Hi! Just subscribed. My husband and I are getting started in the short term rental property game, which is super exciting! My question is, how do you find a reliable realtor that you can trust? We’re looking in Pigeon Forge, but we live in FL, so not sure how to find a reliable TN realtor! Your videos have been super helpful and informative for us, so thank you!!
@@Julie-ct8qc reach out to Steve Frye! Based in Nashville but explaining to the Smokies. I like using realtors that work primarily with investors and also big bonus if they own and operate short term rentals themselves! :)
I found you on Tiktok & this video was honestly a little overwhelming/disheartening for any average person looking to start out on this kind of business venture. Super insightful, thank you for being so thorough & honest.
Keep in mind that these costs are offset every month with the money you collect in payouts from guests on Airbnb! You should be profiting every month beyond the expenses :) I know it sounds overwhelming but you CAN do it
You’ve provided so much value and really took time to break the numbers down, explain the process in an easy to follow structure and tbh are very transparent. Thank you for being such a genuine person. You are a nature with this teaching thing and have a very pleasant voice. Looking forward to growing my business and learning more from you. Thank you!!!!
Thank you for this video.. I’ve spent 2 days literally scouring the east coast to Texas looking for properties.. property management cost is where all the deals fell apart. Another roadblock removed.
Appreciate the content! Did you end up making a video on automating your listings? I’m having trouble finding it. A video on what you physically do each week or month on a property would be great! I’m worried about how much time it takes without a management company. Thanks!
Is there anyway we could get a personal call with you? I’m a 24 year old get about to get out of the military and would just love to hear more insight. I’m watching all your videos over and over again and want to enroll in your course. Thank you for all your info and glad to see you traveling and loving life!
How did you do with insurance for your new Fort Lauderdale property? Regular homeowner insurance in this area can run 4-5k annual. 2-4x $4k would be 8 - 16k. Yikes!
Mike, loved this!!! Thank you! Your videos are very easy to follow and don't overwhelm as so many others! Question, Is it worth to invest in Nashville/Brentwood area for 2022?
You just gained a new subscriber! Thanks for the info. I am real estate investor in phoenix looking to relocate to the smokies and in my research I came across your channel. Do you know of an agent in the smokies that would be familiar with land in unrestricted areas?
Michael...say I also use the rental myself a few times out of the year. Could I label this as a secondary home or do I still have to label it as a rental property
I have yet to do Airbnb with an apartment, but there are many people who do this. Many of those folks do rental arbitrage, which is a really awesome strategy to get started with little to no money! You would just have to make sure the property manager, owner, HOA, apartment complex, etc are aware and will allow you to operate it as a short term rental.
Thanks for all this great information. One major concern I have before getting into short term rentals is city zoning and permit rules. How do you ensure that before you buy a property the city will allow a short term rental? Is it possible for the city to change the zoning at any time and disallow renters, thereby ruining your business? I don't like the idea of not having some control or assurances. I do understand that if it did happen, you're not out 100% since you still own the property, but you could get upside down pretty quickly unless you were able to unload the property.
Check the rules and regulations - can either find online on the city or county website and zoning rules, or call the zoning department and they can tell you the rules and if a specific address qualifies for an overnight rental. In Nashville they have changed the rules every once in a while. Mainly to take Airbnb’s out of residential areas. But theyve grandfathered in the prior permits for those areas. I imagine that’s what they’ll do going forward as well. Best to work with a realtor who understands the local rules and regulations so they can find properties that qualify for you :)
I'm very interested in investing in real estate, but currently have no money so I'm working on saving to start in the future. Your videos offer a lot of insight. Thanks brother.
Yes, I recommend budgeting for all the potential expenses for the property as well as a ball park average nightly rate and estimated occupancy rate for the area. That way, you'll have a good understanding of the potential cash way and what the overall investment will look like.
