All Forum Posts by: Scott Holmes

Reach out to @Villy Ellinger.  She's an investor/realtor/manager in Destin/Okaloosa Island and incredibly knowledgeable.  We're basically looking for the same thing, though I'm leaning a little more towards the Island as of late-- hit me up if you'd like some of the preliminary resources I've compiled, or just to bounce ideas. 

I called them and got sent to a voice mailbox that's full... Is that unusual?  Are they good enough to warrant a follow up call?

@Michael Garofalo Unfortunately I'm not the best source of info regarding B-class neighborhoods... as for inventory, I can only relate that in my experience, the MLS seems to have dried up for small multis-- I'm sure they're out there, just not nearly as plentiful as they were last year. Might behoove you to give a good real estate agent your criteria and have them set up a day's worth of tours.

@Charan K. Will message you.

Richmond is better for MFH, and the appreciation/gentrification there is really good. Competition for these properties is also getting more, um, competitive? If you want to stick to the DC/MD/VA area, you might want to consider house hacking a SFH and Airbnbing an extra level/room/basement/crawlspace/fallout shelter-- like you said multis are few and far between here, but you might be able to find some in areas that show up as that beautiful deep navy blue on the Trulia crime map.

I live in northern VA but do all my investing outside the area. I originally thought buying in Richmond was smart because it seemed like the closest place where the numbers made sense and I could always get down there to quell an insurrection if need be-- in honesty the only time I braved the soul-crushing purgatory of I-95 down to Richmond was when I went to look at listings with my realtor. I bought a place, did some rehab with a solid contractor, and now my property manager sends me checks. Like any smart investor, I cash those checks, stuff the money into a pillowcase, and guard it like Gollum. What I mean to say is, if you buy right and get a good manager, the hope is that there won't be any reason for you to visit it in person.

What about purchasing a non-performing note with the intention of selling it again in a year-and-a-half?  Wondering about the liquidity of getting a note to a performing status, then unloading it for a small profit (or even buying a performing note, then selling it again with a short time horizon).  Curious if this is a reasonable strategy, or if it's a little too speculative to be counting on that next buyer..    

http://www.hardestyhomesllc.com/mikel-james-jr/

The guy is great-- manages my duplex in North Chesterfield.

Anyone currently Airbnb/VRBO a property in Loudoun County/VA wine country? The area has virtually nothing in terms of multifamily rentals, but seems to present opportunities to rent out additional properties on lots that have an extra structure on them (We would live in the main house, rental property would be a stone's throw away). Seems like being in the vicinity of local wineries and Dulles airport may present good opportunity-- just not sure it's worth the cost of renovating and furnishing one of these two-property lots...

Thanks guys!  I thought the metrics seemed good for the area-- appreciate it.

Hey Hastin-- how was Pueblo for multifamily rentals?  My online searches showed more SFRs, though a large portion of the population there seems to rent.

Great thread-- I'm learning a ton from everyone's experience and really appreciate the expertise. So juuuuust a few questions...

Has anyone looked into BRRRing a property in PCB or 30A to then use for short term rentals--specifically trying to turn a SFR into a multi-unit? I'm guessing this may not be met with a hug and a giftbasket from the local HOA...

Is flood insurance a very big concern/hurdle, or do you just factor it in and if the numbers work, then no reason not to move forward? I hear so much about avoiding flood plains, but maybe that applies more to the long-term rental business. I grew up in Niceville, 5 minutes from Destin, and remember well the havoc that a hurricanes caused the tourist economy once every 5 to 10 years (not to mention the occasional oil spill... actually, a lot of people got pretty big payouts from BP by essentially submitting a crayon drawing on a paper plate-- a lady I know was paid about 25K for "lost business wages." She was a hairdresser in downtown Fort Walton Beach where there was zero effect on local businesses. Anyway, I digress...).

@Brendan H., Figuring out projected income for short-term rentals... since realtors can be a little optimistically misleading in regards to what a property would command on the rental market, is there a way to calculate this if you don't have the actuals/T-12, i.e. the property wasn't previously used as a rental? If you cold-call prospective management companies will they give you a good estimation?

Taxes... it looks like there is a Florida Transient Rental Tax of 6% of the (rental) listing price and a Florida Discretionary Sales Surtax of .5% to 1.5% of the (rental) listing price. Then a County Tourist Development Tax of 2% to 5% that would apply in Okaloosa, not Bay County (i.e., Destin, not Sandestin or farther east).  Just curious if everyone's still crushing it despite these not-insignificant tax hits.

As far as management fees, like most I'm not a huge fan of another 20% - 30% hit in that department, but also, like most, I have a full-time job that (in my case) doesn't allow me the ten hours per week commitment for self-managing as reported by @Monika Haebich in the HomeAway survey. If I have a solid team in place, maybe I could bring it down to less than three hours per week?

Furnishing a house/condo. Any good ways to approximate that cost?

Thanks. I will now leave all you fine people alone.