All Forum Posts by: Travis Timmons

My second home loan only requires me to be there 15 days per year. I used a mortgage broker and was clear about how we planned to use the property. He helped find a loan that would allow it; however, I do not think that it was that difficult. I have seen some loan products for a second home that only allow it to be rented for 180 days as well. 

That's a tough one. You're also swimming upstream on STRs given that you're in a city that has a robust economy outside of tourism. If it is primarily owner-occupied, then that challenge seems insurmountable. If it is mostly owners that rent long term, you may have a shot if you can provide comps and a property management solution for them. 

I own a condo in Portland that used to be a STR. The local laws changed a couple of years ago and the city limits you from STR if you don't live there for 9 months per year. We have converted it to a medium term rental - 1-4 months furnished. We've had good luck with that on Airbnb and Furnished Finder. That's probably the middle ground to see better returns but not violate any rules.

You can utilize the AirDNA rentalizer function for free; however, it'll start to block you after a few inquiries. If you clear cookies or open an incognito browser window, you can get around that. The only other free resource that I am aware of is the 7 day mashvisor trial. I've also reached out to property management companies in areas of interest to get an idea of their estimates based on rental history and data that they have. Some are willing to share, some are not...which is fair. 

It really depends on your overall asset portfolio. It's obviously easier to buy the first property with 10% to conserve cash; however, there are some 15% investment loan options out there if you can get to 15%. The risk-reward also depends on your assets outside of this particular property. Obviously, you would be insured to mitigate risk. You can also get an umbrella policy for a reasonable price as a catch all to protect you from liability. If you can come up with 15-20%, my advice would be to purchase using an LLC. If not, 10% second home loan is the only option. You can transfer the property to an LLC via a quitclaim deed at a later date (consult a real estate attorney, but it's a pretty standard process so long as your lender approves it). Hope that helps!

Just selfish curiosity here - What market(s) are you looking at for this property?