Up to you if you want to leverage or not. I would say look harder into how many you can buy using loans and the total cash flow and ROI vs buying one cash
@@melefante6 thx for the response.. when you say leverage? What do you mean? Sorry super new at this! we’re super serious about financial freedom but also don’t want to get in over our heads with loans God for bid it went belly up. Obviously that’s not the intention. Going to be using all your advice to hone in on a property.. and go from there. Just Trying to decide what’s the best course of action with the cash situation.. if it were you and you had the cash you’d still take a loan?
We have umbrella insurance policy that is specific for short term rentals that has liability coverage. We plan to move our properties into individual LLCs soon though to make sure our assets are segmented from one another. Great question!
question! I've viewed your tiktoks, and see there's an excel document to help you quickly analyze the profitability of a potential Airbnb. I have yet to see the link, and am curious if you would provide here? I'd love to take a look at your forms, tools etc. Looking forward to it. Thanks, Steve
Very Helpful information. I had a question about the real state agent. If I'm in small city, not high in tourism. Could I still talk to a local Real state agent so they would help me find a property outside of my city or outside my state?
You could but you’d likely be better offer networking online and finding local agents in the market you’re looking to invest in, as they will know the area well
@@melefante6 Sounds good,Thank you! Also, to start investing in short term rental is there an age requirement, like 18+ or 21+? I am 19 turning 20 in a few months.
I look mostly at cash on cash and total return on investment. So in some cases we may be able to charge more per night but occupancy may only be 50%. Other times you may charge less but be much higher occupancy. So overall I'd say look at the total projected revenue. A good rule of thumb for occupancy is 65%+ if I had to out a number on it
@@melefante6 Thank you! I am looking into an area where the neighborhood is getting revitalized so occupancy is pretty low as of right now (40-50%). Do you ever base your research on neighborhood potential or do you mainly focus in areas where the area is already developed / renovated?
@@crispykramer17 if it is a gentrified area and appreciation is on the up it could be a good long term investment. Have you done rentalizer on airdna for a good baseline forecast?
@@melefante6 I have done rentalizer. It seems a bit misleading to me...for example if my filter is 2bed 2bath...occupancy projects 60% but if I put 3bed 2bath it drops to 39%? I would expect the occupancy to increase if the house can accommodate more guests? I'm still very new to this but i'm happy to send you the property details to hear your thoughts!
@@crispykramer17 My guess is that in that area there is a greater demand for 2 BR vs 3BR? How do the numbers change if you change how many people you can accommodate vs how many bedrooms?
I use Airdna as a baseline. It's good to get a pulse on what the market is doing on average in the are and we look for a place that we can exceed those numbers
Depends on the investment. I focus more on the CoC return numbers. We aim for 25% plus for all our properties. The payback period in the form of cash flows is expected to be 2-3 years. In some cases perhaps less but depends on the loan and other investment details
@@melefante6 Well I was looking strictly into rental arbitrage. Let’s say i spent 10k leasing plus another 5k furnishing. What can I expect to have in terms of occupancy rate for the first month? I’m sure it’s not automatic and takes time. But best case scenario im guessing with an average 50% occupancy rate it should be 7-8 months?
@@MunibAslam what location? Each market is different and also size of the property. And time of year if there is a busy or slow season. Once you list you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting bookings especially if you do Airbnb new listing discount (usually I’ll do 20% off for the first three bookings) and that will jump you up in Airbnb search. I would say go for a little lower average daily rate and higher occupancy for the first few months to establish good reviews and demand and then creep the price up to a more competitive level
@@melefante6 well i’m in toronto and airbnb just got banned here so that sucks. But I travel a lot for work so I’m looking into setting airbnbs in different parts of the world. I also run my own marketing agency so I plan to have direct bookings. From your experience with your first property , whats the average? Also do you offer consulting calls? I’m looking to get started as the lockdowns and travel industry reopens
@@MunibAslam I do offer consulting calls. You can schedule one through Instagram DM me @melefante6 I’d say look at AirDNA for data for occupancy and ADR for each market that’ll be the best starting point and then review other Airbnb’s in the area. Each one of our properties is different. But during normal travel times in Nashville occupancy around 60% to 70% on the higher end. In Gatlinburg anywhere from 60-75% occupancy depending on size of house and how well you differ from competition.
