All Forum Posts by: Shannon Strickland

I had the same question a year ago because it seemed daunting, but the Bigger Pockets Podcasts and books (such as Short Term Rental Long Term Wealth) encouraged me that I could do it. I just needed to hear that others were truly successfully managing on their own. Then, listening to the podcasts Short Term Rental Management, Short Term Rental Riches, Thanks for Visiting, and No Vacancy solidified that if others could do it, I could do it too. And I’m thrilled to say that now I am. If this old dog learned a new trick, so can others. Asking questions is how we learn. @Marc Shin, I hope you learned something after your posted question.

For our recently launched, out-of-state, short-term rental (STR), we use OwnerRez to manage the property AND our Schlage Encode WiFi locks, Honeywell WiFi thermostat, PriceLabs for dynamic pricing, Touch Stay for our digital guidebook (which has answered nearly 100% of guest questions), Thumbtack for handyman services, and Turno for cleaning services.

@Brittany Heil

I'm not certain if this applies to all markets, but our lender (and loan product) and property insurance company expected us to move into the Primary residence within 1-2 months.

@Justin Segarra

There are a handful of us here in the forum that House Hack MTR by the room on FF (and other sites) and the informative conversations are sprinkled throughout, so I recommend doing a keyword search here.

I heard a podcast discussing this topic with Stayamo--maybe that would help you.

@Marc Shin

If I could, I would invest in Falls Church and Fairfax because I get a steady drip of leads for travelers going there. But, if you need to increase your radius as I did, you will attract quality MTR leads if you buy and design with them as your target tenants (know your audience).

John Bianchi has a very helpful free course on YouTube that taught me how to identify good data amid bad data. I can't recommend his content enough.

@Tracy Scott

Scour the HOA docs for wording involving occupancy such as, "not more than three (3) persons not related by blood or marriage living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit."

@Kristine Ann  

I used the term "traveling medical professionals" in the first week of my first rent-by-the-room/co-living MTR listing while waiting for input from a local real estate attorney on my legal document. Shortly after, I was advised to remove any specific employment references to avoid potential employment discrimination charges. The vetting process for serious leads may lead to the desired result.

@Robin Evans Do you have only those leads, or are you receiving a steady flow of leads? I highly valued the first traveling medical professional who passed all our vetting processes. So, I was willing to fulfill the request, just like the one you mentioned, but I had the choice of FF leads. This led to a glowing review of the property and landlord (me) and an extension of the stay. As a result, the property became more desirable and attracted more high-quality traveling medical professionals. So, in the beginning, it was worth accommodating the request for my situation. However, if my leads were scarce, I would not have been able to do so. I hope that makes sense.