All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

Quote from @Nathan W.:

This is the appeal, even with the small pool.  Nobody has a pool in their homes so #1 it is an anomaly 

#2 guests can enjoy the pool year round

#3 kids don't care how small it is

#4 there are adults who want to enjoy a heated pool, but feel self conscious in a bathing suit in front of others at a resort pool, now they have a private pool they can use with their family and not have that issue.  This is a huge.

#5 kids are not complaining that there is nothing to do on a rainy day.

I have three 2 bedroom pool cabins with small pools with either none to mediocre views and I have a 3 bedroom cabin on a ridge with one of the absolute best views in the area.  The pool cabins have always performed way better than the cabin with the amazing view. 

I'll take a pool cabin with no view over a non pool cabin with an outstanding view any day.

Quote from @Jose Miori:

Quote from @Ken Boone:

Interesting question and one in which a lot of people don't take into question when they consider self manager vs using a property manager.  

I would have to go back and look at the costs and then divide them amongst my properties to figure it out but right now I am paying for the following subscriptions:

Guesty for Hosts

Ring Cameras

Price Labs

Hostfully Guidebooks

REIHub

Zapier

SignNow

When I purchase one of these subscriptions it is usually based on the criteria of how much time can it save me, or how much additional revenue can it make me, or how can it improve my business.  And depending on those things I will decide to use it or pass on it.  So I have never ran the numbers to determine what percent of my net profits they would take up.  

I am now considering adding Rankbreeze or something like that.  I never considered it before, because the bulk of my customers came through VRBO.  But now it is shifting dramatically to AirBnb, which I am not thrilled about, but it is what it is.  

Almost the same, I ditched guesty and switched to

https://hostify.com/

 It's a matter of time before I ditch them as well.

Interesting question and one in which a lot of people don't take into question when they consider self manager vs using a property manager.  

I would have to go back and look at the costs and then divide them amongst my properties to figure it out but right now I am paying for the following subscriptions:

Guesty for Hosts

Ring Cameras

Price Labs

Hostfully Guidebooks

REIHub

Zapier

SignNow

When I purchase one of these subscriptions it is usually based on the criteria of how much time can it save me, or how much additional revenue can it make me, or how can it improve my business.  And depending on those things I will decide to use it or pass on it.  So I have never ran the numbers to determine what percent of my net profits they would take up.  

I am now considering adding Rankbreeze or something like that.  I never considered it before, because the bulk of my customers came through VRBO.  But now it is shifting dramatically to AirBnb, which I am not thrilled about, but it is what it is.  

Quote from @John Carbone:

also the pool cabin pumpers during Covid did exceptionally well when kids were doing school from home and there was a lot of demand year round for pools in off peak times…now those pool cabins sit empty because kids are in school and people aren’t willing to pay a premium to stay so the place sits unoccupied. All of this was very predictable, but unfortunately only a few here were able to see this 2-4 years ago. A memorable reply I recall  from a pumper here back then was “I wont let you rain on my parade” … well now it’s a tsunami coming inland and it doesn’t care about your feelings. 

Well I for one bought pool cabins for times like this and I am so glad I did.  Are things down - yes.  Did I have to lower ADR - yes.  But my 2 bedroom pool cabins are doing way better than my 3 bedroom cabin on the mountain ridge with absolutely amazing views.   

The pool is the top amenity - not the view that gets preached so much.  So in times like this I am so glad I have pool cabins. But because I bought right and didn’t fall into the frenzy and pay through the roof for my pool cabins I’m still doing well and making money.  Not 2021-2022 money but more like 2019 money. 

So buying the pool cabin was not a bad thing at all. In fact it’s probably one of the smartest things I did.   But buying them at 2021-2023 prices would have been very tough.  

With a 20% down loan, you are looking at a 750k property.  With a  7% interest rate on that loan you are looking at just shy of 4k per month or 48k per year on debt service.  Easily add on another 20k - 30k in expenses for the year and now your outgoing is at 68k -78k with purely rough numbers before you break even.  So keep that in mind.  

This year the market has not been great.  So it kind of gets back to your purpose of purchasing here?  Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.  It will take work, so let's say you break even or just make a little, will it be worth the year's work you put in to it? Only you can answer that question.

Quote from @Aaron Washington:

Thanks everyone,

This is great information and very helpful.

How do you setup the Xbox systems? Do you pay for any Microsoft services or do the clients log in to their own accounts? (I assume these are newer Xbox systems everyone's referring to and not original Xbox that requires disks)

Has anyone bought a stand up arcade system from the arcade guys? How did it work out for you? Do the clients like it? Are there better options?

I use the Xbox series X which is the latest.  It also takes game discs.  I pick up about 7 or 8 game discs from the local resell store for usually $5 or less.    Guests that don’t have a login can play these games. Guests that do have an account can login and download their own games to play. 

Quote from @Kyle Smith:

hello everyone, I would like to resurrect this thread again because I have been searching for Land to build on for a year, and I still have not closed the deal. I have been fairly confident in my quest to build another cabin similar to what I have now, however, rates and occupancies are down so much I am seriously considering abandoning building again in Sevier county. I’m starting to look at other investment opportunities. How has your experience been the last few months?   Am I the only one seeing a legitimate pinch in Airbnb bookings in Sevier county?   I’m still going to do well this year, but building new with the current finance rates, it may be a tight proposition. 

Yea it's been going like this for quite some time.  We actually had a contract on a 2 bedroom cabin last year.  There was an issue with the HOA and the resort not actually having a pool in place at the time (they were planning on rebuilding) and we backed out.  Every STR I have purchased has been a home run and this would have only been a base hit, but that is where the market was.  Hindsight I am SOOOO glad I backed out of that one. 

I think we are back to pre 2016 levels in the sense that, if you build/buy something now, your reasons are to have someone else pay it off for you, not because it is a great cash flowing investment.  I primarily invest for cash flow, so this market is no bueno for me right now.

Depends on your market, that should be the driver for everything.  Are your competitors charging a cleaning fee?  In my market, everyone charges a cleaning fee and I can tell you it is much more than $50/night.  But again it depends on your market.  If this is a whole home you are cleaning that most likely $50/night is too cheap IMO.

Just FYI... when getting a pool table, make sure you get a slate pool table.  If you do not, then once the felt is torn up, it cannot be resurfaced.  On slate tables you can replace the felt, on non slate tables - you replace the table.  

Xbox either on a large screen TV or projector screen as well as stand up arcade cabinets.  Most of the adults couldn't care less about the Xbox, but seeing a nostalgic arcade cabinet with 60 retro games on it brings back memories - and they are the ones paying the rent  It is all about the pictures too - the standup arcade cabinets are going to give you a bigger bang in that department than the Xbox, but the kids/teens want the Xbox.  They also have the cocktail style arcade cabinets, some are pub table sized, where you can put drinks on them etc..

In addition, an Infinity Game Table is something a lot of people are not aware of but makes a big hit.  I get a lot of great feedback on that table.  At one cabin I have a full size virtual pinball table and that is a big hit as well.

If you can get a pool table in there, foosball, shuffleboard, air hockey, etc. that would be great. If you make it a game room, load it up and it will be a huge differentiator.  Go big or go home if this is what you are going to do in a space that size.

And yes decorate it so it's a fun room. Here is the thing. The kids love this kind of thing.. but on rainy days, the parents love it too, because they might be stuck in your STR and guess what - there is plenty to do and the kids are not "bored".