All Forum Posts by: Ryan Williams

I'm a full time agent/short term rental manager, so I do self manage because it's in line with my job, but I self managed before this was my full time job for a few reasons:

1. I'm trying to get to financial freedom sooner - I'm younger, no kids, have margin to work extra if needed and the more I take on the more profits I keep to myself. I think people with time and just a few properties can manage themself, especially if they live close by.

2. I'm trying to learn as much as possible and there's no better way to learn than experience.

3. Self managing now helps me know all the ins and outs of what a property manager should be doing when I decide to outsource in the future.

I check in frequently with tenants, utilize asana for task management, and zillow rental manger for payments. 

Would love to hear others' thoughts! 

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback y'all!

Hey BP Community! 

I just had a client back out of a good deal after getting cold feet. They had goals to house hack via an airbnb and get in for a certain price and this home checked all the boxes, but due to some personal things going on with them, when it came time to do the deal they backed out. (Which after talking to them I think that's their best decision, I don't fault them, just trying to give some context)

Obviously, I wanted to make the deal happen. It checked their boxes so I encouraged them to pursue the deal. I experienced the temptation to push them hard and put my interests of closing a deal at the forefront. I didn't act on it, but it's something I'm trying to be aware of and I don't ever want a client to experience negatively. 

My question is this - how do you guide and coach your clients towards their stated goals, without pushing too hard and putting your interests of closing a deal above what they want to do or their best interests? How have you seen that play out in your business? 

Debriefing with another real estate industry friend he said, "You didn't know? Being a real estate agent is being a therapist half the time." haha I'm starting to realize that after getting a few deals under my belt! Would love some insight into other's experiences and how to walk this fine line with the most integrity!

Hey BiggerPockets Community! 

I'm workshopping name ideas for a new Airbnb I am listing/managing here in Colorado. It's in the country/rural area East of Longmont. It's 30-45 min to Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. And just over an hour to Estes Park.  This is a mother-in-law / guest wing of a custom built passive home (self sustainable from solar,high efficiency electric/insolation) very pretty, and feels like you are in the country for sure with some mountain views on the clear days. I'm trying to come up with good listing names and thought I would reach out for suggestions and if anybody has insight into tips and tricks for the Airbnb algorithm when it comes to listing names, I'm all ears. You only get 50 characters so it's tough!  Here's what I've thought of so far:

Eco-friendly country getaway. Quick trip to city & mountains. 

Country Escape with Outdoor Firepit & Grill. 

Rural Retreat close to Denver

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or feedback!

@Kaylee Walterbach, I think this is a great idea! I like 30-Day Stay, super catchy. I think Mid-Term rolls off the tongue a little better than medium term, but that's just my opinion. 

I'll throw a title out for fun! 

The Mid-Term Rental Fundamentals haha, 

Excited y'all are putting out this book!
 

Hi @Chris Ortler, this is a great question. I think it totally depends on your goals, how much cash you have available, and your comfort/knowledge with renovations.  You can absolutely buy cheaper and add value to a property that can turn into a great investment, but you need to understand your costs, how/if you will recapture your capital, timeline and other things that go into renovation projects. 

If you can find a turnkey property that accomplishes your investments goals such as cash on cash return, cash flow, cap rate (or whatever metric is most important to you), that will obviously take much less work and be less of a headache on your end. Both can be great long term investments. 

You mentioned your do Airbnb Arbitrage, if you can find a turnkey that could be an STR that would probably be the least stressful way to the most return in the Denver Metro, but you have to look in the right spots as you mentioned! I hope this is helpful!

Hi @Ben Einspahr, I have been wondering this myself. I have a friend that owns 3 mid terms and he showed me his Airbnb calendars and 2 of the 3 are booked 6 months out. One in Cherry Creek and one in Central Park both going for $8K+ a month and booked 6 months out, I really couldn't believe it, but I saw it with my own eyes lol These host 6-10 people

That's still a pretty small sample size, but enough to pique my interest! 

Hi @Lindsey Kramer, I just sent you a private message with a lender friend of mine here in Denver. 

Many lenders will do helocs on an investment property, but they will only go to 75% loan to value where a primary residence many to up to 90% loan to value. (in my experience at least) 

I hope this is helpful! 

Hi @Jameson Waltz, this is a great question, but it seems like you are already thinking about it well and there are A LOT of options available to you.

- one is leveraging your existing home or rental equity to afford a down payment on they next home

-restructuring your current rental into a short or mid term rental if possible

- private/hard money loans

-dscr loans that are qualified not on your dti but on a properties potential rental income. 
- or selling and cashing into something that cash flows more as you mentioned.  

- always nice to have options! 

Meetups and networking have been very beneficial as I'm still in the early stages of my investing journey and real estate career.  More than anything, meetups connect me to likeminded people, and give me insight on how various people implement strategies to find success in their own real estate investments. Rather than going to meetups only to give my sales pitch and try to find potential deals, I have found that being genuinely curious and a learner about different people's strategies and experiences has led to much better conversations and relationships, and those relationships lead to potential deals and referrals. And I've found that if I go to meetups with the intention of learning, I actually learn a lot! lol 

I am extremely skeptical of masterminds that charge fees to be a part of them. I feel like the person paying to join the group takes on 100% of the risk, and has no guarantee of return on investment. You essentially pay for access to someones methodology and maybe for them to hold you accountable to goals. I have elected to find free versions of that same scenario. At this point, I would much rather find a couple of mentors or peers who are doing well in my field and ask them the how to's and research from sources online and in books as well.  I explored a mastermind for short term rental management and they wanted to charge $15,000 to teach basically everything I had already learned on my own from managing my own Airbnb and from online sources/books. And they had a promise to hold me accountable to my goals. I would rather hire a coach or form a mastermind of my own with people trying to achieve similar goals to keep me on track with my goals than pay $15K for a glorified accountability group. 

I'm sure you can find success through these masterminds, and I would love to hear experiences of people who it has worked for, but I think I'll keep going my way for now!