Drop your comments and questions below! Thank you for watching! :)
Hi! Just subscribed. My husband and I are getting started in the short term rental property game, which is super exciting! My question is, how do you find a reliable realtor that you can trust? We’re looking in Pigeon Forge, but we live in FL, so not sure how to find a reliable TN realtor!
Your videos have been super helpful and informative for us, so thank you!!
@@Julie-ct8qc reach out to Steve Frye! Based in Nashville but explaining to the Smokies. I like using realtors that work primarily with investors and also big bonus if they own and operate short term rentals themselves! :)
I found you on Tiktok & this video was honestly a little overwhelming/disheartening for any average person looking to start out on this kind of business venture. Super insightful, thank you for being so thorough & honest.
Keep in mind that these costs are offset every month with the money you collect in payouts from guests on Airbnb! You should be profiting every month beyond the expenses :) I know it sounds overwhelming but you CAN do it
You’ve provided so much value and really took time to break the numbers down, explain the process in an easy to follow structure and tbh are very transparent. Thank you for being such a genuine person. You are a nature with this teaching thing and have a very pleasant voice. Looking forward to growing my business and learning more from you. Thank you!!!!
Great information here. Thanks Mike!
Thanks for sharing I enjoyed this one!
TY for watching!!
I never thought about # of people you can accommodate... Makes sense
:)
Thank you for this video.. I’ve spent 2 days literally scouring the east coast to Texas looking for properties.. property management cost is where all the deals fell apart. Another roadblock removed.
Awesome! Best if luck!!
Could you share the spreadsheet? Looking to get into this! I like the way you break everything down. Looking forward to more videos.
Thanks! Shoot me a message on instagram or FB.
@@melefante6 also interested 😊
Thank you for the great video. It was very educational and it now helps me forecast a future property for unexpected expenses.
Thank you for watching!
Excellent content! 👏🏽 How much is your consulting call per hour?
Great content!
Thx
Thank you for sharing your story and all the helpful information.
For sure! Thank you!
Appreciate the content! Did you end up making a video on automating your listings? I’m having trouble finding it. A video on what you physically do each week or month on a property would be great! I’m worried about how much time it takes without a management company. Thanks!
I second this.
Is there anyway we could get a personal call with you? I’m a 24 year old get about to get out of the military and would just love to hear more insight. I’m watching all your videos over and over again and want to enroll in your course. Thank you for all your info and glad to see you traveling and loving life!
Setting up our budget next week for our place in the Smokies. Super clutch I came across this.. Great video, thank you!
Rock on! Y’all will crush it!
Thanks man and best of luck for a hot start listing your new rental today 🙏🏼 so legit!
@@benscarborough2388 thanks!
@@benscarborough2388 thanks!
How did you do with insurance for your new Fort Lauderdale property? Regular homeowner insurance in this area can run 4-5k annual. 2-4x $4k would be 8 - 16k. Yikes!
Depends on size and location of property. The new property I believe the premium is around $5k
@@melefante6 That's not bad. We're in Coral Springs and it's around 4k so maybe a 25% premium over residential in this area. Thanks 👍
Mike, loved this!!! Thank you! Your videos are very easy to follow and don't overwhelm as so many others! Question, Is it worth to invest in Nashville/Brentwood area for 2022?
Nashville yes but I think there are better markets for cash flow than Nashville but still a great market over all
Interesting! Thank you!
Did I heard that right? Insurance is 2-4x normal home owner's insurance??
Typically yes. But necessary
You just gained a new subscriber! Thanks for the info. I am real estate investor in phoenix looking to relocate to the smokies and in my research I came across your channel. Do you know of an agent in the smokies that would be familiar with land in unrestricted areas?
