All Forum Posts by: Trinity Carrick

Thank you all for the suggestions! All very valid and understandable. I appreciate all feedback. I have not touched anything with the airbnb since buying, so you are all right that I need to freshen it up, do some new pictures, etc. If anyone is in the area and wants to chat about staying sometime, let me know! 

Hi all,

This might be done more often than I think, but this also might be a weird request. I have an Airbnb in San Antonio that I have only had for about 7 months. I bought it fully furnished and already functioning as an Airbnb. In the summer it was doing well, but slow months have become money draining. Trying to work out all the kinks in this first year of owning as my expenses seem high and I also want to get more bookings (obviously). I live in Oregon and I have been trying to get down there to see the airbnb and stay in it as a guest to see what I can do to spruce it up. Things have been way too hectic to make it down there at this point so here is where I call on the Bigger Pockets family for a favor! Is anyone in the area who is well versed with Airbnb willing to go stay at my place (for free of course) to give me your input and be my eyes and ears for a short stay? Really wanting to improve this Airbnb experience and if I can't make it down there as soon as I'd like, maybe someone I can trust from Bigger Pockets could help me out. In return you get a little vacation?! Sleeps up to 10 so you could bring family, a few friends, etc. Message me to discuss more if you are interested. Link for Airbnb below. Thank you!

San Antonio Airbnb

Thanks for the replies! @Ramon Jenkins I have a property manager that will help with all other vendors/ contractors I need and I am them paying 8%. I had seen numbers from previous months that net $700-$1000 in revenue monthly. It is a big house so sleeps more people and higher nightly price. 

@Rick Pozos Yes it is fairly close to downtown, and we are attracting people coming for that at this point. By price do you mean purchase price or monthly income? It came fully furnished and I paid $245k and it appraised at $266k.

@Dmitriy Fomichenko Thank you!! 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $245,000
Cash invested: $50,000

This is an Airbnb. The sellers already had it as an Airbnb and we are taking it over, fully furnished.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This was an off-market deal. The sellers would only sell to someone who wanted to keep it an Airbnb, which is what I wanted.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

My realtor I found in San Antonio is also the seller, so it was a win win for everyone.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed by using a cash-out refinance we had completed last year to have money for investment property.

This is an awesome idea! This is the new type of thinking that is going to go far. People think it is so much riskier but this is what the new generations are doing and what works. Have you heard of Robuilt on YouTube? I love his style of thinking, and it reminds me of what you are talking about. Maybe watch some of his videos and see if there are any good tips. 

You can also use the Airbnb calculator on here as a rough estimate, then plug into the rental real estate calculator. I usually try a number that is between what the long term monthly rent would be estimated at and what the Airbnb calc says. 

Hi there,

I am following this thread. We also have thought about buying in Mexico, but we had already decided we would buy a lot with cash and slowly build, didn't even think about mortgages there! It is an interesting thought. Is there any such thing as HELOCs or any money you could borrow from your parents' properties that could get you started? Then renting or vacation rental income could pay them back quickly. Again, maybe thinking too "USA strategies" for this but worth a shot.

@German Hall well things have just recently come together and I will let you know if the deal goes through. Just signed the contract today actually! I had visited San Antonio last November on a little vacation and really saw the potential. I did just go down there last week and checked out specific neighborhoods and looked at about 12 houses. The reason I chose San Antonio is because my plan is to have short term rentals. I knew San Antonio wasn't just a "tourist" attraction for short term rentals, but it is a military city, there are a lot of corporate groups and large companies who have people visiting often, which means many forms of occupancy opportunity. I also just loved the city and felt like it was right. Austin (another city that I love) is very up and coming right now, and there was no way to get in there at this point with my budget. I have been doing a ton of research to build confidence to make the jump in a completely different market, but just like everyone says, finding the right people helps.
I did research for realtors that understand and encourage real estate investing and have their own investment properties. I ended up finding some really cool people who have both a real estate and a property management company and they own their own short term and long term rentals. In the course of flying down there, making the connection, and looking at places, the realtor actually showed me one of their personally owned Airbnb's. He showed me the numbers, showed me the house, and actually ended up telling me that they would consider selling it to someone who would want to keep it an Airbnb, and use them for management.(They have made money off appreciation, and they want to grow their management portfolio.) We came to some very agreeable terms and I am very happy with this decision! They will be managing for me, and I hope to use them for future deals and partnerships in regards to them finding me deals knowing that I will use them for management. So far, it is working out and I'll keep you posted! Just do as much research as you can! Also, I am still very new to this but I am very happy with the research that I have done, the connections made, and the possibilities.

Hi German!

Welcome. I am fairly new here as well. I wonder, do you listen to all the podcasts? I basically went through all of them and then finally decided to get a membership due to being ready to actually buy property. Are you wanting to buy outside of Charlotte? One thing I know is that condo's are tricky, and to check HOAs/ community rules to make sure that it is allowed to buy and not owner-occupy the unit. Single family is probably a better bet. Also, think about what brings people to the area, such as job market, new infrastructure, tourist area, etc. Check Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and see what rent inventory looks like and also what is being rented and for what price. Most cities need rentals for people who are not ready or able to buy, so you can't really go wrong. It depends on your own standards of what type of tenants you want, so therefore, what type of property you want to buy and what is within your budget. Use the calculators and it will show you what you need to know! I cross reference with zillow and real estate sites to see what they say rent would be, as well as projected expenses, and see what the calculator tells me. I am investing out of state (I'm in Oregon, investing in Texas) and I have been reading Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by the brilliant David Greene, and it has SO MUCH VALUE. So if you are trying to invest farther away, get that book, ASAP!

Hi there,

I am sorry about this experience. That is very unfortunate. Like you said, at least you are learning. Unfortunately, the reviews will have to be there for the time being, and hopefully you can continue to get better reviews as time goes on. It seems that the lack of experience is what caused some confusion and unfortunately airbnb is up to everyone's personal perception. Your place looks great, and it seems that it will just take some time to be booked. You could update descriptions on the page and add more communication  (even explaining that the space WAS a shared spaced, and now it is the full space) if you would like, and just ensure that you have fully stated everything that you want to say. Then, with the check-in instructions, you can also reiterate the information. That way you are covered regardless. Some things though, might have to be let go, such as smoking weed outside, because things like that might happen and at least that is not doing damage to any property. I was a superhost on airbnb for a long time and have loved airbnb from the get-go, so if you have any other questions, let me know.