REI Mid-Term Rental Presentation

I don't see it either.

Oh, now there you go. Now it's going.

Okay, there it went. You're good, you're good. Here we are.

Okay, uh, we're still gonna— okay, we're getting about 6:03. We have more joining. We have about 30 participants. Um, I am the co-admin of a couple different Facebook groups. The first one is Free California. It's a group that I host with Laura Lee Lucas, and, um, this is part of our education series called Midterm Rental Mondays. We're going to actually have 3 Mondays this month where we talk about midterm rentals and this strategy so that we can keep them all in an archive. And then if you need them, you can go back, right? So we're really going to tackle everything at one time. Next month we're going to move on and we're going to move on. We're going to do like a Design December where we bring in a bunch of people that talk about design and where to get products and how to get products and what to order, what they've used, all these other things for design ideas so that you can again have it in a series. So I will introduce our speaker tonight in a minute. But I did want to say that next Monday we added another to the lineup. It is a lovely woman named Roya. She is a firefighter in California. So if you can join and sort of support that, I mean, that's cool as hell. And she's going to talk to us about midterm rentals. But really what she has done is she focuses on corporations and insurance companies that sort of pay a little bit more. So she's gonna talk about that strategy and then also be open for Q&A. And then on September 25th, we're gonna do a Q&A panel of all sorts of women that have midterm rentals in all different sort of stages of their rental. Some that have a few, some that just started, and they're gonna talk about how they got started, what they look for, and sort of the process. It's gonna be pretty short and the rest is just gonna be Q&A for these ladies. You know, why'd you pick that market? What drew you to it, any of those kind of questions. So that will be our— all of our Mondays in September, and then we move on to October, and that education will be out soon. I also am an admin for the Tennessee and North Georgia group, and I know there's a few Tennessee ladies on here. And then we also opened it up, um, to, uh, some other Facebook groups too, so I'm not even sure who all we have, but Thank you for attending and we appreciate it. I'm going to kick it over to our guest tonight, who I will let you introduce yourself because you'll do a much better job. And we just want to thank you for coming. We're happy you're here. A lot of us have seen your name for a long time and we're thrilled to support you and also learn from you.

Well, thank you so much. It's like an honor to be here and I appreciate the opportunity and hopefully I can share some value here and encourage anyone that's interested in midterm rentals. So I'll do a little intro and then I'll kind of kick off the screen share. So just quickly, like, I'm actually, I'm in Portland, Oregon, and I'm originally from California. And growing up there, I'm from Mendocino, which is like a small town up north, very expensive, very destination. I was like, I just didn't think about real estate because it just seemed so unattainable, right? It was just like so expensive and fixers. So that was kind of, but I also on that note, I grew up with my, my mom and dad my dad always saying, like, back in the day you could buy like a $20K house in Marin, you know. So I had that, like, it— I always kind of heard that. So somehow it sunk in on some level that, you know, markets change. And so that— I think that influenced me somehow. So then anyway, I originally— my background is I was, um, I've been self-employed like an outside cat forever, right? Like, I've been self-employed. As someone put it, once you're an outside cat, it's like really hard to have a W-2. So, um, I am— so my background is I was like an independent designer back in the day, and like I built websites and branding, and then I got married and had kids. I needed to be a little more hands-off, so I, uh, had a creative agency with my husband, and that was great, really fun. Um, you know, a lot of work. It's kind of agency life. It's different than, you know, real estate life, but equally probably interesting and stressful. Um, And then as we were doing all of that, I think seeing the market that I'm in, like really appreciate, and I got started with, I moved here in 2005, I was recently single and I was like, oh my God, I can actually buy a house. And it was very kind of like, oh shit, I should do this. So I house hacked before that was really a term, had a roommate, right? Built equity and it was kind of leveraging equity on the side for quite a while to build our portfolio. Before I really knew what that was, I just thought, oh, there's equity, I should pull it and leverage it. But I, you know, so, and then I, the Facebook algorithm, like, got me, like, a lot of people, and I did a lot of courses. And, and then I kind of discovered, I think there's like a firehose of strategies. I've been a very longtime landlord. And by the way, I've been a landlord, and I was very kind of secretive about it, because I thought I would be judged or like, I don't know, egged or something, because Nobody really likes landlords, right? And I feel like I'm a good one. I really take care of my properties, but I was very private and I don't, we don't have a huge portfolio, but I just was a little shy about it just for anyone. I know now I'm like, I lead with it. If I'm going to fix a property, I'm out there talking about it and I really show what I'm doing. And so, but all that kind of leading into how I got into midterms, I was looking at properties trying to figure out how to make them, pencil and I started out with Airbnbs and I have a whole story I'll show in my deck, but they just were like a lot of turnover and a lot of sheets and a lot of soap and a lot of difficult guests. And so I kind of found this midterm and for me it's been the sweet spot. So that's kind of my backstory. So with that being said, and I also, you know, I do have a coaching program. I love working with students, but I also love to leave with a lot of value. So no obligation here. I'll mention that kind of, you know, weave it in. But really, I really want to be a resource for you guys, like hopefully inspire for you, and there'll be some Q&A at the end. That was a long intro, so I'm gonna dive in, get to the meat. So here we go. I'm going to screen share. It'll be a little messy for a minute, so just bear with me while I share my screen. So I'm going to share.