Thanks! Send me a message on IG and I can share realtor info :)
Can you make a video on investing
Great video and I like how your shirt matches your eyes!
Thanks :)
Michael...say I also use the rental myself a few times out of the year. Could I label this as a secondary home or do I still have to label it as a rental property
You should be able to get a secondary home loan in that situation. I suggest speaking with a few lenders
Thank you for this video! What are your thoughts and experiences, if any, on using rental properties such as apartments as an air bnb?
I have yet to do Airbnb with an apartment, but there are many people who do this. Many of those folks do rental arbitrage, which is a really awesome strategy to get started with little to no money! You would just have to make sure the property manager, owner, HOA, apartment complex, etc are aware and will allow you to operate it as a short term rental.
@@melefante6 I see, thanks for the helpful insight! Looking forward to more videos on your channel :)
@@rachelpark1197 thank you!
Thanks for all this great information. One major concern I have before getting into short term rentals is city zoning and permit rules. How do you ensure that before you buy a property the city will allow a short term rental? Is it possible for the city to change the zoning at any time and disallow renters, thereby ruining your business? I don't like the idea of not having some control or assurances. I do understand that if it did happen, you're not out 100% since you still own the property, but you could get upside down pretty quickly unless you were able to unload the property.
Check the rules and regulations - can either find online on the city or county website and zoning rules, or call the zoning department and they can tell you the rules and if a specific address qualifies for an overnight rental. In Nashville they have changed the rules every once in a while. Mainly to take Airbnb’s out of residential areas. But theyve grandfathered in the prior permits for those areas. I imagine that’s what they’ll do going forward as well. Best to work with a realtor who understands the local rules and regulations so they can find properties that qualify for you :)
@@melefante6 Awesome, thanks. I'm glad to hear most municipalities will grandfather if zoning is changed. Thanks for the reply and for your videos.
I'm very interested in investing in real estate, but currently have no money so I'm working on saving to start in the future. Your videos offer a lot of insight. Thanks brother.
Thank you for the positive feedback. Keep grinding and stay true to your goals!
Have you looked into house hacking? Great way to get started and eliminate what is most people's largest monthly expense - rent/mortgage.
So before buying a property you recommend we go through all of these expenses first ?
Yes, I recommend budgeting for all the potential expenses for the property as well as a ball park average nightly rate and estimated occupancy rate for the area. That way, you'll have a good understanding of the potential cash way and what the overall investment will look like.
@@melefante6 thank you :)
Love your channel, keep it up! Don't listen to the haters! Would it be possible to download your spreadsheet somewhere? Would love to have it :)
Thank you so much for the positive feedback! Send me a message on instagram or facebook
@@melefante6 done!
What if you can buy cash so you don’t have that overhead? We got money from an estate sale and looking to take that and invest in Airbnb..
Up to you if you want to leverage or not. I would say look harder into how many you can buy using loans and the total cash flow and ROI vs buying one cash
@@melefante6 thx for the response.. when you say leverage? What do you mean? Sorry super new at this! we’re super serious about financial freedom but also don’t want to get in over our heads with loans God for bid it went belly up. Obviously that’s not the intention. Going to be using all your advice to hone in on a property.. and go from there. Just Trying to decide what’s the best course of action with the cash situation.. if it were you and you had the cash you’d still take a loan?
When you bought your first property, how long did it take you to start making some profit?.... to recoop your costs from buying your property.
We started making a profit the first month we listed on Airbnb! :)
Have you created an LLC or anything for protection?
We have umbrella insurance policy that is specific for short term rentals that has liability coverage. We plan to move our properties into individual LLCs soon though to make sure our assets are segmented from one another. Great question!
question! I've viewed your tiktoks, and see there's an excel document to help you quickly analyze the profitability of a potential Airbnb. I have yet to see the link, and am curious if you would provide here? I'd love to take a look at your forms, tools etc. Looking forward to it. Thanks, Steve
Hey Steve! Thanks for the comment. You can find access to my spreadsheets and other resources here: stanwith.me/melefante6
Very Helpful information. I had a question about the real state agent. If I'm in small city, not high in tourism. Could I still talk to a local Real state agent so they would help me find a property outside of my city or outside my state?
