All Forum Posts by: Nathan M kiefer

UPDATE -I didn't get a top % even though my lowest rating on my properties are 4.96 and 5 star but I have seen others with the "top 5%" or "top 10%" of listings.

Wondering if any of yours have populated yet?

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Andrew B.:

Quote from @Alex F.:

We have a 4-bedroom home near Disney - the home is well-themed and very close to Disney.  It does very well and should end the year right between 60-70K gross rev with great occupancy.  But this IS a very competitive market....This is a good article on some of these markets with a huge supply:  https://www.adventuresinairbnbs.com/p/help-i-stopped-getting...

Here is our Disney home:

Last year, we primarily received guests from Airbnb and, this year, from Booking.com. This is our only property where we could never 'climb up' the rankings in VRBO, so we received 0 guests from VRBO. This still puzzling.....The direct bookings from repeat guests are slowly growing.

Booking.com is hard to deal with, but we seem to get good overseas guests that stay for longer.  

Great occupancy rate, congrats! We get a lot from booking.com, but there’s also a lot of strategic bookers, who will book multiple places and then cancel at last minute, it screws everything up with the other OTA’s algorithm. 

 Nice place! Something I don't understand after I looked at your listing - how are you fully booked with no vacancies in September and October? September is a super dead month, maybe even deader than May. 

 Also how are you doing the reviews, it feels like it's set up with people mentioning all three names that seems uncommon?

i mean it's working obviously but just felt like the reviews were dictated but maybe that's just me?

Quote from @Dax Jauhola:

Geez, guys - this thread is not about Orlando. I am not interested in Orlando at all and that is a completely different type of STR community.

Suncadia is a resort property with two hotels, 400 vacation homes, four swimming pools, four restaurants, and two golf courses. It's all under the same banner and controlled by one company.

They have the ability to negotiate with the City of Cle Elum, WA, as they are probably its biggest employer. STRs are popular in this city as they create significant amounts of jobs and revenue.

I am shocked that this model is not more popular around the country. If someone had 1,000 acres in Southern California and created something similar, I would invest in that in a second.

 Lol for real- somehow it got to be about Orlando lol.

Anyway, check out Ocean Lakes, Myrtle Beach SC. We own two beach houses there and its a resort/campground. The original ownership was very smart in that it has a campground component and there are over 300 houses in 318 acres. The land is leased and STR is No problem.

We bought one is 2020 and one in 2022 for 295k and 375k respectively, both are valued in the 650-725k range-each. These unicorns do exist but in my experience you have to get out and travel to find some of them. 

We found this place when covid was tapering, our disney spring break got cancelled(like everyone elses on the planet) so we hid out for a month and searched states with "fewest covid restrictions" and found SC-Ocean lakes.

let us know if you find anymore!

Two points 

late Payments is a you problem not a them problem. We would never allow this.

What is your tax situation - I don't see anyway you end in a good situation by selling due to depreciation and payback and realtor fees, selling, closing fees etc unless you 1031 into something. If that isn't the goal I'd hold and hire a pm or get strong on collection and cleaning up the tenants that are taking advantage of you.

Quote from @Joseph Harr:

If you were starting a new STR or MTR, what are some things you can do to cut down on future maintenance? I'm looking for durable furniture, linens, construction materials, things like that.

I have and STR and an MTR and the maintenance things just keep piling up: LVP cracking, paint chipping/peeling/bubbling, walls constantly getting marked up, dining chair bolts coming loose, stains on every piece of cloth and furniture.

Welcome to landlording a str and mtr. 

low maintenance and str/mtr are oxymoron.

general rule is the more you pay the longer it lasts in our experience. We got so sick of dealing with weeds and grass we tore out every inch outside and put in artificial turf in both exterior of our houses. Been a great low maintenance investment although not sure how much I saved to have low maintenance as it was 15k 

it really comes down with your visitation and how much you want to deal with. We do almost all of those things when we visit- tighten bolts on chair's and touch up etc. Some of that there is just no way around.

there is no scuff paint but I'm not sold on it

Quote from @Diana Mulvihill:

Quote from @Diana Mulvihill:

hi all, i’m newish to BP boards, thank you in advance for sharing your opinions + experience.