And while you do that, I'll just let you know I will monitor the chat, and— or I'll try to monitor the chat. I'll do my best. Sometimes I do good, sometimes I don't. But totally, got it. Get questions out, and I'll if it seems like there's a good question, but we will also have question and answer at the end.

Perfect. I'm like rewinding like a VHS tape. Sorry, I totally should have— okay, so here we go. Can everyone see the screen okay?

It looks good.

Okay, okay, perfect. Okay, so, um, you know, I— full disclosure, I know sometimes you go to these things and they're like, there's a— I'm not trying to sell it, just— but I do have a course, and if it's the right fit, I'm happy to talk about that. So just I like to be really upfront about that. So essentially it's, you know, how to fully— I teach students how to fully book them or anyone. These are tips that anyone can run with, right? But I've definitely made a lot of mistakes and figured things out and people started asking me about like, how do you do it? So I coach students how to fully book their, you know, essentially their first midterm rental to up to 2x your cash flow, right? That's kind of a bold statement. Depends on the market. But essentially, like, as investors, we're looking for opportunity, right? And, you know, and I also, I feel like it genuinely provides a service. So there's more to it than just cash flow. But that's kind of the general thing, like why we're all doing this, right, to build wealth and have some freedom. So, um, so yeah, again, it's for real estate investors. And I really like to focus on women because I feel like it's a very male-dominated industry. And I really believe in empowering women. So I, you know, what I love about midterms is you can actually, you know, nothing is really passive in this industry. But, you know, on the scale of rentals, you know, midterm is a lot more passive than short-term rentals like STR, Airbnb. So, you know, I say passive with like really big Air quotes. So, you know, a lot of times as investors, you want to do extra cash flow, you know, over long-term rentals. And yes, with that comes more work. I'm not saying it's easier, but there's ways to really systematize it and make it easier. So that's kind of what I want to show you guys, some tips and tricks. So I've kind of a step-by-step guide I'm going to go over. The meat of this is really like a lot of the mistakes that I made and how not to make them. So that's really most of what this presentation is. And you know, I do, and I give a lot of these away. Like, I have furnishing lists and, you know, mattress, because I think when you're starting, you're just like, it's a lot. When you think about like an empty house and furnishing it, like, it took me probably 3 months to figure out a smart lock because it wasn't urgent, but it's just those little things that take up time. So I've dialed in kind of my go-to items. Anyway, this, and this is also, I'm repurposing this, so it's a little, some of the stuff's a little psychology salesy, so just ignore that. You know, if anyone is a good fit, I do have this amenity for the top 10, top 10 amenities for midterm rentals. But that's, you know, down the road and kind of like I see the screen is covering this. So the idea here is kind of like, you know, do you want to take it, be able to take a vacation and maximize your cash flow and have that kind of life? Right. So that's kind of where this picture comes in. So this is kind of a silly quiz. You want to— when you're doing vacation, this goes to the first person who, you know, has successfully launched and fully booked their first midterm rental with, I think, great or quality guests. And I think that's another just point. You are really attracting high-quality guests with the midterm space. So there's kind of a couple archetypes here. You know, this is how I was. Season archetype, you kind of have analysis paralysis. You're not sure if your rental property will make a good midterm rental. And this is to me, I've totally been there. You know, where to start furnishing it, you know, what style should you make it? Fancy? Is it luxury? There's just like so many things that go into the pot, right? When you're trying to figure that out, and it gets really overwhelming. Should I allow pets? What if they pee on the carpet? Like all the things, right? What if something breaks? So I've totally been there. And then there's like, you know, Joanna, she has her first midterm furnished book within a month. She's making really good cash flow. She has like systems in place so that the idea is that you're going from the kind of stressed out one to like having this down. And you guys don't need me for this, but this is just kind of where, you know, what I'm kind of helping people get to or teaching people on. So stressed out, you know, Susan, or relaxed, Joe and I are kind of the archetypes. And I think everyone, when you're finding a different strategy, you're always going to be kind of like trying to find your footing and you just dive into it and you figure it out, right? That's part of being an entrepreneur in this space, right? You just figure it out. So I'm Shona. I kind of gave you my intro, so I won't bore you with that again. You know, my backstory