All Forum Posts by: Selena Walsh

I have three short term rentals very near your place in MN (1 duplex, 1 single family in SW Minneapolis). In my experience, the demand has been very strong and I'm very happy with how it is going. I'm seeing strong demand throughout the year. I think assuming 10 nights per month is not realistic (too low). A general guideline I would use based on your description is 15 to 18 nights in winter and spring, 18 to 20 in summer and fall. When looking at comps for pricing, make sure to look at the calendar or price with specific dates entered. The generic price that shows up on the listing page is typically the minimum price. When doing your analysis, don't forget about additional costs that may not apply to long term rentals (utilities, consumables, addressing maintenance items quickly). I use a cleaning service for turns and do "back-up" myself. I'm looking to move to a few housekeepers that I can pay directly to reduce the overhead associated with the cleaning service.

I've been pretty hands on and focused on keeping my places in tip-top condition with amenities with the goal of five star reviews, higher price point and higher quality guests. Now that I've learned what works and what challenges may come up, my focus is more on developing systems to automate and make management less time intensive. :)

PM me if you want to connect further. We are starting to do co-hosting now as well and would love to chat.

@William C. This is a multi-unit investment property. In addition, since I'm just getting started in REI, I have multiple rental properties with under a year of rental history on my DTI. For these reasons, it is my understanding that low downpayment conventional or FHA loans are not really an option. I can understand the "skin in the game" mentality, but I am building a business not buying a personal residence or just one rental property. I'm looking at options for using business credit to build the business instead of needing to rely solely on my own personal finances. Primarily had been pursuing partnerships and/or private lending opportunities but this avenue seems like another option.

@Bryant Amundson - Thanks! Its in Alexandria. My original hometown, lots of family there so plenty of connections for cleaners, contractors, handymen, etc.

@Justin Sheley Regarding the feedback from your residential lender, was that for a conventional 15 or 30 yr fixed rate loan? On a property I'm purchasing now, I getting an 5 year in house loan with an ARM that is amortized over 30 years and they are accepting downpayment funds from my partner as a gift. They are not doing any type of verification of source of the funds, just that it needs to be transferred into my account prior to closing. I guess I'm wondering if the cash from the credit cards could be treated similarly... I may try that approach.

Glad to have found this thread and will be following your progress/experience! Curious, several of you have mentioned using the funds from the credit cards to purchase properties in cash or to use for rehab costs.  Anyone pursuing this strategy for downpayment funds on a more traditional mortgage or an in-house mortgage product. Is that even possible?

Hi Rick- We didn't end up going for the invasive inspection, rather just offered a decreased purchase price and the sellers eventually accepted. We are supposed to close in 2 weeks. We are immediately planning for new shingles and gutters and landscaping/grading around the house. Once we have some cash flow we will probably tackle some of the foundation repairs. Yes, this is for STR. We already own a duplex in Minneapolis and are doing STR and its going quite well. However this new duplex is in a small town in central MN (lake/cabin town for local tourists) so a little more of a risk in terms of the STR demand. But very little competition so we are excited to see how it goes!

@Derek Scruggs have you checked out airdna.co? they have some data available on pricing and occupancy. I have 3 airbnb units in Mpls and haven't found their data to be exact but its better than nothing and if you validate against real-time airbnb pricing and availability calendars it can be useful - I typically use the more conservative numbers (i.e., 66th percentile performing properties) 

Anyone with interest in the MN political climate for STR/vacation rentals, take a min to provide input to the city of St. Paul which will be taking on the issue, likely this summer.

https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-econom...

Attention all warm weather / beach vacation rental owners... during peak season what are you requiring as minimum stay?  Is 1 week pretty standard? If you are doing 1 week minimum, do you require check in on specific day of week (Friday or Saturday)?  Do you use minimum stays during off-peak times? Have a new vacation rental home in Cape Coral, FL. Will be furnishing in June and then listing. Thanks for the input!

I am buying a duplex off MLS and just had the inspection a few days ago. The property is in decent shape for a 1950s era duplex. Many of the items the inspector pointed out, we had seen during the showing.... except visible moisture/water in the basement. Our showing was prior to a spring thaw and rain over the past several weeks so we did not notice any visible moisture at that time. The sellers have recently put new insulation and vapor barrier in this area of the basement (it would appear to mask the moisture problem?) so the inspector was not able to see exactly where the water is seeping in and if there are any related foundation issues. There were a couple cracks on the exterior of foundation that would need repair.

We've asked the sellers permission to have an "invasive" inspection to have someone remove the insulation and look at the foundation. 

It is very likely that adding new gutters and redoing some landscaping and grading around the house would make a world of difference on the moisture issue and this will not impact our immediate ability to cashflow the property.

My partner and I are newbie investors and only on our second property, so I feel like we have more of a "homeowner" mindset than an investor... How do experienced investors view things like water/moisture in the basement of a property? Is it all a numbers game? Our mindset is that if there is substantial cost to repairing the issue, we are prepared to walk away from the deal if the sellers aren't willing to reduce the price a little to compensate. Are we overreacting?  Any points of advice are welcome!