All Forum Posts by: Richard White

I have a studio apartment which has about 65% occupancy on Airbnb during the year. Usually results in 2-3 cleans a week. Takes about an hour. Also have a 3/2 condo that mostly rents weekly during the summer. Takes 1.5-2 hours. I pay cleaner $20/ hour, and when she emails me her dates or submits an invoice, I pay her through PayPal. I also pay $5 per load for any laundry she does at her house.

I started using Mashvisor and AirDNA this week while trying to evaluate listed homes for short-term rentals. What I've found: AirDNA has good info for the most part, but as was mentioned, they can't separate between "booked" and "blocked." One of the houses I'm looking at buying was listed as 42% occupied with a $242 average nightly rate, but revenue for the past year was only $8400. Makes no sense... Another downside is AirDNA shows my studio apartment revenue fairly accurately for the past year, but my larger condo's revenue seems to be the sum of both properties, because I haven't made anywhere near their numbers on that unit with only Airbnb. So when you're looking at a listing's revenue, be aware it may be influenced by the host's other listings. I actually spoke on the phone with a MV account exec today to get explanations of why two houses I am looking at weren't on their site, and why there is no Airbnb data for the city I'm looking at, Wilmington, NC. He basically said it's still in beta testing, so there are bugs, but also, if a property is only on 1-2 of their MLS sources, but not the others, they may not list it on the platform b/c they want investors to have info from multiple sources, not just Redfin or RentJungle, etc. I would think any info would be useful, but they seem to think that investors are planning to use their site exclusively for decision-making, and they don't want to open themselves up to lawsuits because someone's property is performing the way the platform indicated. I think MV has much more potential to as a more useful tool if they get all the kinks worked out, but for now, AirDNA is providing the most accurate info for me.

When I started renting my house by the beach on VRBO, I set up a "linen package" for a $20 fee - included all sheets, bath towels and beach towels. People from elsewhere in NC who were driving would often opt to bring their own. Most of the property mgmt companies in my area were/are doing this. Now that I have 2 units, I include linens and towels and add a few extra bucks to the cleaning fee to cover cleaner's expenses of washing at laundromat or at her own home, usually $5/ load. I have all white sheets and towels and duvets for each bed with white duvet covers and a backup for each bed that can be rotated and bleached each time. I've found that people are very excited to know linens and towels are included, even if they don't figure out they're being charged for them as part of cleaning fee.

@Jason Coleman Are the meetups still happening, and if so, what days and time? Thanks for any info!

After running two units on my own house (3BR condo and in-law suite) on VRBO & Airbnb for 2 years, I would not as a current host use a management company that charges more than 5-10% for their services. And the services should be much more/better than I can do myself. My upstairs neighbor used a beach mgmt company that charged 20%, plus an add'l fee whenever they had to send someone out to fix a problem, screw in a lightbulb, etc. I have found my own cleaners, plumbers, HVAC, etc., and I have operated from all over the world. When you have Airbnb mgmt sites like Pillow and Guesty, etc., that charge a smaller percentage, a "brick and mortar" mgmt company may find it difficult to stay competitive. As a current host, I would find it most useful to find a company with a stable of local cleaners, handymen, etc. who can assist me with the turnover, inspections, replacement of items, and otherwise, and allow me to continue running the booking process on my own. Then I pay them a monthly fee and service calls, cleaning fees, etc. But perhaps a new investor looking to buy and rent in an unfamiliar locale would be interested more of the services you've listed if they prefer an extreme hands-off approach. Best of luck going forward!

Best of luck, Jeremy!

Hello, everyone. I'm a new member from North Carolina. My girlfriend and I have a house in Carolina Beach which has been very successful on Airbnb and VRBO this past year, so we are looking to continue investing in short-term rentals. We work in the film industry, and I'm a NC native and UNCW grad. I've enjoyed learning so much through the forums and podcasts already, and looking forward to connecting with others in our area, as well as that first investment!

Hi, Aaron, I have an agent I am working with. The seller's agent for the first property slipped to my agent that they were trying to use my offer to raise price on the neighbor. My agent found the second deal b/c buyers agent also facilitated sale of property next door and had submitted it as a comp, which was much less than asking price and much less than my offer.

Hello, all, I've been reading BP for a bit, but this is my first post. My girlfriend and I are investing in short-term rentals. We have been burned by two different transactions where the seller used our offer to drive up the price of someone they were already planning to sell to. This week we made an offer on a 6-plex in our vacation area which is 100% long-term rented currently. The numbers worked even for continuing the long-term renters, but our plan was to convert 1-2 1BR units to Airbnbs when leases expired. The seller's agent wasn't responsive throughout the process, and we even set up a visit through the mgmt company since she wouldn't really do anything. We made our offer, but learned they went with a neighbor's offer, and that neighbor's agent had submitted the low price of their recent sale as a comp. The same thing happened last year on another smaller property. I feel really upset by the time and energy we wasted with both properties, but I wanted to ask how common this is for sellers and agents to do? It seems to me you'd want highest price for your property, but neither even tried negotiating with me. A very frustrating part of the business I guess!!

Hello, all, I've been reading BP for a bit, but this is my first post. I have been investigating the different areas of investing, and my girlfriend and I believe short-term rentals in our vacation area is the way to go. We currently have a studio apartment that is almost fully rented on Airbnb throughout the year and gives great cash flow. So we've looked in the same area for comparable size and prices that make it worthwhile for us. Last year we tried to pursue this strategy by offering on another studio apartment across the street from us with a better ocean view. We walked the unit, did the numbers, and presented our offer. My agent discovered that the owner sold to someone with a unit in the same building, and the seller's agent let slip that the seller was trying to get his neighbor's offer as high as possible. This week we made an offer on a 6-plex on our island which is 100% long-term rented currently. The numbers worked even for continuing the long-term renters, but our plan was to convert 1-2 1BR units to Airbnbs when leases expired. The seller's agent wasn't responsive throughout the process, and we even set up a visit through the mgmt company since she wouldn't really do anything. We made our offer, but learned they went with a neighbor's offer, and that neighbor's agent had submitted the low price of their recent sale as a comp. So apparently they were also just using other offers to get the neighbors' offer higher. I feel really upset by the time and energy we wasted with both properties, but I wanted to ask how common this is for sellers and agents to do? It seems to me you'd want highest price for your property, but neither even tried negotiating with me. A very frustrating part of the business I guess!!