really, like I mentioned, is I had a couple Airbnbs and I was tired of the constant turnover. I mean, it was like every 2 nights, like I had a cleaner, I had a co-host, but we're always like running out of wine or something, or some guests would have an ant. I mean, it was just like, it just takes a lot of mindshare and you're worrying about reviews. And I never got a bad review. Like I even had a plus Airbnb listing. So it wasn't that I was getting reviews, it was It's always just like you're on eggshells. If some guest maybe doesn't let you know they're missing something and then they write you a not so great review, it just really affects how you're placed. And it just, it's kind of stress— it's a little bit stressful. So you're just constantly turning over. And again, my, my Airbnbs, I don't know if I mentioned this, they're not— they were not in destination places. They're more like in an urban place. I couldn't really charge a premium nightly rate to kind of, you know, if you're charging a killer nightly rate, like Airbnb STR is the way to go. But mine weren't that. So that's just kind of my backstory. Story. So with all that, I kind of developed this playbook where I teach students to do all that stuff. So it's called the Midterm Rental Essentials Method. And I really focus on, you know, my main goal with this is taking someone that has a property, you know, they have it, they own the property or they maybe are converting it from long-term to really hit the ground running, get it. You know, I teach people and I can tell you guys, you know, market it right away before you even have furnishings. Don't wait till everything's perfect. Then you're like losing 2 months of rent. You have to get it out there. You have to just take that action. So that's really what I love to help people do is do that. So this just allowed me to kind of really focus on it so I could have, you know, more time and maximize my cash flow without all that constant, you know, high maintenance guests and turnover. So I went from Susan to Joanna. So I'm going to kind of break it all down for you. I mean, I made a lot of mistakes. I think, you know, it's like you do your first flip and that's a rite of passage, right? My first MTR was definitely a learning curve and I figured a lot of things out. And, you know, my last MTR, I got it furnished, you know, in a week, right? So I think I've learned a lot along the way, and I'd love to share that. So I'm going to go over some kind of high-level mistakes, and hopefully this will be helpful for you guys. I don't know where you all are in the process, but we can certainly get to Q&A. But, um, so I think this— maybe it's obvious, but what I see people is people are going to come, like, you take kind of crappy iPhone pictures you don't think about your copy and you just put it out there and people are going to come swarming. But if that's, that's not the case, like marketing is like in any business, right? So, you know, that old adage, super cheesy, a picture is worth a thousand words. You think you're going to save money, just, you know, we all have these super nice smartphones, you know, take, you know, they're going to put a filter on it. Um, but you really, you have to stand out in the scroll. And yes, it's less competitive than Airbnb, but as markets change and people with Airbnbs are getting into the space, they're going to have nicer places. So it's getting more competitive. So you, you have to stand out. So these are some examples. I hope no one in this group— these pictures are from them. Sorry, I just forwarded, but I'm just— these are actually real examples. Like, you know, clear the clutter, you know, and, you know, a real estate photographer is what I recommend. It's just like, who wants to stay here, right? It doesn't look inviting and there's just stuff all over the place. So you just, and this is kind of an extreme example, right? But this doesn't look appealing. I think, yeah, I mean, would you want to stay here, right? Like, I probably wouldn't. I'd probably keep scrolling. Or would you want to stay here, right? This is nice and light and airy, and it just feels kind of welcoming. Like, it has a little bit of style, but it's not cluttery. So I just wanted to show examples of like professional photos versus kind of DIY. You know, and there are stats that, you know, professional photos cost only about $250 and you're going to definitely earn that back with like 20% higher earnings. Like, so that investment will pay dividends like 100%. So that's a mistake I see a lot of times. I think it makes sense because we all have phones, but just don't skimp on that. That's my biggest tip. Um, you know, hire a photographer. Um, I always coach to like, you know, put your stuff on Airbnb and they will even pair you with a photographer. Locally, and they have a very kind of clear, specific style guide. So it's really nice and light and airy, and they're really particular, and that's usually pretty high-quality photos. So you're not like hunting around for your own photographer. I'm sure most of you know someone, but that's just, you know, just hire a photographer and don't try— don't get your listing up without really good photos. Um, so mistake number 2, this is the one