All Forum Posts by: Steve Redd

Thanks Jennifer! We love it there. Ultimately we chose that location because the amenities included with the property fit our family needs. We probably pay too much in HOA dues…but we accept that this first property is as much for our family as it is an investment. DM me if you need referrals. Our agent Jon Holloway was excellent. We actually signed up with a smaller property management company that was referred to us, but they were bought out by Vacasa shortly after we signed. There are Pros and Cons with vacasa. Again, DM me if you are interested in talking more. Good Luck!

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

STR in the Pointe Royale community of Branson, MO.

https://www.vacasa.com/unit/69207#

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

My family visits Branson several times each year. This was an opportunity to provide us with a "vacation home" that could work for us while we are not using it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Property was listed on the MLS. A local Agent/Investor represented us in the purchase.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

Complete rehab. Not a surface was left untouched. We fully furnished and decorated the unit to make it as attractive as possible to STR tenants.

What was the outcome?

We've only been live for 8 weeks, but 48 out of 60 available nights have been booked. Let's Go!!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I definitely underestimated the rehab cost, and had to cover it with our cash reserves. We left more cash in the deal than planned. Because we don't live in Branson (3.5 hrs away), we were only able to work on the rehab over the weekends. We still did all the work ourselves to reduce the cost of rehab, but we sacrificed a LOT of time to get it done.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Jon Holloway was an excellent agent. He is an STR investor in the area, and was very helpful in finding property management, lenders, insurance, etc.

@Joanne Vest In my opinion, if the property manager is not maximizing exposure through marketing on all different sites, they are leaving money on the table. I had a small management company taking care of my first STR, and they boasted that they list on about 20-30 different sites. That company has since been acquired by Vacasa, but the approach is the same. My property is listed on all the big STR sites. This is all included in my management fee. There are no individual listing fees.

Maybe I am getting charged a higher management fee that compensates my manager for all the different site listing fees, but it's my preference to keep my STR vacancy rate low. The manager only makes money when you do, so I think it would be in their interest to maximize exposure through marketing.

Best of Luck!

Nice work! Congratulations on a successful project!

 I know of MAREI, but could you share any other meetups in the KC area?

Am I too late? Can I get in on this?

The biggest challenge at the moment is finding patience. We just finished the rehab on our first deal (STR). I underestimated rehab expenses, so we are cash-poor at the moment. We are so excited to see that first investment working for us over the last 4 weeks that we can't help but look for the next deal, and it has been hard have the discipline to wait until my finances are right again!