All Forum Posts by: Paul Meyer

Investment Info:

Mobile home buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $67,000
Cash invested: $140,000

Mega mobile home makeover sitting on 5 acres. After a $140k reno it's a little paradise on airbnb. Currently goal around $60k revenue.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Price and location. Comps.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Xome.com Bought off auction unseen.

How did you finance this deal?

Equity line of credit - cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovated entire home and a lot of landscaping.

What was the outcome?

High ARV and solid airbnb rental.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Mobile homes can be more difficult to do a reno also JUST as expensive for a 1996 home.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

No

Hey guys well after 10 bookings now I only request ID from VRBO people because I can't see much whereas Airbnb I just don't worry much plus now I have a super insurance (proper) so now I'm not even worried. I would say 50/50 on people easily showed ID and others its was like 3 emails before they just took a picture of their ID. I just don't care anymore if I'm paid upfront and it's legit. If they are paying a 2 night minimum for $399/night plus all the other crap I'm not worried. I think if I had a $100/night for 1 night lean more to IDs. It is smart but from my experience with small claims court and stuff not much would ever happen. Just get really good insurance.

here's my latest review after 4 months.....

First if you only have a few properties or just getting started with a channel manager stay far from hostaway. They love to charge charge charge $,$$$. I was originally going to go with a smaller company but thought THOUGHT the bigger company would be just better. Best customer service, better experience, better everything. 

I was totally wrong. From the start I was already upset paying $150 for a "training fee" for which I didn't want to attend nor did I attend because I work and can't hangout on zoom calls in the middle of the day. You are forced to pay this. If it's that complicated to learn and use this fully setup turnkey program maybe its really not that good? I thought the $150'/month was worth it even for 1 property to sync everything because I manage my own properties. I had a lot of issues with double bookings. The customer service is ****. They just don't care. It's too big to fail I guess. They were polite but they just made me run around in circles. 

I cancelled BEFORE my next term. Got charged another $150. Found out it was ANOTHER fee for in their agreement I have to give them a 30 days cancellation notice. Am I a ****ing tenant??? I couldn't believe this for digital software having to give "notice". 

Anyway's I found a company called Hospitable. It's $40/month. Much easier to navigate. Still has features. It actually does calculations/analytics hostaway did not and could not. And the customer service answer my questions with things like screenshots and videos for my account. Not vague answers I already know. Anyway I'm sold on them for 1/3 the cost and I wish I knew about them sooner. 

Hostaway might be good if you are big and you have a person fulltime who runs property management. I flip fulltime and run my rentals on my phone. It needs to be simple and easy to see quickly.

That's my input. Go with them if you want, but if you are small i'd strongly recommend checking out hospitable instead for 1/3 cost and NO fees upfront for "training" and cancelling. 

@Monique P. Yes I'm super upfront about ID in description and rules and instant booking. Like I said I use to never ask. But I had an old cheap night house now I have expensive luxury houses. I liked what you said about the type of customer you want to attract could you post one of your lists or message it to me to see how you wrote your description? I'm still shaping mine. Now since I have a mega insurance STR plan I don't even care. Its covered now if they burn down the house. I was so anxious because I didn't have any insurance. I might now just buy the wavio plan thing or add into hosting fee so at least 1000-1500 would definitely be covered. I do have a refundable $1000 direct damage deposit collected through all services. I might even take that off now since I have real insurance.

Anyway for everyone here - I just called the person directly and she answered her phone. She said she hadn't gotten to it. I don't even care at this point. She answered it. She sounded normal. I told her I just wanted to confirm it by phone and I'm collecting that $800. lol. For my first month after a long gap I'm bring in almost 12k in revenue. Not bad for a luxury mobile home hahaha

@Sarah Kensinger hey I must have tried another BP advertised carrier. The Proper immediately insured the STR mobile home for $$$$ but it's 100% covered so I just got bare minimum which is still a lot I'm happy with and now I feel better moving forward on a property I felt was just uninsureable. So thanks for the referral. @Michael Glunk I'm not trying to be too strict. I just wanted the main guest who booked it to show me ID because she booked 12 adults (max 12) and its New Years. The fact that she hasn't even replied to 2 messages tells me it COULD be a potential risk. Everyone else that has booked (and in past) doesn't have a problem communicating. I never asked for an ID check before. I'm through Hostaway and I realized they have a check in form that will collect ID so I'm hoping that moving forward might help. I ALMOST went with Evolve. Until 3 weeks into enrollment they keep telling ME I have to communicate with guests the entire time and now its my cleaners job. Yeah right for 10%. I'm still active in it. Now, Vacasa, 20% might help. I have 100% noticed if I'm not a superhost my property drops to the end of the line but I have one of the best looking properties and slowly getting interest. I only want 3-4 to manage myself. I did basic math and even on low number paying them would be around 10-20k out of my revenue and I don't think they are going to generate 20k more because of the areas/homes. I could be wrong but the way they sold it was just all the same companies I was going to use to advertise biggest difference was they were already superhosts and maybe have more leads I don't know. 

Oh and I DO accept events. Haha. SO trust me I'm not not trying to maximize profits. I set some perimeters and rules for small events but I welcome them if I can up charge for a very small wedding or bring the film crew. I don't care, as long as they pay what I want. ;)

@Bruce Woodruff No one under 30? You must have a really hot property! lol. I think 25 is old. I think of people joining the military at 18. Mine's the basic 25 which I think if you can put down a deposit and 2 nights for like $2k you are probably responsible enough for the weekend. 

Well a presenter in VB said 2 night minimum. I use to get 1 nights a lot for two people home but I haven't gotten any and it's 400/night but I probably should keep it to 2. I just want to keep it booked.

I think I tried Proper and they wouldn't insure. My mobile home is built better than my parents stick built home. I just don't get it.  Ill look into those other services.

i guess I'm cancelling this 2 night booking. Sad I need the money it was a $160k Reno.

And how many instant paid do you cancel for not sending an ID? 

Hey John. So do you accept instant booking and you confirm or requests then confirm with id? I use to never ask 10 years ago. My homes are more expensive now and I'm 12 hours away self managing so it's making me more cautious.

Do you guys still collect ID's even if its a 1 night stay? I'm doing it but it would be much simpler if the hosting site already had this to provide to hosts once its booked.