i’m looking for opinions about how helpful an additional sleep number is in the income + rentability of an str.

i’m potentially purchasing a 3 bedroom, 2 bath property which i will STR + also live in part-time.

ideally, i’d like to have:

*a king bed in the master bedroom

*a queen bed in one bedroom

*a queen memory foam pullout sofa in the third bedroom

this would be a 3 bedroom that sleeps 6

this is my preference for:

*general look of the house / not a house full of beds

*number of guests/noise/cars

*septic

*would allow me to create a cute ‘chill out’ space in an extra bedroom-sized nook elsewhere in the house, which i think would be appealing to travelers.

***

alternatively i could have:

*a king bed in the master bedroom

*a queen bed in one bedroom

*a bunk bed in one bedroom (or other)

*the queen memory foam pullout sofa in a bedroom-sized nook elsewhere in the house.

this would be a 3 bedroom that sleeps 8 

thoughts? thank you!!!

hi everyone, thank you all SO much for your time. you've given me so much valuable insight.

it seems like everyone agrees that the sleeper sofa is not a bed. helpful insight + agreed, i wouldn't want to sleep on one.

synthesizing all of your great feedback, i have a follow up question:

i was asked why i don't put beds in all 3 bedrooms. i am trying to balance the utility of this as somewhere that i live part time, with the utility of the rental. for my own purposes: bedroom, guest room + office. i do a lot of video calls for work, so need an office/neutral space.

initial thought:

maybe a quality trundle bed in 3rd bedroom that is daybed for office, + converts to sleep space for kids when it’s a rental. (two families with kids or a group of young adult friends will be a likely demographic, this can serve both).

do you all have any other ideas?

(btw my belongings in my office, like the rest of my footprint in the house, will be very minimal: this small desk, quality office chair, + desktop computer. my thought is i’d put the computer in a closet + leave desk out as a workspace for guests; alternatively i could put all office in closet.)

 Perfect, id leave desk out. That all sounds like a great use for what you are trying to accomplish 

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Great response and something I think most people dont consider. Str has elusion that it's money maker or break even, great to highlight the fact that break even most likely comes with no mortgage and even then hope you don't have any capital improvements that are needed. 

we work our strs the same way 

A great reason to not have all your eggs in the STR basket. I have many more LTR that cash flow really well. These help me weather a storm with low STR occupancy numbers like many are facing across the country.
Higher insurance rates, STR permit fees, labor costs for repairs and cleaning, regime fees (for condos) make running a profitable STR even more difficult. 

I get it and have 18 ltrs

Great response and something I think most people dont consider. Str has elusion that it's money maker or break even, great to highlight the fact that break even most likely comes with no mortgage and even then hope you don't have any capital improvements that are needed. 

we work our strs the same way 

Two things 

Number 1- two kings for two couples and two double bunks (4 people in a bunk room). Still sleeps 8 but will allow you two families. 

secondly and more importantly make sure your bathrooms match sleeping rooms, this is a deal breaker on all str that we purchase and has been proven time and again. 3 bed needs to be 3 bath 

Quote from @Ashish Wa:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

I would never own a property in my personal name except the one I live in. Your exposure is compounding due to having it in you or wife's name. Put in LLC so you can realize the benefits and have the protection of the LLC when liability comes your way

Thanks. I was told that if you own 1 or 2 rentals,  it's okay to have it under your name . I have to draft the lease today in next few hours so I don't have time to get the LLC. What would you suggest if we both should be on the lease? Or It can be just me?
Besides,  do you suggest any additional clause I can add? I was thinking about adding this- that the renter should be responsible for paying the first $100 for any of the service calls to fix any  stuff in the house. Again I am not sure if it's legal in GA as landlords are expected to do all the maintenance. Your thoughts?

Timing or not, I wouldn't sign a lease in my personal name, you have little to no protection in the event there is a liability issue - ie grandma slips on the sidewalk - under LLC they have to sue the LLC if that's where property is owned and the lease is drawn.

if it's owned personally they can sue you and everything you you have. 

bottom line is I say delay and get an LLC but that's just me