All Forum Posts by: Patricia Taveras

@Scott Johnson

Hey Scott and everyone involved in this discussion. I'm intrigued by the post and have a question of my own. Who sevices the note when you sell with seller financing - who tracks the payments and interest, etc.?

@Matthew Grisafe

Not sure if this counts for what you're looking for - but I purchased my second airbnb 100% financed because I purchased my first one at a good enough deal that my lender put a second lien on the first house to use as my "down payment" on the second property. I only had to cover closing costs at closing. This was a local bank using a commercial loan.

@Mary Joe

Hi Mary Joe. I have used tenantbackgroundsearch and am happy with it. It gives a detailed background and credit report.

@Karene Burnett

Hi Karene. There is a book called Get Paid for your Pad by Huzefa Kapadia and Jasper Ribbers that talk about renting on Airbnb. There is a section that talks about all the expenses you can expect with a short term rental. I found it very helpful. The houses I have bought and turned into Airbnb, I calculated both as a long term rental and as a short term rental. That way I knew I had a plan B is airbnb didn't work out. For the short term analysis, I looked at other properties in my city to gauge what nightly rate I could charge when I analyzed my first property. And I calculated income based on a 50% occupancy to be safe. In reality, we stay about 80% booked. Keep in mind you can charge guests a cleaning fee, that way you know that expense is largely covered. Good luck!

@Scott R.

I buy them from Amazon. You can get them at walmart too. I have found better prices on Amazon. They zip entirely around the mattress, box springs, etc. Make sure to get the ones that say they are for bed bugs. If you get a guest that brings bed bugs in with them, it prevents them from entering the bedding and nesting there. They could still try to nest in other places, such as cracks in furniture, but they will be much more easily seen by cleaners and exterminated.

@Bryan Berrios

Hi Bryan. Congratulations on your house! A good way to figure what countertops and other finishes to put in your property is to look at some other houses on the market in your neighborhood if there are any. I have never put granite in any of my houses, but they would all probably appraise somewhere around 140,000 at the moment, and no house in this neighborhood that I have seen has granite. But if you are in a higher end market you will need to go with higher end finishes. Good luck, and have fun!

@Cole Simpson

One more - C&M Hardwood Flooring. Owner's name is Celso Medina, they do beautiful flooring work.

@Cole Simpson

Hi Cole. My husband and I have done some business with Spectrum Rebuildng and Remodeling. The owner's name is Jay. He is a GC. Next Level Home Improvement has done several roofs for us - they do great work. The owner's name is Mike. My husband's company Peoples Home Solutions does painting and carpentry. His name is David. Right Brothers Heating and Air have replaced several HVAC systems for us, and they also do mini splits in older homes. They have great warranty work. The owner's name is Art. If you want any phone numbers let me know.

@Roger Poindexter

Hi Roger. I have three bedrooms as well. We always do king in the master, queen in one room (and yes, it's a small room), and twin over full bunk in the other room. We started out with all white sheets, but are transitioning to other colors upon our cleaner's request because you are right - it is a pain to figure out which sheet is which when they all look the same! We did some research and learned that hotels use sheets made of percale - a cotton polyester blend. They are breathable like cotton, hard to stain like polyester, durable, and soft. We also encase all our mattresses, box springs, and pillows in bed bug proof mattress encasements. The encasements have already come in handy because a guest stayed with us who had gotten bitten by bed bugs at the Airbnb she stayed at before us, but started showing the symptoms at our place. The guest saw the encasements when she tried looking for bugs in our mattress, and she had no argument when our exterminator gave us a clean bill of health. They also potentially protected our mattress from any bugs that may have hitched a ride in her things.

@Will Gebbie

Look up similar properties in the area and see what they rent for. Look at their calendars, to see how many days in the short term future are booked. In my area, hotel business statistical reports have coincided nicely with how my airbnb business flows as far as which months will be busy and which will be slow.

In addition to the regular real estate expenses, factor in cost of utilities, cable/internet, lawn service if it applies, and decide which amenities you'll provide: coffee, creamer, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. So far my maintenance costs on my STRs haven't been any higher than on my LTRs. Cleaning is another big expense, but you can charge cleaning fees in addition to nightly rate to offset cost.

I took the extra step of analyzing my short term rentals as though they were long term rentals as well, to make sure I would have a fall back if the STR plan should fail. So far, Airbnb has been great!

I hope this helps. Good luck!