All Forum Posts by: Meghan Dreher

Have been on bigger pockets a while, but havent made full use of the site. We are in North Western PA and working on opening our 5th STR. We are rural and opportunities and maybe less frequent than other areas. We are looking to invest in whatever opportunities present. We went to a bigger pockets conference to get us started. Interested in STR, LTR, Fix and Flip, commercial RE, and land development.

We have a new STR coming to market. What can we do in the first month or two to help optimize our ranking with the algorithm in booking platforms? It is coming to market in our off season, should we wait closer to our peak season to release it so that we have the best chance for the most bookings in a short time frame? Any advice is appreciated.

Any advice for older listings that dont do well in displaying in the top of local property searches.  We have a small cabin that has lots of reviews that ranks high, but we have some larger homes that are more expensive and dont book as consistently as our small cabin.  Is there something we can do to boost where they show up in searches?

We use Top Tier Credit Union based out of Clarion, Pa. Try them!

Investor in northwestern PA.. we are not seeing promising appreciation here so I'd right this one off. Especially a duplex, wouldn't shake a stick at it for at least $300-$500 cash flow in our area. Now if you're talking Pittsburgh, State College or Philly, your appreciation may be better than ours and would be something to consider. But since you didn't note anything about appreciation I'd say it's not good in your area, and a good one to walk away from. 

@Drew Sygit thank you for your insight - I was mainly asking a recommendation for a fair percentage to both parties. I understand property management and what the responsibilities are, we already self manage STRs of our own and have a system in place.

@Nathan G.yeah, I suppose I am. I already have the book you mentioned, and the other advice seems more related to long term rental management rather than short term, as I had asked for, so I’ll keep looking for other advice. Thanks anyways!

My in-laws are looking to buy a short term rental property and would like my husband and I to property manage for them. We have no experience with working with other property management companies and are wondering what a fair % is to ask for. I’ve seen 6%-20% so that’s a large range - there is no other option for a property manager in our area as we’re in rural Western PA and those companies just don’t exist here. Also any list of “property management” do’s and don’ts to follow? Thanks in advance!

@Matt M. Hi Matt, also in PA. Have you ran into any issues with emotional support animals with your “no pets” policy? I’m not 100% sure on the PA laws but I’ve heard that ultimately there’s nothing we can do as a landlord and the tenant doesn’t even have to notify us.

I was thinking of “allowing pets” but ultimately charging some obscene monthly payment that no one would ever want to pay so if someone did have an ESD we could at least get paid a decent amount for it?

Anyone have a coupon code for tickets?

I don't know much about this subject, but our county posts the balance on their foreclosure listings. Maybe try checking out Allegheny County's foreclosure listings (I'm in Clarion County so I'm not positive that it's similar, but worth a shot)?