All Forum Posts by: Mike R.

Love my vacation rental in Big Bear and now managing a few others as well.  As far as management fees- I do it myself but it's a 24/7 job - often being woken up by emails and bookings at 3am. But if you let them go more than 5 minutes- you'll lose the booking. 

Taxes are paid by the renters as well as cleaning fees- so none of that eats into the profits. 

I find it a fun marketing challenge. I enjoy engaging with discussion on social media as well as the challenge of changing prices daily to compete against the market. When you win- it's glorious! Ha

Hi! I own in Big Bear now for 2 years and starting to manage 2 other cabins as well- and I love it! Low cost houses (Although lately they are harder to find, way less on the market this year)  and they all make very good money. 

I'll try to answer your questions. 

• No restrictions on short term. You do need a license which is simply an inspection. 
• Mammoth has caused owners to hold property and values have gone up
• Do NOT buy in Big Bear City
• I am occupied around 210 nights a year. I adjust prices daily though and answer all inquiries within 5 minutes- It's a 24/7 job- yes I have a special ring tone for my emails that will wake me up out of a deep sleep to answer all questions. 
• I have a great agent if you want and I work closely with him and the buyer where I not only consult based on what people want in your home but will also walk thru and show you all the fixes you can do to attract more renters. 

I have had a vacation rental in Big Bear Lake for 2 years now which has done very well  (over 200 nights a year- grossing over $50k a year) on less than 200k investment. I'm also managing 3 other properties in Big Bear which are doing just as well. I was thinking of buying another place but since prices have gone up in Big Bear and not much has been on the market I was considering buying a home in Palm Springs instead.

Would love to hear what people think about the area and what kind of returns and how many nights they have been getting. 

Obviously I'm looking for a mid-century modern which seem to price in at least $525k so not sure I'd get even close to the ROI I get in Big Bear- but thought it would be nice to have a home in a different place so I'm not "All the eggs in one basket" (And who doesn't want to own a Wexler long term?!)

Also any issues with short term rentals? 1 or 2 nights? I Heard PS is taking meetings on this- but any chance they will ban short term like Ojai just did? 

Thanks for any thoughts on areas of PS, what renters are looking for and avg gross per year. 

Hi all, since I was successful at renting out my own place in Big Bear I have been asked to act as management for at least  2 other properties, so now I'm thinking it's time to get a web site and really market my properties outside of VRBO/FlipKey/ AirBnB

As I'm trying to come up with a good name I'm stumped between really targeting just Big Bear for better SEO or not limiting myself and coming up with a more generic name so I can eventually expand outside of Big Bear. (Although again, the goal to start is getting my Big Bear properties rented out more- and for search- obviously really honing in with words like "Big Bear" and "Cabin" would help)

Any thoughts from those of you who have dealt with this?

And any thoughts on Websites? Right now I am trying out WebChalet and haven't decided if I am going to design it myself or take advantage of the designers they have. 

In 2014 VRBO accounted for 80% of my business- this year it's not even 8% as everyone has switched to AirBnB.  I paid a lot of money for the gold service too and simply a waste at this point. 

The one thing I hate about AirBnB- they don't charge tax which means I need to include it in my price and then do the math. 

I'd like to list it under my boutique rental company, as that helps build my brand, but the problem I can see- if owners don't listen to suggestions like buying better towels or buying a bigger dining table- then my company gets the bad review... So it can backfire for sure. 

Thanks Patrick, I talked to AirBnB- same thing- all you can do is have the owner sign up for their own account and then log in and out of the app thru all the different owners. Real pain. 

I have been doing so well with my Big Bear property others have asked me to manage their online bookings. Is the only way to do simply having them sign up on AirBnB, FlipKey, VRBO and giving me the log ins? Or is there a way to merge so they can still get payments but I can manage from the app without having to log on and off of that app based on whose property I am trying to manage.

Seems like the easiest way is to set it up all under my company name, but some owners don't want that as they then lose all the reviews if they decide to do this themselves- and renters seem to like renting from individuals rather than companies.

Would love to hear thoughts and experiences on this. 

You made someone get rid of a birthday present dog? Wow. I only hope and pray she didn't bring it to a kill shelter. I'm sorry, but sometimes life and hapiness is more important than money. I strongly disagree with making someone get rid of a loved one. 

@David Faulkner I do enjoy my rental income property in Big Bear and just hit 200 days rented for 2015. Although as you have stated it is hardly passive- I am changing prices daily- contacting renters and perspective renters hourly and constantly putting a puzzle together. This week is a perfect example of that. I have daily inquires for my cabin for around Christmas time. But some only want the 23rd and 24th- others don't want christmas eve.. It's been nothing short of a pain piecing that puzzle together to make sure I have no days of $550 / night rental open because someone didn't overlap a stay.

That being said, I see how high rents have been getting around LA where I live and I am considering buying a property in an up and coming neighborhood like a Highland Park and renting it out for now and then maybe moving into it within 5 years. Although cash flow and ROI is si much higher on vacation rentals- but long term I could move in and eventually stop paying my own rent in LA. It's a math problem for sure.