All Forum Posts by: Waverly Rennie

hi- just a follow up to say that I did get the $2500 released (or at least they said they were going to do so) and the property is back in a new auction.

one thing I have been hearing is that actually your place gets less wear and tear as a weekly rental, since with longer rentals people start to treat the place as theirs and they are also home more. With a one week rental people are gone so much checking out all the hot spots and restaurants that they aren't "home" enough to do much damage. And I wasn't going to do less than a week but realized, since I am not very booked up right now, that offering 3 nights or more would get me some weekend people and some reviews, and i can charge the same cleaning fee after 3 nights or 7 nights and my cleaning lady is just as happy to have more work.

Of course, I don't have as nice a house as you, I would bet! best of luck

hi and good luck with your VR. I have found similar lists while prepping my house a few months ago and agree with many of the suggestions above. I was convinced I hadn't done enough (as apparently most first-time renters feel) when the first guests came but they were delighted and left a 5 star review. 

When I was setting the house up for rent, I got a lot of stuff at Costco- pillows, sheets and towels, snacks and wine for the welcome basket, paper goods, cleaning supplies, etc. I probably spent $3-4k (haven't added it all up yet) taking a nice normal family home and sprucing it up for high-end rental- that's new linens, a few pieces of new accent furniture and lamps, pillows and pillow top mattress covers, lots of deep cleaning, a new sofa bed, a new king bed, etc. But I have made that up in the first couple of months so am delighted with it! 

Got a local couple who are renting several properties on AirBnB to manage it for me- they do everything (including coordinating with the guests and the cleaner and paying her) and I just get my $ from AirBnB then put some in a shared account with them that I keep topped up from which they pull their management fee (20% of gross rental income), the cleaner's fee, any maintenance costs, etc. It's working out very nicely since I am often not in the states. I am having a lot of fun thinking of inexpensive but handy or fun little treats for the welcome basket although my property managers say I don't have to bother. I just like playing tea party, I guess......

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

I am appreciating this thread- I really want to focus on saving older houses but man, they are black holes sometimes.....following!

Hi @Jinyu D. and welcome! I really enjoyed reading your story- and tell your husband you write beautifully in English so he should just be proud! It was interesting to hear the reaction of the former owners- that they love the house and they want someone to love it too. I will remember that next time I am looking at a house- sometimes emotions speak louder than dollars.

Looking forward to the pictures and more news of your progress. You are an inspiration! 

hi- I used a really helpful broker named Kathy Longtin- she helped me sort through lots of options and if she doesn't sell it, she will find someone who does. I was really impressed with her fantastic service. I have been meaning to write up the process I went through!

Kathy Longtin, Senior Agent

P Fudge & Associates, Inc

p) 321.972.9920 (direct)

p) 407.965.4253 (office)

f) 407.386.7461

[email protected]

www.fudgeinsurance.com

Hi- I very much agree with the idea that getting a lot of credits in JC is a great way to make your BA cheaper. On the other hand, if you can make it without a degree that's great. I am very glad to have gotten an undergraduate degree in liberal arts, and a graduate degree in public health which is salable. The one thing I would say is that if you don't get a degree, just make sure your writing skills are top notch!

just wanted to share what I experienced. As other posters had said, I could see that it was probably the bank bidding up against me. By waiting till the last minute, literally, to make my next bid, they dropped the bidding increment from $2500 to $1000. I let them bid above me and dropped out, and they bid another 1k and then it ended, still under the reserve price. 

Sure enough, I got an email from some (home search) saying would you like us to submit your offer to the bank? and then I get another email saying, oh and btw this may take a few weeks. I said sure, expecting it would take a while, maybe some negotiation etc. 

Well i almost immediately got an email saying your offer has been accepted, and that I will have to sign the contract within 24 hours of getting it and all this stuff. I KNEW I had bid too much, then! it was still a decent price but...... So then they email to say you have 24 hours to click "confirm high bid"- but they don't tell me what would happen if I didn't. so I call customer service but they can't really tell me anything, i am trying to see if i will be in default if I don't confirm the high bid and thus would lose the $2500 deposit they are holding on my credit card which you have to put down in order to bid. 

So I go ahead and confirm high bid by clicking and filling in stuff, but meanwhile I email my auction manager and explain I am out here in Guinea dealing with the Ebola epidemic and about to go out to the field where there is no internet and I won't be able to deal with all this. I really didn't expect this to happen so soon because of the email saying I would have time. 

The auction manager emails back and says, given the circumstances, she would be willing to release the $2500 on the credit card and I can back out. I emailed back saying yes please, but I haven't heard back from her yet. I really don't have time to deal with it now so I decided to drop the deal. I will be very pleasantly surprised if this works out. 

just adding another data point for people's consideration!

@William Allen thanks so much for the info. I just got an email saying they accepted my offer, which confirms my impression that I paid way too much! it's an occupied property supposedly so that will be fun to deal with when I get back to the states from lovely Guinea.....

@Gary Fischer @William Allen i am also waiting for my offer to be reviewed for a FL property. Besides the 5% buyer's premium, what other costs did you have to pay at closing? There is something like recording stamps in FL I think- did they pay that? any other costs? because if it's much more on top the 5% buyer;s premium my margin is going to be pretty skinny..... this is my first home search auction and i only just figured out the whole straw bidding thing