You could but you’d likely be better offer networking online and finding local agents in the market you’re looking to invest in, as they will know the area well
@@melefante6 Sounds good,Thank you! Also, to start investing in short term rental is there an age requirement, like 18+ or 21+? I am 19 turning 20 in a few months.
@@andyramirez9349 you need to be 18 to get a home loan. And 18 to be a host on Airbnb :)
When doing your research, what occupancy rates do you strive for?
I look mostly at cash on cash and total return on investment. So in some cases we may be able to charge more per night but occupancy may only be 50%. Other times you may charge less but be much higher occupancy. So overall I'd say look at the total projected revenue. A good rule of thumb for occupancy is 65%+ if I had to out a number on it
@@melefante6 Thank you! I am looking into an area where the neighborhood is getting revitalized so occupancy is pretty low as of right now (40-50%). Do you ever base your research on neighborhood potential or do you mainly focus in areas where the area is already developed / renovated?
@@crispykramer17 if it is a gentrified area and appreciation is on the up it could be a good long term investment. Have you done rentalizer on airdna for a good baseline forecast?
@@melefante6 I have done rentalizer. It seems a bit misleading to me...for example if my filter is 2bed 2bath...occupancy projects 60% but if I put 3bed 2bath it drops to 39%? I would expect the occupancy to increase if the house can accommodate more guests? I'm still very new to this but i'm happy to send you the property details to hear your thoughts!
@@crispykramer17 My guess is that in that area there is a greater demand for 2 BR vs 3BR? How do the numbers change if you change how many people you can accommodate vs how many bedrooms?
Are you using Airdna for annul tenting forecasts?
I use Airdna as a baseline. It's good to get a pulse on what the market is doing on average in the are and we look for a place that we can exceed those numbers
Hey Michael, great video how long did it take to break even on your first and then consecutive properties
Depends on the investment. I focus more on the CoC return numbers. We aim for 25% plus for all our properties. The payback period in the form of cash flows is expected to be 2-3 years. In some cases perhaps less but depends on the loan and other investment details
@@melefante6 Well I was looking strictly into rental arbitrage. Let’s say i spent 10k leasing plus another 5k furnishing. What can I expect to have in terms of occupancy rate for the first month? I’m sure it’s not automatic and takes time. But best case scenario im guessing with an average 50% occupancy rate it should be 7-8 months?
@@MunibAslam what location? Each market is different and also size of the property. And time of year if there is a busy or slow season. Once you list you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting bookings especially if you do Airbnb new listing discount (usually I’ll do 20% off for the first three bookings) and that will jump you up in Airbnb search. I would say go for a little lower average daily rate and higher occupancy for the first few months to establish good reviews and demand and then creep the price up to a more competitive level
@@melefante6 well i’m in toronto and airbnb just got banned here so that sucks. But I travel a lot for work so I’m looking into setting airbnbs in different parts of the world. I also run my own marketing agency so I plan to have direct bookings. From your experience with your first property , whats the average?
Also do you offer consulting calls? I’m looking to get started as the lockdowns and travel industry reopens
@@MunibAslam I do offer consulting calls. You can schedule one through Instagram DM me @melefante6 I’d say look at AirDNA for data for occupancy and ADR for each market that’ll be the best starting point and then review other Airbnb’s in the area. Each one of our properties is different. But during normal travel times in Nashville occupancy around 60% to 70% on the higher end. In Gatlinburg anywhere from 60-75% occupancy depending on size of house and how well you differ from competition.
Thank you for your video, I live near Boone, nc and I have always wanted to get a rental property going up there 👆
Love Boone! You should look into it. I bet you would do very well in that area or any area in the NC mountains
Hi :)
😉