All Forum Posts by: Quentin Moore

@Kyle Mccaw I haven't started taking bookings yet. I am currently staying in the home. I plan to launch next month.

I don't know anything about Windsor Hills. I really like the Storey Lake location. Disney is 15 min away. The airport is 20 min away. Any store you need to go to is 5-10 min away.

The community appears to be well kept.

I typically see a lot more cars on the weekend so other hosts appear to be doing 2-3 night minimums.

My one complaint so far is that trash pickup is suppose to be daily but occasionally they skip a day.

@John Menton You can manage the bookings yourself or you can pay someone to manage them for you for 10%-30% of your gross revenue. When I launch in October, I plan to manage my own bookings. I pay a local property manager a flat rate to maintain the home.

@Tyree Etheridge I purchased a townhome.

@Tyree Etheridge My lender is Joseph Morea: crosscountrymortgage.com/Joseph-Morea

My agent is Jay Wells: https://jaywellsvacationhomes....

I think they are both great and plan to use them again.

@Carlos H DeOliveira Like you mentioned, I was able to find the Airbnb listing for the home I put an offer on. I was able to see that the reviews were mostly positive and that the negative reviews were mostly about things being not clean (i.e. fixable things). 

I also looked at hundreds of Airbnb reviews of nearby homes. I could see that people liked the homes, the community, and the location of the community. All of this information helped me to decide to proceed with the home purchase.

I live in VA and just purchased an STR in Kissimmee, FL. Here are some tips:

Consider using a lender and a local agent that mostly engage in STR deals.

Identify the STR communities you want to buy in. This includes Championsgate, Reunion, Windsor Hills, Solterra, Festival, Storey Lake, etc. They all have pluses and minuses. I chose Storey Lake because of its location.

Once you know which community you want to buy in, you can google for the floor plan or virtual tours by searching on the community name.

Pull up the community you are interested in on the Zillow.com map and click "Save Search". You will then get an email whenever there are new listings in that area.

Whenever you get an email alert, if the home's photos and the numbers look good, consider putting an offer on the property. :-) Maybe this quick reaction isn't as necessary now. In the Spring, homes in the area I was targeting were going under contract fast. Note that you can always back out of the offer during the inspection.

If the home has bookings, your agent can ask the selling agent to ask the STR guest if your agent can visit the home during their stay. The guest will probably say no. :-) You can then try to have your agent visit the home between bookings, i.e., between when one guest checks out and the next guest checks in.

Ask your agent to record a video walk-through. If you can have a live video session, that's good too. Still have the agent record a walk-through that you can review later.

@Sandrine Li I didn't purchase an STR yet. I will close on a sale of a home next month and use the proceeds to buy an 8BR house in ChampionsGate. Please note that the prices are high right now.

I see in many short term rental listings that the garage is being "converted" into a game room. Does anyone have any thoughts on purchasing a 3 BR house and really converting the garage into 1 or 2 additional bedrooms?

@Brian G. I initially wanted to get two 3 BR STRs. I am now evaluating whether I should start with one 5-6 BR STR instead. The discount COVID-19 nightly rates are not helping the analysis. :-)

@Matt Nico, thanks for your reply.

Ultimately, I'm open to any and all types of investment property. I want to start out with a STR or two because, from what I understand, I can get a cheaper mortgage with a low down payment if I do not plan to put a lease or property management contract on the property. Please let me know if this is correct.

My plan is to use equity from my primary residence to get a vacation home mortgage with only a 5-10% down payment. I would get one vacation home mortgage in my name and one in my wife's name.

I'm not ready to buy at the moment. I want to see what happens with COVID-19. I also want to figure out where to buy and how many bedrooms to buy. I will reach out to realtors once I'm ready to make a purchase. I'll keep you in mind. :-)