All Forum Posts by: Joey Banasihan

Hey @Gopichand N., I think it is interesting when PM's charge all of these additional fees ontop of their monthly PM fee percentage. But I think you should be focusing more on their screening process, leases, and those type of areas.  Hiring professional comes with a cost, and not hiring professional comes with a cost.  It is thier screening process, their requirements to rent, etc. that you should be focused in on to ensure they are doing their due diligence to finding the best possible renters for you. Good luck on your search, hopefully you find what you need!

I agree it Charles, @Luke Morris Tamney find a high yielding savings account and put it in there. Then the next step identify ways to continue living below your means and saving more. Then do some research on some high yielding skills that can help you earn more money, either on the side, or eventually as your main thing.  Real estate is a long term game (overall) and sometimes investing in yourself and your active income can yield a higher rate of return, in which can also excel you investing. Just a thought but keep working hard and keep going, good luck!

Hey @Griffin Malcolm, if you have the ability, I think house hacking is a great strategy. But remember that house hacking can easily lead into the BRRRR strategy, house hacking is really just purchasing a home and living in it for a little while with the intention of turning it into a rental. If you crank out another house hack that needs some renovations, live in it, do renovations to force some equity, maybe you rent out some rooms, maybe you dont, then a year or more goes by, and maybe interest rates allow you to refinance. Its not pretty, nor is it super quick, but its safe and it will get you where you need to go! I think no matter which direction you go, action is the most important piece. Good luck!

Hey @Alex Ng, like others have stated, utilizing certain platforms can yield particular prospective tenants and provide some consistency. And you probably already understand this, but another part is how your approaching your marketing, amentities, and hospitality service on the platforms itself. Professional photography, how to talk about the space, SEO, screening process, how quickly and thoroughly you respond to prospects, proximity to hospitals/industries utilizing temporary contract workers, etc.  These all play part, best of luck!

Hey @Akhil Patel! For my travel nurses, or any mid-term rental folks, I have cleaners out there once a month. I specify in the lease that tenants still must maintain a clean, hazard free, etc. consistently.  The cleaners are there to keep an eye on the space, let me know if anything seems off, but also provide a hospitable service for the guests. So the fact you are going every other week is a definitely a nice gesture, I do not think there is a bad or good way of doing it, but having eyes on the property is the most important thing. 

Hey @Kalp Mehta, it just depends on your situation, goals, local market, etc. If you are in a market with market rents that increase year over year, or a market that appreciates well, and you plan on holding it for a long time, then sometimes it works. Everyone has different thresholds of risk and understandings of the benefits of real estate, we can go down a rabbit hole around tax advantages. Some folks situations can allow them room to be in the negative for a year or two, but again it is very specific to everyones situation. 

Hey @Jonathan Rivera, I agree with some of the points mentioned, losing equity for convience and cash flow, with your goals wanting to scale may not be the most adventitious.  Cash flow is great, do not get me wrong, but its much harder to leverage $300 dollars a month on cash flow than it is to leverage 6% appreciation. There are folks who do turnkey differently (including us) where the headache of project management, finding tenants, and all of that stuff is taken care of without paying extra fees. But at the same time, some folks need the stabilization and security that turnkey models provide in order to get started. 

This is a really good post and a lot of great information, but investors reading through this, it is very very very difficult to learn if neighboring homes are section 8, let alone rentals. And by looking deep into this or advising a client to not purchase a property along those lines is an immediate breach of ethical guidelines and violation the Fair Housing Act. Be sure you are not asking your agent to cross these lines :)

Hey @Alba Cheung, I am guessing you have a cleaning team in place, if so, there are low cost, high touch options or high-cost, low touch options. The most immediate thing would be Smart Locks that you can program new codes for guests via Wifi and codes for cleaners (no lost keys to worry about). From here, low-cost would be working with your cleaners on communication, email/text, and creating a shared calendar to track guests check-in and check-out, and then communicating dates/times for cleaners to be there. More hands on work for sure. High-cost option, purchase a software that syncs your STR calendar with the software, input text/email of cleaners, and this will automatically notify cleaners for bookings with check-ins and check-outs, and if they are self-sufficient enough, they will go when needed. Guesty or Hostaway are some options. There are more nuances but wanted to share big picture.

Hey Carlos, seems like this could be a cool opportunity, especially if you have not issue paying that monthly. Have you considered working with a local bank to get an HELOC taken out on that investment property and use that on continue building your portfolio? You will need to do some research with banks who can do that, but they are out there. Not everyone is okay with leveraging a home, but could be a way to use the equity sooner. Just a thought!