All Forum Posts by: Thomas Wurfel

Congrats @William Brock ! I passed this property online last week and it definitely caught my eye. Crazy to think you were asking about STRs/starting this forum up not even 3 weeks ago and here you go... 

Would love to hear more about your plans with this as you move forward!

Hey @Seth Elliott, no stupid questions! I think they're referring to Short Term Rentals (airbnbs, VRBOs, and such). 

I'm interested in Canyon Lake myself and following this chat. Moved down to San Antonio from NYC over the Labor Day Weekend (continue to manage a modest portfolio in upstate NY) and hope to get the ball rolling down here. Thanks for the all those contributing to the Texas-related posts I've been following. 

Hi Victor, I've used Fred from Integrity Home (link below) and have absolutely loved dealing with them. 

http://www.integrityhomebinghamton.com/

If they don't have availability (not sure a day or two in advance, they would), I've blast emailed this group from the Binghamton MLS website to try to get a response/availability once before. Most were responsive but didn't have availability as expected but a couple were available.

http://www.greaterbinghamtonmls.com/find-an-affili...

Hope that helps!

@Joseph Cusack 

I do this in my market. To me, the appeal of a 10 MONTH, SCHOOL YR lease draws in the students. The thought of having to cut a check in months when they don't even live at a property outweighs having to potentially pay a higher rate in months that they do (even though it's equivalent). I advertise it both ways with equivalent annual income.. wonder if students even pick up on that.  I see another big advantage -- time to allow for bigger repairs or improvements vs a rushed turn. Some properties we're just starting to acquire aren't in the best shape so having this time is mandatory. 

You can also charge for storage if they'd like to move their stuff in at the end of the school year or fill it with 1 or 2 summer students in the meantime. We have 1 student remaining in a property for extra income for June/July, then in August, the new tenants come in paying that same 12-month equivalent rate through May. 

Hi @Derek Johnson

Really just relaying information (along with very minimal experience on my own)..

I think you should keep in mind that getting parent guarantors doesn't guarantee yourself the situation is going to headache-free. Top priority should be assessing the girls themselves. A bad tenant is a bad tenant who will give you trouble no matter what. I can't speak from experience, but trying to go after mom or dad I'm sure is a long, drawn-out process.

My minimal experience is from dealing with international students who could not provide guarantors. My first thought is that that would automatically eliminate them for the lease but got advice on BP from someone dealing w students who doesn't do guarantors. I assessed my tenants on them alone and went without guarantors and it's been great (knock on wood).

@Moshe Aharoni

Trust worthy in a sense of finding the right kind of tenants? I say very trustworthy. Can always email a bit back and forth or set up a call if you're suspect of a prospective tenant. State your screening conditions up front (income x amount of rent, or students needing parent guarantors) and people will back off if they cannot meet those requirements. Saves you and them time.

Hi @Moshe Aharoni , congrats on the first purchase! Big step.

I just started in student rentals myself earlier this year. One thing I learned my first time around the block is to get an idea of when students look for housing for upcoming school years. If housing is hot around a certain university, properties may be leased up for 2017/2018 school year in the fall of 2016. But most likely there should always be waves of activity in the spring and maybe once more in the summer for those procrastinators. So make sure all your postings (especially on craigslist) stay up to date because you never know when someone will be searching. Reach out to any past-students (or even better current students) or other landlords to understand when these waves come. You'll always want to make sure your rates are competitive especially if you're getting close to end of searching process. No income for the year would be brutal to the bottom-line so it may make sense to drop your rates in order to secure cash flow.

As far as summer rental period - use it to your advantage.. offer 9-month leases to students as a slightly higher cost/month than 12-month (where 9 month total costs < 12 month total costs) but also grab that summer rental income. I assume the turnover/maintenance will be the thing to worry about there over the summer.

See if the university has postings on its website. The university where I invest does but we've gotten 1 hit on that compared to 20+ on craigslist.

Hi @Amit Kal - do keep us posted on your decision as this is an interesting one.

I happen to agree with @Pedro Recarey 's sentiment on this may be a blessing in disguise. Especially if your job skillset is and will still be in demand in the near term, take the leap.. you can always come back to W2 work if all else fails. I like  @Anthony Angotti 's advice on finding more cash flow friendly areas relative to NYC (I guess all areas of cash flow friendly relative to NYC) especially with more of your time freed up for out-of-state visits.

I'm in NYC as well so maybe I'll see you around at REI meetings! Best of luck!

Hi @Fiona Lam !

I currently invest in Binghamton and would be interested to hear on your developments and if you found a PM to help you out. Keep me posted!

@Account Closed.. this was extremely helpful. I'm dealing with a conversation this morning where I'll use this information. I'll keep you posted. I appreciate your time and insight!