All Forum Posts by: Trevor Haasch

Thank you both for all the input. We were originally planning to purchase this hotel as a conversion, but after talking with the city we have learned this is the only hotel in the city. The closest hotel is about 15 miles away. Having never ran a hotel we want to be sure to look at all options to determine what makes the best financial sense for this space as well as meeting the needs of the community. If we decide to operate it as a hotel, would you franchise or not?

You are right the utilities are single metered so they would be all inclusive. It's an interior two floor building. There is a good size laundry room that we will install coin op to help with additional revenue. We are thinking of installing kitchenettes in the upstairs units that will be long term apartments. The main floor would be furnished hotel rooms and rent month to month. Currently we are thinking to install a fridge and microwave and then we would build a community room with full kitchen in the former lobby for those tenants to use. I have never ran a hotel so at this point I plan to have them as all rentals and close the lobby. I know a hotel could have higher revenue but also comes with more expenses for staff, maid service ect

I have been approached with a deal to purchase an older vacant hotel. There are currently 6 apartments 22 hotel rooms and a 3 bedroom house on site. Purchase price would be 150k and needs about 200k in improvements. Seller is willing to finance entire deal at 5% interest. The more I look into it the more potential I see. It's located in a small town about 3 hours away. I just finished turning over a 33 unit apartment complex that is now 100% full. I have the experience and time to commit to turning this place around too. I spoke with the city this morning and found there is a housing need especially for transient workers during the summer and fall. Original plan was to convert entire place to studios or one bedroom rentals with 12 month leases but now after talking with the city I'm thinking converting the 2nd floor to long term rentals and the main floor to short term month to month furnished rentals. The city was really excited to hear we are interested in transforming the property and will work with us to rezone the property and possibly provide some financial assistance to help with improvements. Anyone have any experience with hotel conversions or short te rentals?

I have been approached with a deal to purchase an older vacant hotel. There are currently 6 apartments 22 hotel rooms and a 3 bedroom house on site. Purchase price would be 150k and needs about 200k in improvements. Seller is willing to finance entire deal at 5% interest. The more I look into it the more potential I see. It's located in a small town about 3 hours away. I just finished turning over a 33 unit apartment complex that is now 100% full. I have the experience and time to commit to turning this place around too. I spoke with the city this morning and found there is a housing need especially for transient workers during the summer and fall. Original plan was to convert entire place to studios or one bedroom rentals with 12 month leases but now after talking with the city I'm thinking converting the 2nd floor to long term rentals and the main floor to short term month to month furnished rentals. The city was really excited to hear we are interested in transforming the property and will work with us to rezone the property and possibly provide some financial assistance to help with improvements. Anyone have any experience with hotel conversions or short te rentals?

It's your home the tenant can not stop you or your property manger from entering to make repairs with proper notice. I would give them a notice that you will not be renewing their lease and they must vacate on the end date specified in your lease. Furthermore I would document everything and hold them responsible for further damages that occurred as result of them not allowing you access to repair the items.

We use Rentpayment.com tenants can pay online, over the phone or with cash at moneygram locations. Works great and very reasonable. You get emailed as soon as the tenants pay.

To prevent lockouts we only use a key deadbolt and a regular passage door handle so they must use their key to lock the deadbolt on the door. We've only had a couple of times in the last two years that someone was locked out and it was because they lost their keys.

We use rentpayment.com very reasonable right now we pay $10 a month. Tenants can pay online or over the phone with an automated system or live operator 24 hours a day. They can also pay with cash at an moneygram location. We have it free for the tenant if they use electronic check they pay for credit card/debit card or cash. The companies charges and keeps the fees but funds are deposited in our account within a couple of days. You get an email as soon as a payment is made and when it's deposited. Easy to setup and tenants love it.

Personally if they want to go month to month I would increase the rent as there really is no long term commitment on their part. If there were willing to sign another year lease I would consider leaving their payment alone or maybe even reducing it a little as turnovers are expensive. We have a 1 page renewal we send out 60 days before expiration that gives them an option to renew at 1 price go month to month at another price offer their own price or vacate. They just check the box sign and return. It's not valid until we sign it and return a copy. Works great and so far no one has returned it with their own price. We do have a couple that went month to month and their rent went up $25 a month. Most renewed for a year and we left the rent alone as we did some large increases the last couple of years since we took over. We are now at 100% occupancy. Again if they are good tenants and it's cash flowing I would consider their request if they commit to another year but not for month to month.

I had a similar incident with a roommate last year. We have a crime-free addendum in our lease. I made it clear he violated the crime free addendum and asked him to vacate within 24 hours which he did. Being that he is living in your house and you can no longer trust him it's best to part ways. He already admitted to it, so cut your losses and find someone else to rent the room that you can trust.