All Forum Posts by: Vanessa Contreras

When did Airbnb remove the co-hosting feature?

@Nate Raynor 

I would assume it would be about the same as my single family units with are 826 SF and 740 SF.  I have spent between $5000 to 10,000 initially.  My mountain home needed to be completely refurnished plus we added a hot tub (a must for cabin rental) which came with reinforcing the deck, so to get it Airbnb ready it was about $10,000.  Our beach condo was already rent ready, so over the course of a year we replaced furniture to our taste which cost about $5,000.  $15,000 is probably a really good budget for 688 SF for a blank slate.  

These are things I would consider:

Number of bedrooms: bedrooms will require more furnishings then bathrooms. (mattresses can be has expensive as couches and people will judge a mattress before a couch)

Outdoor Living Space:  what is expected for the area to compete with other STRs

Condition of Appliances:  Does anything need to be replaced to get me through 1 season (changing appliances mid season, big pain in the butt!)

Congratulations on starting your first STR! I have two perspectives on the cleaning.
My wife and I have two properties in two different locations.  The first one we have is local so we clean it and take care of the laundry ourselves.  Also, in our area which is in Hilton Head Island, SC many cleaning companies provide the linens and towels for a small added fee and depending on the company and how often your property is turning this may be worth it.  Our second rental is in the Smoky Mountains, and we provide all linens and towels for our cleaner.  She launders the sheets and towels.  We installed a small owners closet to keep the extra towels and sheets.  The turn over rate is slower so not so much wear and tear on our sheets.  I would reach out to other STR owners in your area and see how cleaners in the local area handle the linens.  
Good luck 😊 

Quote from @Sergey A. Petrov:

Provide smart TVs and a super fast internet connection (so multiple people can stream at the same time) and let guests login to their own preferred providers (netflix, hulu, amazon, etc)

I agree with you.  This is what I do for both my STRs and it works just fine.  Most people will want to log into their own streaming services to continue watching their programs.  We have direct tv and spectrum cable services provided by the HOA as well, so not really sure if the guests prefer both or if the smart tv is enough.  Also, many smart tvs will have free tv like roku and Samsung tvs.  

Quote from @Ethan Hanes:

Quote from @Vanessa Contreras:

Thanks!

 Yeah it would kind of be considered a hotel. I can imagine the management for the property would be a little bit more difficult to be honest. For example, when a tenant leaves, you would have to clean the unit without disturbing the other tenants. Financially it would be a little bit difficult to rent out the units. People might assume that it’s a long term rental instead of a short term rental because of the way it looks to the average viewer. Just some thoughts. 

 very true, thanks 😊 

Quote from @Manny Vasquez:

I have a three-duplexes and two-triplexes, in Los Angeles, that I have converted all into STR's and they are doing very, very well for me. The clients know upfront that the unit they will be renting is part of a duplex or triplex (so that there are no surprises) and they each have their own private entrances and private spaces. As far as financing, I house hacked 2 of them and the other 3 I purchased with 25% down.

Thanks for the insight! I’m sure being in Los Angeles is very lucrative.  😎

@Luke Carl, so if I were to turn a duplex into 2 STRs it would be considered a hotel?

I currently own and manage two STRs with my wife. I want to expand my portfolio outside of single family and condo properties, and I was wondering how others have done with multifamily STR properties. Any suggestions on financing options as well?

Thanks!