All Forum Posts by: Mike Shemp

We have our properties in beach and mountain towns.  

My thoughts are that as the recession goes deeper, the people who would fly somewhere will do a driving vacation instead....hopefully to a beach or mountain.  People will adjust their vacation plans accordingly.

Mike

Are they your caves to rent out?  or is this just a hypothetical?

Mike

We self-managed 3 properties that are 7 hours away.  

I would start off self-managing just so that you go through the experience which will help you ask better questions when interviewing your property managers or co-hosts.  It will also help you ensure that if yu you sign the contract with a PM or cohost in the future, that everything you want to have covered by their service is covered.  If you never go through the ropes of doing it yourself, you can of course get advice from this forum, but better if you know first hand.

Mike

We have a "historic" home in the Outer Banks and we chose the renovate route.  

It's still a work in progress, but we started with the siding and the floors.  We kept the walls, as they are the original walls when it was built and are made of juniper/cypress wood.   We're going to do the kitchens and bathrooms as some point in the future.  We do a little bit every year.

People who rent it definitely like that they can still see and feel the past.

Mike

We are considering doing this too.  We've passed so far on the opportunities we've seen because they were too difficult to get to.  For example, some of the homes you had to hike 15 minutes in, some you needed a 4x4 vehicle, etc.  

If we can find one that makes it easy for the guest to get to, but gives them the off-grid experience, we are considering it.  The one thing we will do before we list it though it renovate it to be very high-end, so it can be marketed as an off-grid glamping experience.

Mike

We have 2 cabins in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  We contract with a snow removal company that plows the driveway and also shovels out the walkways, stairs, and deck.  They will also spread ash, sand, gravel on the driveway if it starts gettting icy.

Our cleaner will put pet-safe ice melt on the steps and walkways after each cleaning and we leave some at the door for guests to use also.

Mike

I'm on the East Coast but not a fan of condos for all the reasons Robert Kiyosaki mentions in his books.

Mike

We use Hospitable and like it.  It handles guest communication, notifies our cleaner for bookings and cancellations, and automates our locks.  

Mike

I would make sure I had access to more emergency money before doing this deal.

This could mean access to borrow against a 401k, cash advances on credit cards, HELOCs on other properties, but ideally if you are cutting it close it may be an indication that you need more hard savings before taking the plunge.

Mike

We seem to get more bookings every year.  We're in White Mountains and Outer Banks.

Mike