All Forum Posts by: Stephen Doyon

We started out with no minimum stay and slightly below market rates to gain reviews as quickly as possible.  We broke even on one-night stays but we only had a few to start. After we had about 20 reviews, we went with a 2-night minimum.  We didn’t have too many gaps in our schedule and we had a great turnover system for same-day turnovers so we were able to manage it.  We also offered a discount for week-long stays or longer and had a maximum of 2 weeks per stay.  Overall, everything worked out great. We only had issues with one group and that was due to an error by Airbnb that allowed them to book at a super low price during the summer season.  We had a cancellation and the group that booked partied it up for a few nights and left some vomit on a bedroom floor and a screen popped out of a door.  We gave our cleaning person a $100 bonus and Airbnb made it right.  It was pretty minor overall.  

 Hi Cody,

We listed on multiple platforms and were able to link all calendars together so a booking from one platform would automatically populate in the calendars for the other platforms we listed with. I also used the message template features quite extensively.  I created templates for each season. For example, summers I would have instructions for where to find water toys and kayaks, winters would have directions on how to use the pellet stove in the living room, etc. I also had welcome templates and templates for replies to frequently asked questions (even though the answers were often in the post or guidebooks). When I needed to reply, I would load a template, add the name of the person on the booking, and send it off.  We typically replied to ever message in under an hour and as quickly as possible. We only had one rental, so this system would likely need to be changed if we scaled up. We had a lot of comments from guests saying we should teach others how to run their short-term rentals. We basically just tried to treat people as we expected to be treated if we were renting somewhere else. Hope this helps!

Hi Joe!

You'd be surprised how inexpensive it can be to furnish a house as a short-term rental.  My wife and I purchased a lake front home and operated it as a short-term rental for about 18 months and realized a total net profit of over $30k during that time before we sold it to my wife's sister to use as her primary residence.  It cost us about 10k to furnish and outfit inside and out, right down to the silverware, towels and dock system.  While we enjoyed the positive cash flow, the amount of time we spent on this one property far outweighed the other long-term rentals we owned.  While I enjoyed interacting with guests and some of the unique aspects of short-term rental operation, I prefer the passivity of our long-term portfolio for sure.  Hope this helps.

Sounds like a great spot!  My wife and I live on Norway lake.  We bought the place next door from our neighbors a couple years back via a private sale.  We financed it through our mortgage broker and he basically set up all the inspections and whatnot, which were required by the lender.  We also used a real estate lawyer in town for title and closing services.  As buyers, part of our offer was to secure the lawyer and do all the runaround work so all they had to do was show up and sign papers.  That helped us secure a better deal.  

As far as the work, I would reach out to the town code enforcement officer as well as a local contractor to get some opinions of the work required and what you can and can't do with the property.  You're really purchasing the location and the building is secondary.  When we bought our first place on the lake, a wise friend told me every improvement we make and every nail we drive will be worth significantly more than if we bought the same house in a different location.  He was right.  we've put about $5,000 into the property, yet it has appreciated $120,000 over the last 8 years.  Good luck with the property.  Sounds like a great catch.     

@Nik S. 

Are you using the outdoor carpet for aesthetic reasons or does it serve another purpose?  As other posters have mentioned, I think you will still have trouble with rot as the wood underneath the outdoor carpet will never dry out.  PT will help it last longer, but it will still rot at an accelerated pace. 

If you need a water-tight solution, do a google search for "dry deck".   Using PT or composite boards with another system like those found in the search results is probably the best way to go.  It gives you finite control of the water, too. 

The PT deck boards will give you the same gap as the composite boards.  The PT plywood alone would be tough to keep water-tight.  Do you know how your contractor was planning on keeping the PT plywood solution water-tight?  Do you have any pictures of the underside?

Hey @Nik S. ,

I think PT boards, like on a deck, look a lot better than 4x8 sheets of PT plywood.  The PT boards will run you about $1.44 per square foot for 8-footers and $1.83 for 16-footers.  The PT plywood will run you about $1.33 per square foot.  Composite decking boards will cost you about $3.30 per square foot but you'll never have to do anything to them.  For your 525 square feet of decking to replace, you are looking at $732 for PT plywood, $1006 for 16-foot PT decking and $1,815 for 16-foot composite decking (decking materials only).  The labor to install the boards versus the plywood may or may not be a bit more, but it's worth it since the appearance is much better.  Since you are only planning on keeping the units 7-10 years, you could get away with the PT boards versus the composite.  You could roll on a solid color stain pretty quickly every couple of years to keep it from rotting and keep it looking nice.  If it were my project, I would spend the extra $1,100 for the composite decking and never worry about it again.    

Hi @Liam Goble

I think the high-level answer to your question regarding mentions of Portland, Maine on BP has more to do with population than anything else. Not counting the population of the surrounding communities, Portland has a population of around 66,000. Some of the more popular areas mentioned on BP like Memphis and Austin have more than half a million people and probably the suburbs of those large cities even surpass Portland, Maine in population. More people equals more housing and more investment opportunities. There's probably more to it than that, but that's my bet anyway.

If you are interested in rentals in Portland, maybe a get in touch with a realtor and get an idea of what to expect for cap rates, etc. there and maybe give them some of your criteria so they can be on the lookout for properties you might be interested in. Unfortunately I can't recommend one to you as that isn't my farm area, but maybe use the search box at the top of the page and try to connect with a BP member from that area and see if they can recommend anyone. Good luck to you.

No worries, Chris. I knew what you meant. ;-)

@Roy Gutierrez

We used the TrafficMaster Allure Plus American Cherry from Home Depot. Personally, I think it is a little dark but everyone else loves it. The staff beat it up pretty well, dragging laundry baskets over it and getting it soaking wet at times. It looks just as good as the day it was installed. Go for it. You won't regret it.

Hi @Dustin Faeth

Definitely check out podcast 7 as I think you'll find your answer there. The answer to your question is discussed at length and will help you tremendously. :-)