All Forum Posts by: Ryan Mertens

Everybody has the same idea you do.

When  started my VRBO in PC there were less than 4000 listed, as of today there are over 6100.

My place is consistently ranked in the TOP 20/out of that 6100 for all metrics combined. I had 46 bookings last year and I am selective with those bookings. 

If you know how to work it, and you enjoy customer service it can print money.

If you have any questions let me know

im in Holladay and thats what I get for one of my duplex rentals, about thee same size. 3 bed 1.5 bath, very dated though.

Ill tell you a quick story.

IT was previously rented for 1995/month. That was a 50 yr old established couple with a college aged kid. Its a very specific rental as the full bath is essentially a jack and jill off the master with the other entrance in the hallway next to the 2 other bedrooms. 1/2 bath is upstairs and basement has no bath.

Advertised it for awhile at 2000, didn't really get a lot of bites. dropped to 1850, got some people interested but no one I wanted to live next to(owner/occupied at the time) Dropped it to 1700 and the flood gates opened and I have the best renters in there I could imagine.

I spent over 3 months trying to rent it, a lot of which was because I wanted to pick my neighbors for the sake of my wife and I have a newborn. I was super super picky.

With that said I could have rented it at 1850 about 2 weeks after I dropped the price from 2000, which I held onto for over a month. I mean it rented really fast last time so why not now????

Holding on as long as I did cost for over $3500 in revenue to where it would of if started back at $1850. That $150 difference will take 2 YEARS to make up! Live and learn right?

with 2600sqft 3 bed and ONLY 1.5 bath it takes a situation like the first renters I had or a group of very close frineds who don't mind sharing a bathtub. I understand that now

Lesson learned.

Take pets on a selective basis. 1/2 your renters have animals. 

Do 1/4ly inspections(which you should be doing already) to look for pet damage(and to change furnace filters).

Feel your tenant out during walkthrough. If you think you can get away with a pet fee then charge it.

You are not bound by any fair housing acts or animal rights acts as you don't have the required amount of rentals to put you in that category.

Hope this helps.

And if you want to sell it....here I am:)

No one has mentioned that they could be baiting you now for a future lawsuit. Asking for this request to see how you respond, maybe hoping that you don't fix it so in the future they have record of the hazard being reported and now have grounds for a suit.

Paint is $4 a can, seriously. $4!!

a stich in time saves nine, and that nine could be a $10k legal fee.

If I wrote that estimate in Xactimate(what 75%of insurance companies use to estimate for repairs just like this. I'd have $750 worth of labor minimums alone, paint, drywall, and general contractor just to name 3 trades. With that said it's more than fair.

Right now in the Salt lake City area contractors are going for $65-100hr and handymen(which only requires a certificate that really means nothing of skillset) go for $40-65$ an hour

Looking for a HELOC (or possible cash out REFI) on a few rentals in UTAH. Both duplex A properties.

I know ZIONS does them here, but with very high origination fees. (1% of loan+ closing and I cover the appraisal.

Vectra bank in CO does them(owned by Zions) but I have to own or live in CO for them to do the loan on my Utah properties.

Can anyone help me out with some referrals. 

Prefer 10yr I.O. on a 20yr am.

Thanks guys

looking for a loan on a non-warrantable property I own(2nd home). Adjusts on March 1st. I know Zions does them;  anyone else?

 People in rural  Utah have lots of toys. They need a place to store those toys. I wouldn’t think of building without the garage ever.  It’s going to be the cheapest  part of the build

Would like to be added as well

 You are right on about the caprate. 

Landlords are lazy. Especially those who don’t use property management companies and only have a few properties.

They don’t like raising rent and don’t like doing improvements. 

Your best bet is to find a property where the rent hasn’t been raised in several years and base your caprate off of the proposed rent that you can get for that area. A yearly membership to rentometer  will pay for itself multiple times over just with your first successful purchase.

Which areas are you looking in?

After you get your meth remediation bid don’t forget any carpet,cabinets, or other flooring that you takeout will come off thetop of the bid saving you money. So if you’re going to do an extensive remodel strip the home of everything that you’re going to be remodeling before you have the remediation done.