All Forum Posts by: Ryan Riches

Hey Sally, I have heard of homeowners setting up a system with Vivint, and linking the alarm system to the smart lock on the door. The alarm is automatically disarmed when the correct code is entered and automatically armed when the door is locked from the outside. I believe you can also control the armed/disarmed functionality from your phone.

Hey Justin, I normally just recommend a simple electronic lock - you can buy a "smart-lock" from companies like Schlage for a couple hundred bucks. I believe they connect to the internet and you can change the code from your phone, and even have a number of different codes programmed for you or your family to use. 

Hey @Matthew Fermino and @Mark Page, my company (Evolve Vacation Rentals). We work with 7 homeowners in Wells and nearly 60 properties in Southern Maine. We charge and 10% management fee and can connect you with vetted local parnters for cleanings and maintenance if you don't already have someone lined up. I would be happy to connect more to see if there is a fit!

I had this same conversation with my lender in 2019 when I was purchasing a second property and planning to STR the first. He was not able to count STR income towards our DTI ration since it is not guaranteed. We needed a signed lease with proof of the security deposit in order to close on the new property.

In theory, you're right. An STR will cash flow way more than a regular long term rental. But lenders are still warming up to that it seems.

Honestly @Alex Johnson it depends on what your goal is. If you want to be more hands off, I would recommend looking into having a property manager. They would handle all the late night phone calls when your guest can't figure out how to get into the property because they didn't read the instructions (am-I-right). If you aren't worried about dealing with guest interaction yourself and have someone who would do cleaning (or you'll do it yourself), then self-managing is totally reasonable. 

Great questions Connor. I use Zillow Rental Manager for all leases and payments. You can send the lease and have them sign it electronically. You can also request payments including prorated months and security deposits. I do have my tenants pay a refundable damage deposit. 

I believe Zillow has some lease templates you could use, I know there are also some you can download here from the BP website that are state specific. If you go that route you can upload it into zillow and identify where you need tenants to e-sign.

Hey Connor, Airbnb is great when you are treating it as a true vacation rental (1-10 day stays). I was running my basement unit as an Airbnb but transferred over renting to travel nurses at the beginning of 2020 and have had a great experience. You can get a higher ROI since it is a short term furnished rental, but it's not any more work than having a regular tenant in there. We have our tenants on a month to month lease and request 30 days notice if they want to vacate.

We use Furnished Finder to get our leads. They do have a $99 set up fee I believe, but there is no percentage take for them since you negotiate the lease directly with the tenant. Hope this helps!

I agree with what has been said here! I think house-hacking with short term rentals is definitely the best way to go. This is how I got started on my first deals. It is a little more work, but with it being your primary residence it is generally pretty easy to manage cleanings and guest interactions. I started by renting out one bedroom in my 3br house on Airbnb and it was covering my mortgage. At least in my market, people were coming on vacation for a few days and wanted to go see the sights, so I rarely interacted with them in the house. It was like having a roommate that was never home. 

If you go the multi-family route you could look into a vacation rental property management service like Evolve Vacation rentals if you want it to be more hands off. 

I have done a few STRs in Colorado Springs and found the market is pretty localized and cyclical. The farther you are from the city center, the less you will be able to charge nightly. Additionally, there are not a lot of people traveling to COS from November to April. Expect to get much less for your nightly rates and experience higher vacancies. 

Depending on your financial situation - if you are planning on claiming the income from the property to help you qualify for the new one, many lenders will not allow you to claim STR revenue as income on the property. This was the case for us in COS, when we were looking to buy our second property and rent out our first our lender told us we needed a signed lease and proof that the security deposit had cleared in order to qualify for our new loan.

Hey Scott, 

I would definitely recommend House-Hacking to get started. That is how I got going in the COS market. If you expand your search criteria, you may be able to find something that has a walkout basement, ADU, or seperate entrance that would allow you to rent out a portion of your property.

My wife and I purchased our first deal with 5% down and rented the basement on Airbnb. That more than covered our expenses and and allowed us to put minimal cash into the property. You could also rent to a long term tenant, or look into travel nurses.