All Forum Posts by: Yiwei Cheng

It's totally possible to do STR in a place local to you. You do not have to be in a vacation market. I'm in Cincinnati, and there is still demand for STR here.

I think having a great property manager is important and the best way to look is scroll through listings on Airbnb and look for those with great reviews & multiple properties.  

Unless you want to be involved, you can self manage, but you will have to find and vet people remotely to do the work for you.  I do not agree that finding a great cleaner is the solution; cleaners are not managers.  Cleaners are cleaners, and cleaners are not you or care the same way you do.

 How much cash flow does my 401K retirement account produce? 

 I agree!  I will add that the Midwest is a great place to purchase a property and still get good cash flow compared to purchase prices in vacation areas.

Hi Sarah!  What are you looking to accomplish from real estate investing?

I got started when I had a full time job and moved to Cincinnati for work.  I knew I wanted to invest in real estate but I didn't know anything so I just started trying things out like yogurt flavors.  I eventually stumbled on short term rentals and did that on my own house while I lived there or rented out the entire house when I could.  From there I purchased more properties when the rates were low.  Just start with 1 place and test it out.  I would recommend joining a local real estate investor group too.

Rates for homeowners are now 7.5% with a great credit score, so I think asking for 3% interest is pretty low.

I'm in Cincinnati, OH and I am wondering the same thing!  I have gotten an influx of out of state investors looking to invest in Cincinnati.  Ohio must be on some top list article somewhere

For me, it comes down to the numbers and my long term goals.  

How much cash flow will the property generate?

If there is a slowdown, do you have enough reserves to get through it for 1 year?

My goal is to own property but it has to cash flow and I'm okay riding out the slowdown until rates come down or just breaking even for the short term as long as my expenses are getting paid.

Hi Cameron, I have been operating furnished rentals for 4 years in Cincinnati, OH and have grown our portfolio to 26+ rentals so I've been through that phase. 

The biggest, avoidable mistake that will cost you time and money is not having systems & hiring without systems. Everything you described is avoidable and preventable.  It's just not getting done or done correctly.

I've been there myself and over the years, I've tried different things, but there's one way that I've found to consistently have happy guests and get 5 star reviews (that's one of my metrics on how things are going) without me doing everything and running around all day.

The best way to efficiently operate and grow your business without taking more time or effort is creating systems and processes that people can follow for consistent results. It's boring and tedious at the beginning, but it's what it takes to get yourself out of doing everything.  Automation is part of that but it's using the technology effectively to do what you want.

If you want to help setting up systems and using what we have developed, I do coaching in this area.

 I do see this question all the time.  The thing with this question is that there are so many options out there that you have to just try and see what meets the criteria what you are looking for.  I tried so many before I found what works for me.  A lot of PMS have that functionality now.

It's like asking what restaurants do you recommend?  Everyone will have an opinion but like what are you looking for?  

What are your guest reviews like?