All Forum Posts by: NaTarrio Jones

@NaTarrio Jones I'd love to hear about that one. How are the laws in Galveston? That area is at the top of my list for possible short term because my parents are moving their boat to Keemah to start prepping for retirement. 

@NaTarrio Jones another audience you may want to entertain for 3-6 month short term renting are traveling nurses and research students with UTMB on the island.  If you can target your advertising toward those groups, you may do well in the "winter" months.  I say that because demand sometimes reduces after school starts although this year and next may change due to the fact that restrictions are being lifted regarding Covid. Congratulations on your closing!

Multi Unit vacation rentals always have a risk of "what happens if the tenant is bad and upsets guests" or "What happens if the guests are bad and upset your tenant?" If you were to choose the LTR & STR path. I think it's an option, just a risk factor to weigh.

@NaTarrio Jones I started my short term rental journey in Steamboat Springs,CO with an up/ down duplex. I found small multi family to be priced significantly cheaper per unit than SFR or condos. When we renovated we added an extra layer of drywall to the ceiling of the downstairs unit to insulate for noise. We rented both on Airbnb and were very clear about it being a duplex and they may hear noise from the other unit. It was a great rental for us. We got the occasional comment about noise form someone upstairs, but still had a 4.95 rating on Airbnb. We ended up selling the property this year due to such high appreciation in the area.

We bought a side by side duplex in Fort Morgan, AL. I love the side by side in comparison to the up/ down duplex. Much less issue with noise.

That being said, I think you can make a great STR with this property. Consider your flooring in the upper unit so it is not loud for guests below. Carpet may be best for this situation so you don't get click every time someone steps upstairs. Also ask people to take their shoes off. Consider extra insulation or a second layer of drywall between units!

Good luck!

@NaTarrio Jones I have an up/down duplex that I rent LT upstairs and STR down. Noise transfer is a big issue and we actually built the unit and spent quite a bit of money on soundproofing, I haven't pulled the trigger yet but we are going to drop an additional ceiling in the bedrooms (downstairs unit has 9'6" ceilings) to try to mitigate more of the noise. As others have said being extremely open and upfront in the STR listing about the unit will be helpful. The STR is our least profitable STR due to being a shared wall situation, but it still does much better than LT. We also use extended stays to fill in vacancy gaps during our slow season. I will never build another up/down duplex, I just don't think it's possible to isolate the noise like you can with a side by side.

Rehab and furnish 1 unit for STR see how it does. If it does good STR both. Use the income from first unit to rehab and furnish second unit.

I would definitely side with Bruce there, upstairs as an AirBnB maybe a poor choice just for the bottom side tenants sake. All the noise and commotion that STR's bring may lend to a pretty higher turnover rate downstairs. Which would be opposite the goal of an LTR.... If you are close enough to the attractions why not STR both top and bottom? or LTR both?