All Forum Posts by: Stacy P.

Are you building new to the vacation rental world and feeling a little overwhelmed? 

Are you thinking of moving from a management company to self-managing but not sure how to go about it?

We help first-time vacation rental owners learn how to set up their vacation rental business so that it's easy to self-manage and optimized for profitability! We've coached over 250 owners over the past 4 years! 100% 1:1 coaching - no group coaching, virtual courses, etc. We hold your hand through the entire process! Included in our self-management coaching services:

Free 20-minute consultation to make sure self-management is a good fit for you

VRBO, Airbnb & Direct Booking Guided Set-Up

Owner Rez guided set up of the entire platform and all integrations

Process & communication automation set-up (this is the secret sauce to making self-managing a breeze!)

House manual and area guide Guided Set-up

Coaching on the entire process of prepping your cabin to start self-managing including hiring your team, pricing your property, signing up for utilities and other services, shopping for your property, and much much more!

If you'd like to set up a consultation with us to learn about self-management coaching, please visit our website at

https://www.theutmosthost.com/start-smart-academy and sign up for a consultation. 

We look forward to meeting you and being a part of your new journey!

I can't do both?? I didn't realize I can't plug what I do and also offer help on here as well. I'm happy to remove my post or change it but I can't see where to do that. Obviously, it hit some nerves which was not what I intended. People are so quick to jump and knock others down. I don't subscribe to that school of thought. If someone can lead me to the "edit" button, I will change my message.

Hi! 

I wanted to introduce myself and let you know I'm here as a resource. I am a vacation rental investor and cohost to several properties, as well as a Host Coach! I have coached hundreds of vacation rental owners on running their vacation rental business (even remotely!) on their own without the use of a management company. You can check out my website for my coaching business at The Utmost Host in my signature. 

I'd be happy to answer questions for those just getting started.

Thanks Kerry! Super helpful info. Jonathan, a drive-up market for DFW area. That's the going price for 2000sq ft new builds (this one has a killer view too). The average gross rev for this size is about $150+/-/yr. It's a good ROI. ;-)

Hi there! I have an opportunity to buy a STR (my 2nd) that I do not want to pass up. From my experience with my current STR, I am more than confident that I cannot pass up this deal but I'm struggling with figuring out the best way to finance it. Below are the details. I'm hoping those of you who are experts in creative financing can give me some ideas! :-)

• The builder hasn't decided on a price yet but my guess is it will be between 800-900k. 
• My credit is 770+
• I can qualify for about 615k with a conventional loan, I have about 80k cash to use as well. 
• I've leveraged 45k of equity in my primary home to purchase the first property (HELOC). The equity in my house has since gone up, so I could refinance the HELOC and get more money from there. I'm not sure how much, though.
• I also have probably about 200K in equity in my first STR, but from what I understand, it's difficult to get a HELOC on a 2nd home. Am I wrong with that?

Ok, that's it, I think. Let's hear your creative ideas! :-)

Stacy

Hi friends!

We may sell a current STR (vacation) property we own and take the profits to purchase 2-3 more properties under a 1031. I can do the research as far as ADR and occupancy, but I'd like so suggestions from you guys of growing vacation markets I should look at (I'd like to diversify). The market we are currently in is crazy hot (but I'm seeing signs of a coming cooldown) so I am still debating whether to just re-invest there. My hesitancy there is buying high in that market when I'm not sure that area will sustain the growth it's been seeing. I'd love to find something up and coming. I'd really like a year-round destination, preferably near a lake and mountains (not really interested in beach properties). Any ideas of where to look would be appreciated!! Thanks!

I’ve lived in Frisco for 25+ years. Being a young, single guy, I’d suggest looking at the following areas:

If your work is north Dallas or Plano, look near Legacy and the Dallas North Tollway in Plano (near Legacy West- a great upscale area with lots of restaurants, shops and bars), Austin Ranch near Sam Rayburn Tollway and Spring Creek (close to Grandscape at The Colony) or even The Colony which I think will grow in value as that area grows, or along the Dallas North Tollway and Warren in Frisco (near the Star). There is a great young professionals social scene at all of those locations. My daughter lived in Dallas near Uptown in her early 20s and enjoyed it, if you’re work is downtown. It is a bit expensive down in Dallas though and mostly you are looking at apartments and older homes. The commute up and down to Plano or Frisco may not be worth living up here if you work in Dallas.  You may be able to get some deals in Bishop Arts district in Dallas if you’re willing to do a rehab. I hear that area is starting gain some momentum again as far as value.

I don’t know much about the west parts of town. Arlington and FW are about 45-60 min away from me so we rarely go there. 
Good luck!

Hi! A newbie learning here! I bought a cabin as an STR in July this year, in an area doing very well...so well that the existing cabin prices have gone up through the roof since we purchased our cabin earlier this year. Land is also scarce there right now but several new developments are opening next year.

Here's my question, would a BRRRR work in this case? (without the rehab...it would be a new build...so BBRRR-lol!)

So, for this scenario let's go with what I currently have, which is a 1,000 sq ft 1 bedroom cabin. Mine appraised for $407K when we bought it. Cabins currently on the market and selling are going for $475+K. But we can stay conservative, and say that a cabin this size will confidently appraise for $407K

Cost to build a cabin - $150-$190 sq ft. So let's say I built a cabin on the higher end at 1000 sq ft. It costs $190000 build.

Cost of land - $70K-$90K. I want a nice lot, so let's say land + cabin build is $280K.

If an appraisal came back at $407K and the bank would refinance at 70%, that's $284K.

If this works, my plan is to find a hard money lender for the build, and refinance with a conventional loan, or even a portfolio lender,when the build is done. Is this possible? Can you do a hard money loan on a build? What are the pieces I'm missing here? What are the risks? 

A little more info about me...I have excellent credit, but a fairly high DTI. My current cabin won't be counted as rental income for another 1 1/2 years, unless I find a bank that will recognize what I have from this year's taxes. I bought this cabin on a HELOC which I could pay off, but I'm choosing to wait a couple of years and use the cash flow from the cabin towards my acquisition goals, for the time being. So, I do have a little cash...I just don't want to use it if I can help it. :-)

Thanks for your input!

Hello!

I currently own a vacation rental that does very good cash flow. My brother is wanting to go in on another one with me, and I am looking for some ideas from others how they may have structured a partnership in a STR deal.

I plan to do the management part (I already have the process down pat). 

We both have some cash to split for the down payment.

 I don't know that I'll be able to qualify for a conventional loan until later next year due to having just taken out the loan for my current cabin this August, whereas he could qualify for the whole amount.

I was thinking in terms of maybe splitting the down payment, him getting the loan, me doing the management piece and calling it a 50-50 split on cash flow and profit when we sell? I'm open to feedback and suggestions!!

Thanks!