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All Forum Posts by: Luke G.

Luke G. has started 6 posts and replied 136 times.

Post: Finding Rent for Student Housing

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

Zumper, Craigslist, local campus newspaper will get you an idea.  Don't look at it as cost per house, student housing is a price per room gig.  I get 400$/month per room whether it's a 2 bedroom duplex or a 4 bedroom house.  

In my personal opinion you don't need to pay attention to what they're charging on-campus, completely different ball game.  Look at what other off-campus student rentals are getting, that's the only thing that matters.

I own 15 of these, and maybe some of the markets are different, but the fact they're going to school and may or may not be there in the summer or winterim is completely irrelevant.  My students sign 12 month leases, I haven't had a vacancy for any of my student housing units.  One market I invest in is a June-June cycle, and another is August-August with the big "push" in renting being in the fall so I have that written into all my leases they need to inform me of their intent to renew within 9 months of lease termination or I can begin marketing their unit.

I also end leases one week before the next students come in, this gives my team enough time for turnover and can get overlooked.  I also offer an as-is move-in, some students are fine cleaning it themselves if it means they can move in a week early.  

Post: Cash-out Refi Interest Rates

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

Paying points for a lower interest rate is more relevant to what your exit timeline is.  If you're going to be exiting out in a year or two it probably doesn't make much sense, if you anticipate holding for 5-6 years than it may make more sense to go that route.

In WI right now quotes I've been seeing have been 75-80% LTV we're in the mid to high 3% range with no points on commercial loans with a 5,7, or 10 year balloon and 20-25 year amort.

Post: VRBO blocking pricing pushes from SmartBnB

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

I'll try that, I left AirBnB but deleted VRBO from SmartBnB.  I've got everything re-linked but I know it takes a while for SmartBnB to push pricing again so I can see if it actually worked or not.  What a pain.

Post: VRBO blocking pricing pushes from SmartBnB

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

Anyone else have any issues with this?  I use pricelabs which pushes to SmartBnb, which in turn pushes to VRBO and AirBnB.

I started up in December and have had zero issues with this until now.  I only allow booking out a full year.  I had a guest send an inquiry that seemed really low.  Luckily I caught it as it had my generic base rate of 300/night in there when the real price should've been closer to 700.  I changed my base rate to 800 so if it doesn't get pushed out for a couple days I don't get screwed with someone booking out a year.

It is still pushing through, but instead of every day it's now every 3-4 days.  Anyone else have issues with this and any ideas on a fix?  The messaging is still syncing fine and AirBnB has worked instantaneously as well.  Of course VRBO says it's SmartBnb and vice versa, but I'm tending to believe SmartBnB as they've actually responded and the pricing is perfectly in sync with AirBnB.  SmartBnb's customer service has been great, VRBO is like talking to a 4 year old.  What's driving me nuts is when someone books on any platform, it still automatically blocks those dates on the other ones, so it's literally just the pricing that VRBO isn't allowing to get pushed through.  

I have a unique property, 4400 square feet and sleeps 18 in a very remote area on Lake Superior.  I've been happy with Pricelabs as for the most part as everything has booked out 6-8 weeks in advance, I just want to make sure my dynamic pricing is actually working.  

Post: I'm dealing with a lot of stress...

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

Just being honest man, REI isn't for you. 3 rental properties with 100k in reserves in the bank doesn't scream stress.

Post: Sharing equity with tenants?

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

Post: AirBNB/VRBO Cleaning Services - Irons/Manistee, Michigan Area

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

My cabin is also remote- I found my cleaner through my realtor.  You likely won't find your answer on the internet, FB marketplace is a good start, but I found all my help up there through referrals and picking up the phone.  My septic guy knew my lawn care guy, my lawn care guy connected me with a maintenance guy, my neighbor connected me with a plumber etc.  My cleaner is my eyes and ears between stays, she basically runs the show.   

Post: 3 perfectly purchased BRRRRs but cant find lender for refinances

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

I have my properties in an LLC just because it's easier for my books, I'm fully aware it's not really providing much for protection. I have an umbrella policy for all my LLC's as well as me personally.

But for the cash out question, go talk to some of your local banks and credit unions. Most of my properties are in LLC's on commercial notes with 5, 7, or 10 year balloons or ARMs with a 20 year amort through local lenders. Local banks and lenders need to be looked as as a partner, not a foe. I have 3 or 4 locally that I work with that I know when I send them a deal, I'll get a quote back within 24 hours and I know it's going to get approved (all in LLC's, I'm still personally guaranteeing the loan). It's not the same great rates as fannie/freddie stuff but it's 1000x easier to work with them, I just bought a new deal that I'll likely BRRR that is at 3.81% with a 5 year lock (I'm renovating and will either sell or cash out after).

Post: Management Percentage for STR

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

I'll use an example of my most time consuming property.  I'll go ahead and factor in the roughly 30 minutes a week (probably a lot less actually) it takes to manage my 4400 square foot lake cabin (I mean last week I did have to text a plumber and hit a button to pay him from my phone so that was rough).  For the month of June I grossed about 15k.  If I were to pay a PM 35% of my gross rents that would be around 5k.  I agree my time is worth a lot, but I don't think I'm at a point where it's worth more than 2500$/hour.  

So no...a "professional" can not do it cheaper, faster, and better than me.  The every time quote is hilarious.  

I'm with @Luke Carl on this; I love my PM for my 75 long term rental units, but I'll just go ahead and bite the bullet keep losing money on my short term rentals self managing.

Seriously- get your systems up and running and it takes little to no time.  

Post: Commercial loan for multifamily

Luke G.Posted
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Hammond, WI
  • Posts 138
  • Votes 216

You either pay cash and pay it off or you keep re-financing.  What I do with mine is a simple refinance, and ask the bank to keep it on the same amort schedule...ex, Originally I have a 20 year loan, at year 5 I had a balloon due.  Instead of re-starting the clock back on a 20-year amort since I was used to that payment I refinanced into a 15-year amort.  The rates will be better on the shorter terms as well.