All Forum Posts by: Ralph Poirier

This might be someone looking to do an arbitrage (i.e. they turn around and rent it on a short term basis).

Is this the organization you’re talking about?  

The Oxford Housing Authority was established in 1971.The Agencies mission is to provide safe, secure rental subsidies for families, elderly, and handicapped or disabled persons. Both State and Federal Governments fund the programs.

This sounds better than section 8. So your rent is paid by the authorities?  Sounds like a winner to me!

I researched Vacasa as a property manager. The first issue was the 30% they would take for their services. Ouch!  What I’ve seen from most property managers if you have a clogged toilet they will send someone to plunge it. If that doesn’t clear it it’s still up to you to get a plumber to resolve. Some are better than others. 

I use a fidelity visa. I get 2% cash back on every purchase with no limits and no annual fee. My analysis should it to be better than any of the travel cards.  I put everything possible on the card. Pays me over $100/month. 

I have one in Seabrook island. Seabrook residents are in the process of stopping additional rentals. Kiawah has implemented a cap on the number of rentals. I’m not 100% sure about Charleston itself but I’m aware that Sullivan’s island banned them and Mount Pleasant has placed a cap on the number of rentals. Those are the hot spots you would want to try to get one. Other spots like Folley and Edisto are extremely seasonal so rentals really dry up November through May. Hard to make any money at current pricing. 

I’ve been using Stessa for a few years now. There are good things and bad things. Good it’s free and generally it does a good job of reporting my income and expenses. Bad as Mike said the import vendor they use is terrible. I’m constantly asking them to fix the connection to my different banks and credit cards. A total pita.   I also don’t like that they don’t allow you to create new income/expense categories. You have to keep with what they give you. They also have something called the rent roll which makes no sense to me. I’d consider quicken if I were doing it again. 

Be prepared to pay over asking!  My daughter is trying to buy in the south end.  Without a cash offer or 10% over asking she has swung and missed 5 times.  Smells like a bubble!

I started my vacation rental in early March. I had one weekend rental then Covid shut it down. I couldn’t believe how bad my luck was. It reopened May 15th and I haven’t had a vacancy and it extends into November. Next year is 40% booked already. 

I put an ikea into mine.  I actually slept on it a couple of nights and found it okay. Great price. 

I own several rentals in SC my agent once said to me “in SC it’s not if you get termites it’s when”. I paid $750 for a termite inspection and treatment bond which insures me if I do get termites. There is also a $300 Annual inspection and service to keep up the bond which is transferable.