All Forum Posts by: Marie Rufty

Hello!

My husband and I are trying to decide if now is the time to sell our townhome or if it makes more sense to hold it and rent it out. We were using it as a short-term rental and were cash flowing about $1800 per month that way. It was a big hit on Airbnb and we enjoyed hosting this way. HOA rules have removed STR as an option for this property so we are considering renting long-term and will still cash flow this way but only about $400-500 per month. We are also considering selling. With the market where it is and interest rates going up, we wonder if we will get top dollar by selling now. We would reinvest in a property that will allow STR so that we can maximize cash flow. We are leaning toward selling but this townhome is in a highly sought area of Charlotte and we don't want to let it go if keeping it will be better in the long run. What do you think? Would you sell or hold?

Thank you!

Marie Rufty

Hi! 

I'm interested in purchasing an efficiency condo in Myrtle Beach and there are a couple of listings that look like they would be perfect. However, I'm having trouble finding financing for these properties. Does anyone know of anyone that is currently lending on this type of property?

Thanks in advance!

Marie

Good morning Bigger Pockets friends!

I am looking into purchasing an STR beach condo and am looking at properties between 60k and 100K. I spoke with my lender this morning and he advised that conventional mortgages may not be the way to go with this type of property because taxes and fees end up being a much larger percentage of the loan than is advisable. I'm wondering how you guys obtain financing for these lower-priced properties.

Thanks in advance!

Marie

Update!

I'm not sure if anyone is following this or not but our STR has been up and running for about two weeks now and has been far more successful so far than we could have anticipated. We have already had 4 separate groups of guests and are booked for the rest of November, a large portion of December, and we are currently entertaining a request for a three-month stay Jan-Mar. Our guests have all left 5-star reviews and have been extremely respectful of our home. We are so grateful for a smooth start and for all of your advice and encouragement.

Marie

@Isaac S. @Colleen Goldstein @lourettadawkins thanks so much for the congrats and advice! We have decided to go with STR for the time being and already have 6 bookings! We're working on packing up all of our things, staging our place for our guests, closing on our new place, getting that furnished, and all of the other things that go along with moving. I'll update you all in a few weeks 😬😬

@John Majoris Yes, there are a lot of listings near me but I will definitely check out the township/town rules. Looking into umbrella policies now. Thank you!

Thanks so much, John! Our HOA doesn't say much about short-term rentals - it looks like it's been a while since that section was updated. It definitely doesn't say they aren't allowed. I will check out Pricelabs and set up notifications for STR comments. I will also update this post throughout our journey. Thanks again - your interest, advice, and well wishes are greatly appreciated!

Marie

Hello!

My husband and I are about to be first-time landlords and couldn't be more excited. We just bought our second townhome (we close in 10 days!) and plan to keep and rent out the townhome that we have lived in for about seven years now. Our rental has now been listed on Zillow, Apartments.com, Craigslist, and Facebook marketplace for about three weeks. We are confident that we will eventually find good tenants and there has been a lot of interest but only a handful have completed the application process. The quality of applicants hasn't been great so far so we have started to consider short-term rentals through Airbnb and Furnished finders. What advice do you have for us? Here are some specific areas that we would love your perspective on:

-What is the best way to accept money (application fee, deposit to hold, security deposit, etc.) from applicants if our business accounts are not set up yet?

-What types of expenses are associated with Airbnb that we may not have considered? 

-What do you think about short-term vs. long-term rentals? (our property is located in Charlotte, NC between Pineville and Ballantyne)

-What types of insurance policies are mandatory and what are nice to have?

-Major legal considerations?

-What were your biggest challenges with your first rental property?

-What mistakes do you remember making on your first rental property?

Thanks so much in advance for your advice/feedback/experiences!

Marie Rufty