All Forum Posts by: Matthew John

Hey everyone, 

I've been doing some research the past couple months on 'no doc' lenders. 

Property must be in an LLC and they do not check your personal income or DTI, they loan based on the cash flow of the property and you get an interest rate based off your credit score.

I'm trying to compile a list and details of each of the lenders that offer this type of financing. I'm specifically looking to cash out refinance a property, but most also have the same type of loan for acquisition/rehab. 

1) Visio Lending - Decent rates high 5s-6s, but only go up to 70% LTV

2) LIMA ONE - Rates in the high 6s - high 7s, go up to 80% LTV

3) Corevest - Rates in the mid 6s, go up to 75% LTV

4) Tidal Loans - Mid 6s rates, up to 75% LTV

Are there any other companies out there that I'm missing?

I'm working on a LOC application with Corevest, so I have been leaning towards them, but I am open to whoever can get the best rates on 30yr financing under my LLC without dealing with income verification or DTI.

@Ken Latchers My prices have been steadily increasing. At first, I started with a dynamic pricing tool, but eventually moved on as they were lowering my prices during times where it could be higher. I only tried 1, so I can't judge them all, but my first experience wasn't great. Right now I'm manually modifying my prices around times I know it'll be busier. My revenue has increased since moving away from Price Labs. 

As for occupancy vs revenue, my goal going into it was to focus on positive reviews. Revenue is the main goal, but I figure I'll be able to increase my prices as I get more 5 star reviews. Certainly it's not a good strategy for new hosts to try and price gouge and receive very few bookings. I want to get to the point where if I do get a 1 star review, it won't have much an effect on me so right now I'm kind of tip toeing my way through these first few months. 

@John D. My goal was to provide some insight into this unique strategy of combining STR & LTR under 1 roof. In my opinion, reviews should be the main focus for the first few months. My revenue so far has been 2-3x that of a long term rental and I do plan on steadily increasing my pricing once we're out of the Michigan winter.

@Paul Sandhu Fine by me! Less competition! 

@Serena Bales I'd recommend doing some research and gathering Data on the Airbnb market there!

Just wanted to update the thread headed into December 2019. 

Had all but 4 days booked this month. I'm realizing it's difficult to get 100% occupancy. Most people don't have overlapping trips, so it's common for there to be a day in between bookings. This is fine because it gives me the opportunity to get inside the unit. 

Today was the first day this month I was able to get inside the unit. Bought a Minut device which can monitor noise levels and other alarms. This will lower insurance rates and also alert me when guests are being too loud. 

I've had healthy interactions so far with people. The argument of Airbnb taking more time is poor, IMO. I'm on my phone most the day, regardless. It takes little effort to respond to occasional inquiries and send our check in instructions to guests. 

My cleaning lady is good. She manages a handful of local Airbnbs. She gives me a 1-5 star rating on the cleanliness of the guest upon her arrival and lets me know if anything is damaged or needs to be restocked. 

The most time consuming thing for me is laundry. My cleaning lady normally does it for clients, however I give my downstairs tenants full access to the laundry since it is on their gas bill. As a result, I have to take laundry to my mom's house 3 miles away and she takes care of it (yes I pay her per load). 

Looking forward to getting out of these 'slow' months that everyone complains about and being able to increase my prices during busy season (spring/summer). However, I have been able to increase my prices for December and still have been getting bookings. I figure people will be coming to town for the holidays and I'm capitalizing on the increased demand! 

Happy Holidays!

@Shonari Wynter Thank you! I will continue to share my results in this market and update threads accordingly.

@Daimian Leslie That’s awesome! Congrats! You can house hack with Airbnb and you don’t need someone there every single day like a regular roommate.

I’d imagine Florida has a hot AIRBNB market.

@Jacklyn P. I would do some research on the areas surrounding Detroit using AirDNA. If the market is showing demand, it might be worth it to try out Airbnb.

I’m hoping Detroit doesn’t start to regulate Airbnb and kill the market. If they do, I’m not sure if it will spread to the suburbs or not. My focus right now is to capitalize on demand while it’s there. I can always convert this property back to a LTR and it’ll cash flow well.

@Ken Latchers I do write ups on my experiences to 1) track my progress and 2) give others insight to my market. 

I've connected with a lot of people on BP who are interested in investing in (Metro) Detroit. 

I use BP to network and connect with other investors. I have 0 intentions of launching a course, book, or website...

@Alex K. to be honest, I don’t know that area all too well.

I toyed with the idea of doing another LTR and BNB for a few weeks before finally committing. My reason was I have other properties I’m renting long term and this was my smallest unit. The property was going to cash flow regardless, so it was worth the risk.

Either way, it’s a risk. It could be a flop, it could be amazing...you don’t know until you try!

You’ll definitely spend several thousand more furnishing and decorating for an airBNB vs a regular LTR. Just make sure you have a backup plan in case it fails!

Just a quick update on this thread. 
Closing October with 25/31 nights booked! 

I had one guest fall down my stairs and sprain her ankle. She broke my shoe rack, which Airbnb reimbursed. She was cool about it and I ended up labeling the light switches for the future so guests know which lights operate the stairs. 

I had 1 guest give me a 4 star review because "the hot water didn't work". Unfortunately, he didn't tell me this until the review. Turns out, he was turning the knobs the wrong way. I went ahead and put labels on the wall by all the nozzles to prevent this future issue. 

I actually had to block out the 14-16th myself. Our Airbnb bathroom had a leak and it leaked into my tenant's kitchen ceiling downstairs. We blocked the days to fix the issue upstairs to prevent future water damage. 

Overall, October brought in around $2000. When you factor in cleaning and expenses, it's around $1300 profit. Of course, this profit will pay off my original investment, but this is only my first full month on Airbnb. Right now, my prices are lower than I'd like them to be and I'm focusing heavy in customer service to attain Superhost status and gain more 5 star reviews them the competition. 

It's nice to see November already half booked and even some bookings headed into December. 

Since the weekends are so popular, I've already increased my prices by 40% on Friday/Saturday. Comps are listed between $65-85/night and I now have my weekends around $65-70/night. I'm keeping my weekdays between $40-$55. If I have open days coming up, I move my prices on the lower end to try and fill the vacancy. Some money is better than no money, right? We'll see! Right now, the focus is on REVIEWS!

I'll continue to update my progress on this as we head into some of the coldest, nastiest months in Michigan.