn't do much. I added some fun water toys & an outdoor area. Planning to put a hot tub in as well.

What was the outcome?

It's currently midterm rented until Spring. Over the summer months I'll be switching back to STR.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

In this market, finding the off-market deals is the way to go. I have a decent sized network in the area & I need to do a better job of utilizing it.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I'm a broker so I represented myself & asked the seller to take the buyers side commission off the purchase price, which they agreed to. My lender is amazing & makes the process very easy. I will likely only be obtaining commercial loans for investment properties going forward.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Pewaukee.

Purchase price: $290,000
Cash invested: $1,500

Fully renovated 2 bedroom, 1 bath lake access property. It was renovated in 2022 & used as a short term rental for a couple of months. I purchased a few additional items to make it more desirable as an STR (paddle boards & added the outdoor area). I listed it on Airbnb late in February 2023 and within a few hours had a request to rent it March-April. Given the seasonality of our market & a lake property, I will plan to midterm rent during the off peak season and short term over the summer months.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

It's fully turnkey. I don't mind doing updates and furnishing, but everything was done on this property. I bought it off market, so no competition and I feel good about the price. With current expenses I can still LTR and having that as a back up option made this a good investment.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this deal through networking. Another Realtor in my office was planning to list it, I asked to see it early & put in an offer in right away.

How did you finance this deal?

I have a good relationship with a local commercial lender. For my last few STRs I've used them. Rates are decent & the loan process is unbelievably easy compared to conventional lending. I provide an estimated rent roll & a PFS and their committee meets to discuss and approve. I also like that the property has to be in an LLC.

How did you add value to the deal?

I didn't do much. I added some fun water toys & an outdoor area. Planning to put a hot tub in as well.

What was the outcome?

It's currently midterm rented until Spring. Over the summer months I'll be switching back to STR.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

In this market, finding the off-market deals is the way to go. I have a decent sized network in the area & I need to do a better job of utilizing it.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I'm a broker so I represented myself & asked the seller to take the buyers side commission off the purchase price, which they agreed to. My lender is amazing & makes the process very easy. I will likely only be obtaining commercial loans for investment properties going forward.

 Thanks for the feedback! I definitely thought it was a little more automated & was trying to trust the algorithm. It's clear that some intervention is needed. It makes sense that it's a tool to help you price better, not do it for you. 

 Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for! 

 Yes! This is why I stuck with it for several months. When you are used to being booked out months in advance, it is incredibly uncomfortable to let your calendar stay open until the last minute. I know that booking out so far in advance means I'm priced too low, but it really feels warm & fuzzy to have a booked up calendar and honestly, I like those guests better. Planners seem to take better care of the property and are more respectful.

On one of my properties, I had 1 booking in November for 3 days. I didn't even cover my overhead for that month. In 10 years of doing this I have never had that bad of a month, not even during the Covid lockdown. I'm certain if I would have set the prices for that month back in September, it would have had more bookings. At 10% occupancy for the month, that's not maximizing my revenue & I'm annoyed that a property sat vacant for so many days. On the other hand, another property had a great December, mostly because I got a 14 day last minute booking over the Christmas holiday. Those days wouldn't have been available if I had set the prices because I would have set the prices lower & made sure it was booked. I just don't understand why it seems to be working for one property & not the others.

@Sean Bramble I definitely agree it's a different kind of guest that is booking last minute and also at a lower rate, but I would expect a dynamic pricing tool to be pricing appropriately to actually get bookings. For some of my properties, my vacancy rate was abnormally high during the time I used Pricelabs on top of the less than desirable guests. I would maybe (and that's a big maybe) take the less desirable guests to maximize revenue, but it's tough to make the argument that you actually are maximizing revenue if your place is sitting empty when in past years it wouldn't have been. Could be the market changing, but I think that's less likely as one of my properties did so well. 

Also, I would say I do technically operate higher end listings, at least for my area. My lowest price of the year on my least expensive property is $200/night up to $1800/night for my most expensive property in peak season with ADR ranging from $285 up to $650/night. The guest who had to be removed by the police paid $710 for one night. I would have thought that was a high enough price to deter that kind of behavior & in the past it has been. He booked less than a week in advance though, so it feels like that's definitely part of the problem. 

@Andrew Steffens Thank you! It sounds like Beyond is worth a try if you are willing to pay the price. I haven't heard of RevMax, I will definitely look into that as well.