All Forum Posts by: Mark S.

@Jon Martin What assumptions are you using to state that he can make ‘far more money' by pulling his money out of an IRA and investing in real estate? I am curious because that is a very broad statement and there are many variables to this - what is the IRA invested in? What kind of real estate would he buy? What experience does he have in real estate or in selecting investments in his IRA?

@Max Dauer just remember that even tho you may only spend a few hours a week actually working on them or dealing with guests, you are always on call. So if you are going to be a host that outperforms your competitors and want to get fabulous reviews, there isn’t complete down time if you are self managing at the highest level.

@James Hamling Agree! I put almost everything on our cards and pay off a minimum of twice a month, usually more frequently since you don’t know exactly when the info will be pulled by the credit bureaus. I also record every charge in my check registers as a debit so when I do pay the balance it as already been ‘deducted’ from my checking account balance. No surprises about not having enough to cover the balance.

@Keetaek Hong I have tried them all. REI Hub is the best, hands down, IMO. Designed for STR, reasonable, intuitive, great support.

@Joseph Shuster Property values on STRs in the Smokies are going down and building is continuing at a frantic pace. It’s a crazy market. If you aren’t consistently making money and can sell at a profit, I would do so. In fact, I am likely listing one of mine later this year. And yes, I have owned in that market for years.

@Joe Villeneuve Jeez - give it a break. Yes, they are different asset types, and work differently with different benefits, and drawbacks. I was just pointing out that it’s incorrect to say that equities cannot be leveraged. 

@Joe Villeneuve I realize that. Just pointing out that you can leverage your stock holdings.

@Joe Villeneuve You actually can leverage in the stock market by purchasing on margin and/or selling options against your portfolio.

@Diaz Principe Nicolas I use Pricelabs to set general pricing parameters, build in a discount during the slow season, then tweak it occasionally according to the specific area.

@Bruce Woodruff I go to all my properties 4x/year for this very reason. No matter how good your cleaners and handyman are, something may be missed. I can’t believe how crappy some STRs that I have stayed in were, with obvious safety issues.

The OP is in Sevier County (one of the markets I am in) which recently began requiring inspections and STR licensing. There have been a ton of complaints about having to go thru the process but I see this as long overdue.