All Forum Posts by: Peter M.

@Mike M. We have exterior ring cameras at ours and haven't had any issue. Honestly don't know if we would even know if its an issue since anyone turned off by them simply wouldn't book. I think its essential to protect the property especially if you dont allow pets. Also, probably doesn't need to be said but make sure its a hard wired for power camera with the switch or power source inaccessible to the guests so they can't turn it off. Ours are wifi so there's not much I can do about that but I've never had a guest turn off the wifi.

@James Bennett Download the Fannie mae/Freddie mac contract and note from the website and just add a sentence in the payoff section for a 5 year balloon. If you want, you can do the math and make a schedule with it amortized over however long you want.

@Johnnie B. Wright Network, find investors, find deals, then connect them. Or get a line of credit on existing property, use it as the down payment for another property-100% financed.

@Tim Kanak I used opendoor for a quick sale and was happy with the results. They beat out zillow and the local wholesalers by a huge margin. Depending on your market, now might not be the best time to use them if its a hot market, you'd make more going through a normal realtor. You can usually find investor friendly realtors that do 1% listings (4% total).

@Andrew Caldieraro Why would you do this? Are the numbers that much better? You lose your economies of scale. But to answer your question the upgrades to current code will probably be your biggest problems. Sprinkler systems, thicker roof decking etc.

@Ki Lee I like the glue down type (adhesive separate not the peel and stick kind) for concrete subfloors and click together for plywood so you don't destroy it when time comes to redo it

@Thomas Dunsmore Look at the county website to see the current assessed value and tax rates. There are usually several like county, isd, hospital, city but there can be others like library and ems service. Add them all up to see what your rate will be. Then multiply it by the assessed value and to be conservative, by the purchase price. The first year will be prorated at closing and depending on the time of year either a credit to you or they pay them. Then next year expect them to go up to at least the purchase price. You'll get a letter from the county congratulating you and asking what you paid...throw it in the trash. Then when you get your increase in may, protest it. If its more than what you paid, show them the hud and it should be lowered to that. But the way texas is right now, and has been for the past few years, appraisal boards are not budging on their assessments. Consider hiring a protest service. You pay 30-50% of what they save you. Good luck

@John Morgan @Pete Harper I use Ola tax out of fort worth and they charge 30%

@Mike Gordon I like to give options such as 3% for a 2 year lease, 5% for 1 year, 20% for mtm. This incentivizes less turn over. These are also just examples since every tenant will be different. If I had a tenant that kept signing 2 year leases I would have to do a correction at some point

@Jason Faulkner Just operate the STR yourself. You can always hire a co-host to help you until you get comfortable. Trusting a tenant to take care of your property while allowing other people in is risky business. Plus you are taking a disproportionate amount of the risk for a fixed rent when you could be making that premium yourself.