All Forum Posts by: Joshua Feit

What's up, BP!

I have 10 rentals -- 8 long term units and 2 airbnb rentals in the mountains. And it's time to RAMP UP!

I thought I would take the bold step of getting my dream out there. Type it up. Put it into the world and see what happens...

I want to scale up into an apartment building or small complex this year -- like 18-24 units. That's a big step for me, but I've learned a lot from my 10, and I think I'm ready for the next challenge.

This is not a 'want ad' that's mis-categorized and should be in the marketplace. That's not what I'm trying to do. I really just want to state my goal in front of the community as a first action step. And as usual -- I have a few questions!

Any advice on how to start to network for this sort of deal? Are properties of this size generally brokered? Or are there off-market opportunities?

Also, I'm not afraid of owning out of town, and I'm interested in towns with mid-size colleges and housing shortages. I'd love to hear any ideas you have about markets that may be a fit for my search.

I would love to connect with anyone who has or had such an asset in their portfolio. If you have any advice for me, it would be greatly appreciated!

I have a noisy outdoor HVAC unit at one of my rentals -- called a larger company who said my condenser was broken. Their quote:

$2300 for a new condenser / all related installation

$3000 for a new outdoor unit all in / all related installation

Is there any reason not to buy a compressor online (looks like about $650 for the part) and have a general repair contractor install it for me? Or is there a reason to hire a bigger company at a high price point for a job like this?

Thanks for your help!

@Tim Schroeder I have the cabin in Shagbark. I had messaged Dave to let him know that. I'm not sure if he has one there too.

I've only had mine listed since December. So far, December booked up very quickly. January has been mostly long weekends with a couple of midweek trips. About 12 vacant days. Same for February. March is filling up fast, and Apr/May/June are looking on track to be very full months too.

From the guard gate, it's really only five miles to The Island / Kroger / mountain coasters. It's not nearly as close as yours, but it doesn't feel far. I also really like the feel of the neighborhood. I think it appeals to people that like a more nature-oriented mountain getaway.

Here's hoping that the cabin does as well as everyone tells me it will. I'll let you know once I have some more experience under my belt.

Hope it helps!

@Cassandra Mack Yes! I have another one under contract right now in Wears Valley. I plan on seeing how these two go, and if all goes well, then yes -- would consider more STR acquisitions in the near future.

@Cassandra Mack I have SFR and Duplex long term rentals in Atlanta (10 units). Thanks!

@Chris Virgil-Stone The management company I am using is called MMI Cabins (Me, Myself, and I). In other words, I am self-managing using the popular booking platforms. :-)

@Julia Fair I am a lot like you! I really HATE the cabin style. Hate the little tchotchkes, hat brown furniture, hate beds made out of rustic logs. And especially hate lamps made out of carved bears. It's all just so tacky and kitschy and horrible!

But you know what I love? Cash on cash return! And the folks coming to the area are looking for all this stuff. So I am delighted to furnish my cabin this way, even though it is not at all my taste.

Basically, I am looking at these cabins as businesses, and I'm doing everything I can to appeal to the clientele. Then, when I go on vacation, I take some of the profits I earn from my business, and I rent a place where I really want to stay.

We're going for as close to 100% occupancy at our cabins as we possibly can, which means we don't ever really want to stay  at the cabin as a vacation for ourselves. (We will stay there occasionally, but the focus will be work -- fixing, fixing up, making sure everything is in working order, etc.)

Make sense?

Now, with all that said, I think there are ways to furnish a cabin in a style that will appeal to the guests and that is not quite so gaudy. But if you are going to buy a furnished cabin, why start over? Furnishings would add up like crazy, and you could make just as much of a return if you kept it as is and just made a few updates.

Cheers,

Josh

@Haseeb M.

I'd love to get the same insight. Ha!

Ask me in a year, and I'll tell you how year one went. We are three weeks in right now. :-)

@Rhonda Blue

Hi! Is your Shagbark rental on Airbnb? VRBO? Both? All of my bookings so far have been on Airbnb. It's on VRBO (for just a week) but so far no inquiries. I'd love to connect with you to talk about how you are setting up your listings!

@Tim Schroeder $5 per car per stay. It's not hard to enter. When someone books, I have a saved message that includes a general welcome and a request for the car info. They usually send it, but even if they don't, I just enter their names and dates in the system, and the guards seem to let them through so far. It's really not a big deal, but it's an extra step.

I am developing turn-day routines, checking certain things and sending certain messages at specific times of day. The car check in is part of that routine, and it only takes two minutes or less. So not a big deal really. And it is very nice to know that no one is able to throw a random party at my small cabin.

Our cabin in Shagbark is a quick 15 minutes to The Island / Kroger / Etc on the PF Parkway. It doesn't feel far. Christmas was slamming -- 100% occupied in December (at a low introductory rate, mind you!) In January, we have 12 days not booked -- and they are all midweek. Hard to know how it's going to do long term, but everyone is telling me that Shagbark rentals do very well. And the signs are promising.

The one issue I have with Shagbark is that they charge $5 for guest car for entry. The gated/guarded shack is a double edged sword. On the one hand, no one is getting through if they are not on the list, so no parties etc. But, I have to manually enter each guest's car info into the system. I added an extra $5 into the cleaning fee to cover it, but some guests bring more cars. It's not insurmountable, but it's a hassle for sure.

@Tim Schroeder