All Forum Posts by: Sean Walton

Being an architect now transitioning into developing my own projects is one of my goals. Does your developer own the lots or just has control of them? You could see if the owner of the land will joint venture with you to keep costs lower. If you have a good relationship with a bank they may let you use your permit drawings as part of your down payment since if you were not an architect that would be something you would have to go out and buy. 

Make sure you trust this developer. As the architect you take on more liability than the developer.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out! 

Also further to @Rafael Floresta's comment good pictures are key and airbnb used to and probably still will take pictures for you for free in your area

Hi Emily,

This is in the legal section so I assume you are asking about legality. I'm not a lawyer so I would recommend consulting with one but some things to check. Do you have an HOA have restrictions on rentals less than 30 days? Do you have nosy complaining neighbors who would report you to authorities. Short term rentals are so new the laws haven't really caught up so there are grey areas they don't prohibit airbnb but may say rentals but be 30 day minimums or you need to be permitted as a hotel and collect hotel tax from your guests. Most people ignore this until it is fully codified.

You will also probably have to switch your homeowner insurance from owner occupant to innkeeper's. I went with CBIZ and it wasn't that much more expensive. Airbnb has coverage some coverage but I don't feel it replaces having your own policy, which your mortgage holder will require as well. 

You may want to try staying at friend's houses on weekends or high demand times to try airbnb out. Also having a few reviews before you go into it full bore will help you in the long run

Al Wiliamson wrote a good article about other things to consider. One big one is to make sure it is more profitable than long term tenants when you include all expenses and your time.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/04/1...

Hi @Nick Jacaruso ,

   Welcome to BP. I got started on airbnb a little while after I bought my condo money was tight but I still wanted to vacation so I rented my place out when I would leave for the weekend. I would recommend this for anyone looking at getting into short term rentals because it gives you experience before making the plunge. Also many of these sites rely on reviews so the better your reviews the more you can charge and even if the property is a new one of yours potential guests can see your reviews for your first property. 

I was the victim of changing regulation in San Francisco so make sure it will still cashflow as a mid-term rental.

I live with my fiance and now rent on airbnb for 30 day minimums and probably get about 25% more gross rent than a long term tenant but there would have been more startup cost furnishing the place if it wasn't already. I've found guests to be very gentle on the place with minimal cleaning/repairs needed between guests.

there is a service called pillow at least in SF that will handle everything for you. Not sure about your area. People have done cool things with smart locks and emailing the code to guests to be more hands off.

If you haven't already check out podcasts 156, 114 and 57 for some good info.

I'm not affiliated with this project in any way but as an architect who may want space to start up an architect/development company this has appeal in lowering startup costs. In the San Francisco Bay Area co-working space is getting very popular and I'm wondering if any BPers have invested in properties like this before? Are you getting better returns than a traditional tenant?

It is almost funded which sounds like will go towards furniture and equipment and the investors will purchase the building?  They seem to have investors but there may be more opporitunities.

Hi @Phoebe Hodges-Carter I'm not sure if it is too late but I lived in Chicago for 2 1/2 years and I worked for Cannon Design. They do very nice work but are a huge company so they may not have competitive rates on small to medium projects. How large of a space is it?  If it is on the small side and your friend still has the need I could ask around for recommendations from friends

Hi @Account Closed

Thanks for all the feedback @Eric Dowling, @Waverly Rennie and @David Tipton.

Squatters are a concern and avoiding locals is a good tactic. Although a company did rent it out for a contractor they brought in from Belgium. The HR person from that business had a good track record of reviews so I didn't think twice. I'm curious with how airbnb helped their hosts deal with people claiming renter's rights protection and overstaying their term. I would think for PR reasons they would want to resolve this issue to the host's satisfaction.

Eric I will look into cbiz thanks!

Hi All,

    I am currently renting out my condo for 30 days to 4 months using airbnb. I can't do shorter than 30 days because of local laws. Air bnb has insurance included but I still need a homeowner policy for piece of mind, the small amount of vacancy time and to satisfy the mortgage requirements. State Farm is telling me I cannot get a rental property policy because I don't have signed leases for at least a year so I would need to get a hotel policy. My friend does a similar thing and he was able to get State Farm to underwrite his insurance. I have a call into his agent who will return Monday. I'm wondering if anyone else has had success with this any suggestions or cautions. 

Thanks and Happy New Year

Sean

Welcome @Clara Roos and good luck