All Forum Posts by: Shelby Pracht

@Kelly Martinez

Congrats and good luck!

Everyone raves about the smart locks, and they are definitely nice, but we've had very little problems with just including a key in a lockbox by the front door, giving the guest the four digit code 2 days prior to check in.

Originally posted by @Greg Parker:

Yep, take the test.  It sucks, but you will have it forever.  Good luck.

Thanks Greg! Any chance you have a lead on where to find the study materials used?

I manage some units in Mammoth and you'd be surprised how many one night stays we have. There actually are a lot of people from SoCal that will drive up in the middle of the night, ski all day, stay one night with us and then leave the next day. In the summer it's all international guests going to Yosemite and also only staying for one night.
As far as technology, I've integrated OwnerRez software into my airbnb listing and my own website and it's been really great. I highly recommend looking into it or something similar.

Hey BP! I am almost finished with our first major project here in Alabama that we are intending to flip. However, the inspector stopped by and we learned that if we do the work ourselves, we aren't legally allowed to sell the property within a year unless we are licensed as home builders in the state of Alabama. (Had to permit because there was more than $10k worth of work done.)

I'd really prefer not to rent this property for a year just because of this statute. I'm contemplating taking the home builders license exam so that I don't run into this issue again.

First: Are there any ways people in Aabama are flipping without this license? What am I missing here?

Second: Does anyone have the exam study materials (the three books that are allowed in the exam room) that they are willing to sell used? It looks like I can only get them new on the internet and they run about $700 total.

@Kevin Hu

All condos in Mammoth are zoned for nightly rentals, but there are a handful of complexes that do not allow nightly rentals per their HOA CC&Rs. You can just double check with your agent, but 95% of condos in town are good to go.

A list of expenses would be difficult because each HOA covers different items. All HOA cover your trash expenses, snow removal, and exterior maintenance and insurance. Most cover your water and sewer. Some cover internet and cable, or you can get discounted internet and cable through the HOA. There are a few that even cover your hot water or propane.

Your biggest expenses to account for are HOA dues, Management, and TOT. Then check what the HOA you're looking at already has covered, because that will make a huge difference.

I would personally recommend looking for a unit that either has propane included in the HOA dues, or has a pellet stove (or you are planning to put in a pellet stove). Old electric wall heaters here are really expensive to run in the winter, and guests always crank up the heat. Propane is about $4.50/gal, so it's also crazy expensive to heat a house with forced air. A pellet stove set to a thermostat is the most efficient way to heat a unit that guests can actually understand.

@Kevin Hu

What exactly is your question? Are you looking for a list of expenses to take in to account?

As far as regulations, in Mammoth you pay 14% tax on the gross income (including cleaning fees) in transient occupancy tax, and in general, only condos are able to be rented nightly.

@David VanWert they were grossing around $6k per month during the summer. But after TOT, cleaning, and management fees, the owners were only receiving around 2k/mo with which to pay mortgage, taxes, hoa, and utilities.

@David VanWert I have had a couple 2+loft units in the past that i got rid of and swore I'd never take on again.

They definitely gross a lot more, but I dont think they net any more than the smaller units. Utilities and expenses are higher. It takes way longer to clean a unit that sleeps 8. Larger groups tend to be more of a headache and make more of a mess. Obviously this is just my personal opinion and there are plenty of people doing well with the larger units out there. Just not worth the hassle for me.

@Mike Dice We're able to keep our cleaning fees low because we don't pay for a laundry service, but do it all in house. I have a garage in town with multiple washers and dryers and have two gals that clean for me that will also fold the laundry. I pay my cleaners per unit, but in the range of $40-45/hour to actually clean, plus an additional flat rate on the days that they're on laundry duty.

As far as the TOT goes, that's brand new! We just switched over about two weeks ago. When you go to your "listings" tab on airbnb I had a little notification saying to try the new tax breakdown. So far it's been great. I'd love to see everyone get on board with it. 

@Siobhan Cooney I am not familiar with Vermont specifically but manage a bunch of STRs in a ski community. I would just encourage you to price out snow removal for a single family home vs HOA dues for a condo. We own both here and it is soooooo much cheaper in my area to pay HOA dues than it it is try to find decent snow removal for a single family home. Good luck!