All Forum Posts by: Matthew Sloan

@Valerie Rogers the FL panhandle is a great area. Best beaches on the mainland, if you ask me. I'm leaning very much toward dropping my PM and self managing after my contact expires. They're going to suck most, if not all, of my profit this year but, I needed passivity to focus on other tasks initially.

@Avery Carl thanks for this. I'll have to check out that app. Sounds pretty cool

Mark, have you ever had any issues with off shore PM? I.e. lock code issues and no access?

The PCB market is great but it's seasonal, as I'm sure you know. I bought at a tough time, October, going into the winter season so I've had to eat a lot of the costs and headaches to date. We have family that owns another unit in the same condominium, and has for 30 years, and it's very profitable. My wariness comes from their experience with the cleaners and PM's not doing their job, not inspecting their unit and not reporting damages that could have been recovered if noticed. This has happened multiple times. 

With that being said, I'm hoping to purchase another STR later this year in another market. I've taken interest into your area in Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains as the revenue looks very profitable and not seasonal. What is the best time of year to come check out the area to see if it is where I want to buy my second STR property?

Thanks for everyone's feedback and opinions.

@Luke Carl yes it is the PCB condo. It's not truly an investment property because it's a second home. However, I'm projected to at least break-even with a PM but it would cash flow, $5,000-$6,000/yr, if I self-managed. I know there are multiple platforms for marketing to HomeAway, AirBnB and VRBO at once. Does anyone have a single-use, and management, platform that will broadcast to all the sites that they would recommend? I can handle obtaining the cleaners/handyman and trusting someone but the algorithms for VRBO and HomeAway are the unknown and concerning. If I go the self-managing route, I want to use a centralized operating and marketing application.

I want to hear everyone's experience with managing their own STR from 1000 miles away. I purchased a unit in the NW Florida panhandle and live in Texas. I hired a PM to manage because I just didn't see how I could do it myself and properly mitigate and manage risk without being able to inspect the unit, other than trusting the cleaning crew. The PM is going to eat up a lot of my profit and I see several comments to self manage. How are you successfully managing from a distance without being within travel distance?

Thanks for your reply! That's what I was looking for.

I know the going rate for PM's for SFR, at least in my market, is 10% but what about short term vacation rentals? I'm about to purchase a condo in NW Florida and I'm curious what I should expect to pay for someone to manage the rental. I am meeting with a PM coming up and would like to have a baseline going into the meeting.

What is everyone paying for this service? I would need marketing, key service, maintenance, cleaning between rentals, etc.

Thanks for your feedback!

@Mark Skaff very good to know and good idea! thanks for the advice.

I've been getting quotes to convert homeowner insurance to rental insurance on a property I currently own and am about to rent out. Every carrier that I have talked with have dwelling coverage with liability and medical payout coverage. However, I know there are carriers that do not require liability coverage and offer dwelling only. What is everyone including on their rental property insurance? Is it necessary and common to have liability included in the policy or is that what LLC ownership is for? With the added liability the cost are the same as my current homeowner insurance.