All Forum Posts by: Scott V.

Yes, forgot I also plan on using Wifi thermostats. I'm planning to use a realtor lockbox for a spare key in an emergency, but I'm paranoid about the guests forgetting to put back the key when they leave and the next guest shows up with no key and no way for me to remotely let them in. I've already read about scammers copying keys, then renting the space on their own.

AirBnB is pretty big in my City, I'll probably look at Homeaway as well. Thanks.

So my plan is to remotely manage a few vacation rentals I currently own. Trying to set them up to be as "hands off" as possible. I have local resources to help out if needed, but trying to minimize calling on them. I'll have a cleaner/turnover person and a handyman. Obviously, I would "dummy proof" the rentals as much as possible and have manuals/FAQ to minimize questions but wondered if I'm missing anything or if anyone had further advice?

I have the wifi router inaccessible to tenants (so they won't turn it off). It's shared between the two properties on the same lot FYI. I've thought of getting a wifi outlet to plug it into, so I could remotely "reset" the router by turning off the outlet, then back on. Any recommendations?

I have purchased an August lock with keypad and plan to use the keypad only for guests, issuing them a four digit code that is the last four of their phone number, good for only the time of their stay.

Cameras outside the properties so I can see what is going on, if a door is open, lawncare situation, etc.

Alarm system, I'm trying to figure out if this would be more trouble than it's worth (another thing to break, confuse guests). Or should I get one that is armed/disarmed by the August lock (it looks like the iSmart Alarm does this). I would like to have a flood sensor though, figure that's a good idea.

Any other suggestions for remote management? Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions...nice thing about my property is there's a large grocery store just three blocks away for them to buy needed supplies if anything comes up. I will probably provide both a gas and charcoal grill so they can choose and have a backup if needed. Redundancy. I'll probably anchor them in place somehow to keep them from "walking" and to keep guests from using the charcoal grill on our wood deck. Thanks for the tips!

You'll also want to change your hazard/property insurance from a traditional landlord policy to a commercial policy...otherwise you risk the insurance company not paying because of commercial use of the property (which short term renting is considered). Check out Proper Insurance or CBiz, that's what most AirBnBs use around here...I have State Farm insurance and they don't allow short term renting under their landlord policy.

Have you thought about just using a full-service AirBnB management service for your place? You might make more money going this route vs getting a third party involved. Turnkey is one in my area who does this, but there are others popping up depending on your market concentration. Good luck!

Most patrons will expect there to be a gas grill at my vacation rental, so I'm trying to figure out if I should just get the cheapest one I can find and consider it something I replace every year. Or is there a higher quality grill that might last longer that I should look into?

Also, how do most people handle providing propane gas for the grill? There is a grocery store in our neighborhood where people can exchange (Rhino). No fill place if they want less. Gas is expensive so I'd rather not "eat" the cost of this but I mostly don't want to manage it (have to make sure it's full at the beginning of stays, etc.) Any advice is appreciated!

Depending on state law, renters staying over 29 days can gain "tenant rights", then you have to go through legal procedures (evictions) to get them out of your property. Extra expense, loss of income on property. Others may have more to add.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805/what-are-some-things-i-should-consider-before-hosting-long-term-guests

My biggest worry about operating it as a vacation rental is being out of the country and 8 hours ahead time-wise. But my neighborhood does have a large number of vacation rentals, so it would be easy to find someone to manage it, just a matter of expenses. I think we've decided to go ahead and keep it as a rental, I think I'll set up one of the properties as a full-time vac rental while we're living here and get it running without stepping foot in the place (to mimic living abroad) and see how that goes. An advantage is that our neighborhood is a top vac rental destination so there are a lot of resources around such as handyman, cleaners, hosts, etc geared toward this. Thanks.

STR is considered "business use" by many "conventional" insurers and fire/casualty/homeowner type hazards would not be paid if it becomes known this happened during a vacation rental stay. This is what I've been told by State Farm, they wouldn't write me a policy on a STR. There are two companies that a lot of hosts use around my area, but I don't have specific experience with them (I don't currently STR just researched it):

Proper and CBIZ

https://www.proper.insure/

http://cbizspecialtyinsurance.com/vacation-rental/

My wife and I own a single family home in a highly sought after Historic neighborhood in our City. Guess you would say it's "Class A"? The property is also zoned Multi-Use (and Multi-family), so it has expanded use possibilities beyond just residential (some of the houses in the neighborhood have restaurants, retail shops, etc in them-we could do the same if wanted or rent to these type of businesses for operation on the property). There is the main house at the front of the property (1,400sqft 3BR/2.5BA) and an apartment at the rear of the property (600sqft 1BR/1BA). The property is pretty much fully renovated with all new HVAC, roof, etc so maintenance should be relatively low moving forward. The lot the property sits on is worth more than the structures sitting on it, because 1) location and 2) it's zoned in such as way that a developer could do a lot with the property by building more square footage (larger house, etc). When the house is fully used/run down we could probably sell just the lot for $500K or tear down and develop ourselves and profit that way (sqft sale prices are between $250 and $450/ft in our neighborhood depending on size of the house). Lots of possibilities, it's not your typical cookie cutter type house/area, which is why we're really on the fence about what to do. Would appreciate any opinions/suggestions.

So...we are planning to travel extensively out of the country (US residents, just have some "wander lust" right now) and trying to decide what to do with the house. We've been renting the main house for about the last four years and living in the apt in back for the last two. So if we sell, we would have to pay capital gains of about $60K.

My wife likes the idea of renting it out so we'd have some income coming in while we're living overseas (I'm not sure that I'll work while we're there for at least the first year or so). Below are the "monthly income/expenses" of the property that I'm calculating:

OPTION 1: Sell

Sale price: $600K

HELOC (payoff): -$75K

Cap Gains: -$60K

Realtor Commission (5%): -$30K

WALK AWAY FROM SALE WITH $430K free and clear.

OPTION 2: Long Term Rental as residence (would be higher for renting to a business though, and could also do vacation rental-the area is highly desirable for tourists and it's a large industry here)

(Monthly)

Rental Income (Gross): $4,250

Prop Taxes and Insurance:  -$490

HELOC payment: -$275

Vacancy (5%): -$212

Maintenance (8%): -$340

Property Mgmt (8%): -$340

So net income would be about $2,600/month and then there would be the depreciation tax advantage against the income, etc.

OPTION 3: (Cash out refi equity in the house and buy other rental properties to leverage the equity)

Thoughts on the cashflow of this relative to the sale price of the house (considering the cap gains hit, etc) and future possibilities of the property? I feel like the cash flow is a pretty low-risk endeavor given the class of the property/neighborhood but I don't know-thoughts from the experts? Thanks!

Thanks, I currently have a personal umbrella policy for liability purposes in connection with the current use as a long term rental, but my main motivation in turning the house into a "hotel" is to run it as a short term rental business vs. just running it as "AirBnB". AirBnB laws are strict and subject to change in a volatile environment where homeowners are seeking to limit them from neighborhoods but I have the advantage of living in a "mixed-use" neighborhood and therefore can run it as a business instead of a personal residence AirBnB rental. 

I just wondered if any board participants had experience turning a home into a lodging/hospitality business and what went along with this. Thanks.