All Forum Posts by: Chris S.

I figured it out, thank you!

On my rental property (duplex) the 10 year interest only loan and HELOC are about to expire in 2017. I need to refi to avoid the high interest rate before then. I have an excellent credit rating and my debt to income is 28%.

Should I refi now (before 2016) or wait another year? 

Hello! I have a primary residence in Los Angeles I am looking to refinance. It is a single family home on a lot with a guesthouse in the backyard. The city has recorded the property as a "duplex". The guesthouse is the original house built in the 1930s and the front house was built in the 1940s, so it wasn't designed to be a duplex. 

My question is: Will a "duplex" have a higher interest rate on a refi loan even though it is my primary residence? If so, what steps can I take to convince the city it is a single family house that has a guesthouse, and not a duplex?

@Jon Klaus I frequently rent an airstream in Palm Springs that is on a SFR lot. The airstream is far enough from the home for privacy.

A big attraction of short term vacation rentals is the option to stay in a unique space like an airstream, a treehouse, a boat, etc. next to location, the kitsch factor is a huge selling point.  If you google "airstream AIRBNB" most of the listing have 100+ positive reviews. 

Thanks everyone. Although vacation rentals is nothing new, Airbnb is a very new concept. There is definitely no appreciation to be gained in renting an apartment to rent out on their site, but perhaps a nice cash flow. 

There's a lot of mixed opinions about Airbnb on BP. I use it myself when I travel and love the concept. For every horror story about an airbnb guest I know there's 10 horror stories about bad tenants. 

Thanks@ThomasMorris

If I rented it to a long term tenant it would be about half the ROI. But because it's a vacation rental I can block off any dates it's available and live in the place again. Couldn't do that with a tenant. The ROI I have in my original post does account for the extra water/electric/cable, and that's the additional cost. As for headaches, I have to make sure the home is VERY clean when the guests check in. Sometimes they can't get the Directv working properly or they are having trouble with the DVD player. But those are relatively easy fixes. All the guests have been very polite, and it's a great learning experience. @Jane A.

I had my guesthouse on airbnb in Los Angeles. When it started to get a  90% occupancy rate I was shocked. So I put my front house on airbnb and stayed at my girlfriend's place. The front house is at 80% occupancy while the back is still at 90%. It's mostly grandparents visiting their new born grandchildren, or people in between places while moving here.

 I renovated my house 2 years ago, but I did so in mind for me to live there, not to rent out. After the money I spent furnishing and the remodel my cash on cash return is 16%. If I planned on this as a vacation rental I would have spent less and doubled my cash on cash return (more Ikea, less Crate & Barrel). So I googled "renting apartment to put on airbnb"....interesting

Anyone in biggepockets do this? 

Two of the biggest companies right now, worth billions, are Uber and Airbnb, and they own nothing.  San Francisco slapped Airbnb with back taxes in the amount of 85 Million. Airbnb paid in full. (an employee for airbnb gave me this figure, you can read more about it here http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-pays-hotel-b... ).

Home sharing, ride sharing, sharing in general seems here to stay. Sharing is caring. Anyone wanna share with the community if they rent places to rent on airbnb?

 I agree that you probably just feel burned because the tenants didn't inform you, but it wasn't personal. 

   I think this is a great opportunity for you to make more revenue. AIRBNB has their own insurance to cover any property for the time it is rented through their website. Check in to that. 

You should keep the tenants but take a percentage of their future bookings.

Both cash flow & appreciation would be key. When I read "you used to buy below 70% all day"  then it makes sense that you would have a cash flow property if you purchased in previous years or even several months ago. 

what was the date of your last purchase? @Cory Boren

I agree that there is opportunity out there, but when I search craigslist for my rental niche (4-5 bedroom homes, safe neighborhoods) I see close to 2,000 listings (almost half by the same rental company).  

From what I've read on BP, Texas is a great place to invest in real estate. Does anyone own  rental property in Texas other than big cities such as DFW, Austin, Houston, San Antonio? Those cities appear over saturated with rentals because of all the hype.