Hello, my name is Rich and my wife is Katie…we have two small children and vacation a lot. We love going to Hawaii and once in a while Disneyworld.
We live in So Cal and make a lot of short weekend trips to Lake Havasu City Arizona where we always rent homes to stay in instead of hotels.
With all of that said, we are looking into purchasing a vacation home for us in Lake Havasu and will be renting it out to short term renters when we are not using it (probably 80% of the time)
Since we have rented at least 25 homes there over the years, we know what we like and what we dont like so we feel like we will be great hosts for our renters. They will be able to rent the entire property.
We will be heading up there this weekend to look at about 15-20 prospective homes and would love some advice from the seasoned hosts on what makes a good investment property.
Thanks in advance
Rich
- It helps if the property is already a STR or is not near neighbors. You may find some neighbors will complain about STR.
- Make sure you can find a good property management company or property manager.
- Lots of space.
Thank you…
So you still need a property manager if you are doing this yourself through Airbnb?
Lots of space…I agree
The majority of hosts here do not have “investment properties.” We rent parts of our homes or all of our home, but it’s our home. Some investors may pop-up, though.
No, you only need a property manager if you won’t be managing it yourself.
sorry for that…I should have chosen my words more carefully
not really an investment property for us. We are only trying to offset the costs of a vacation home by doing the STR route.
Thanks
Rich
I will try it myself at first and see if it becomes to time consuming.
I do have some great friends that live there full time so they can respond quickly to the property if need be.
We live about 3.5 hours from there
Rich
Not sure there is much of a difference.
Don’t forget that you’ll either need someone to check guests in/out or a process for self check in/out. Personally, we have a HomeKit connected deadbolt on the front door that allows us to change door codes remotely (no need to give guest keys that can be lost) and a Ring video doorbell. The video doorbell helps if someone has trouble operating the lock (which you’ll need to be sure always has enough battery power. The lock and the doorbell.), and lets you make sure they’re not checking in with more guests than what they booked for.
Also, you’ll need someone you really trust to clean the listing between bookings. If they don’t clean everything properly, you could be in for some bad reviews.
Thank you sirvin…this is helpful
I planned on a smart deadbolt with an alarm system to change pin codes and also check thermostat levels remotely.
Love the idea of the ring doorbell and I wanted to get a few exterior cameras but not sure if this would be bordering on invasion of privacy.
Cleaning and handyman stuff is the unknown for us right now. If someone calls in the middle of the night with clogged toilet or broken wash machine, id love to be able to make one call to someone I trust.
I will be calling people this week.
Rich
It’s not as long as you don’t put any cameras in any private areas (if you’re listing the entire place, then that would be the entire inside is off limits for cameras), and you need to put in your listing that you have cameras and where.
Hmmm. I’m not so sure about that personally. Maybe other hosts have more experience with this, but that seems like you’re asking for trouble because I can almost guarantee that guests will forget to input the alarm code to disarm the system on a regular basis.
In my experience there is a huge difference between hosts sharing the homes they live in and investors buying properties to be managed by third parties. It is reflected in the space and in the communications.
Definitely agree! My experience with property management company hosted listings has not been good.
This would really be there mostly to monitor the property when no one was in it…so during the guests visits I could turn it off remotely and leave it off until check out. But this would also help monitor against floods with a moisture meter in the garage and fire with smoke/heat/freeze detector.
But again, I am new to this world so I will take all advice given.
Thanks again
Sounds reasonable. (Love your username by the way 
)
Did anyone mention he should have a co host? Havana is a party area right? You should have cameras on the exterior and someone local who can help with issues. You can’t do this at all without reliable, available cleaners.
Yeah…Aaron is my last name so I have been called this now ever since that skit came out.
You done messed up A-A-Ron is pretty common to hear around my friends!
yes Havasu is a party spot for sure…that is a huge concern for us right now as well.
But I love the fact that you can leave reviews of the renters so we can hopefully make informed judgements prior to renting.
reliable cleaners seems to be a common theme here so I will focus on that.
does anyone here have a STR in Havasu now?
It’s not an invasion of privacy. Outside is considered “in plain view,” Get cameras outside or be sorry sooner or later. If they know you aren’t there, are doing self check in and there are no cameras they will book for 6, bring 10, wreck your place then delete their account.
Also, read everything you can on this forum. You are not the first person coming here for newbie advice so there is a lot of ground covered already. Well worth the price of admission.
with a name like konacoconutz…can I assume you’re from Hawaii or have a STR in Hawaii?
we would love to get a property there too if this works out.