I made, totally guilty. Um, trying to save money by shopping locally for furnishings. You know, you think you'll be hunting around, you're gonna go to a marketplace and you'll stop at Goodwill or I'll stop at an estate sale and I'm just kind of like, I have this pile in my garage that's like growing. I'm like, oh no, that pile of stuff there, it's from my rental. And it just, it's kind of fun, but after a while you go to Goodwill and you leave with one cup and you're like, it's not really worth my time. So, you know, you find a couch on Facebook, you go back and forth on messaging and then you rent a van, you pick it up, maybe it has a stain stain on it, but you already like did this whole thing. So it's just, it's kind of fun. I got to mention Goodwill, right? But it just takes a lot of time. But there is a better way versus that. So I think we all do shopping online, but I just think in this case we're trying to save money. So, you know, just be really strategic. Make a list, like think of your bedroom, like you need a mattress, not even a mattress cover, like a mattress encasement, a cover, the sheets, the pillows, the like pillow covers. All of those little things, make a list. And, you know, I have in my course, I have like a checklist, but just think of everything and order what you can online because it just saves so much time. And I've done it both ways. I mean, you're basically order, furnishing, assembling, and decorating. And it's a lot of like unpacking boxes. You know, we all know that little stupid tool from IKEA, right? Putting a bookshelf together. But, you know, it depends on what your goal is. Time or money, but I just think it's natural to want to kind of collect stuff. But I just say, you can just do it, make your budget, order online, it'll save you a ton of time. And you can also furnish quickly, like I can get a place furnished really fast if I order ahead of time. So that's just a tip. You know, and again, I think this all comes down to being really efficient. So, you know, this is kind of showing if you're taking an extra month to furnish it, you're losing a month of rent versus being really efficient, having a list, being strategic, you're actually going to make that back in no time. So just definitely, you know, just be smart and be fast. About getting your furnishing set up. Again, just, yeah, be efficient, right? And it depends, like maybe you have time or maybe you're— if you have a couple months, then by all means, like you can start gathering. But if you, if you are kind of on a timeline and really want to get off the ground, then I recommend buying it. So this is the third mistake, and I think this kind of— my hat on this is my— I've been a longtime landlord and I'm in a very It's a very tenant-friendly place. A lot of people won't even have rentals where I'm at because it's, it's just, they just think we're, you know, it's just very tenant-forward. So I'm a real stickler on having the right paperwork in place. And I get a lot of questions like, what lease do I use? Where do I advertise? How do I collect rent? How do I screen tenants? Do I charge a deposit? And it's kind of like a lot, right? And I come out, I come at this from like a very long-term perspective. Like I had my systems in place for long-term tenants. And then I just kind of moved those over to the midterm strategy. So I really think this is important. So yeah, you know, I think a lot of times people think just collect rent via Venmo and use a generic lease. Like I even had someone tell me they use ChatGPT to do a lease and I'm like, please don't do that. Landlord-tenant law is very specific down to the county you're in. So just don't— and I used to photocopy leases back in the day, but just I have some tips, but don't do that, please. Go find your landlord association, follow the law. And again, with midterms, you're not dealing with this, but you just want to be above board. So I think, you know, having clear screening criteria, you need to think like a bank, right? You're kind of inherently underwriting potential tenants, right? Do they have pay stubs? What is their income? Can they afford it comfortably? And I think there's a perception with midterms that, yes, if they're coming from Airbnb, they are often highly vetted. They, you don't need to do all that, but I still do that because they're still staying in my property and things can still go wrong. So I'm very thorough in my process. And then, you know, people I think are worried about what if the toilet leaks? Oh yeah, I was reading a question. Yeah, so I think this is a classic, right? I've probably had a toilet leak maybe once or twice. It was never at 2 in the morning, right? So it's just, that's the classic, like, oh my God, what do I do? But there's, you know, if you have the right systems and tools in place, it's just like, hey, you call your person and they fix it and they send you a bill. Like, so it's, it's not as scary as I think if you have the right systems in place. So yeah, I kind of covered this. I think, you know, you attract— and I also think you attract really high quality guests that will take care of your property and they'll be reasonable. And also like MTR versus STR, if something breaks on an MTR, like you got to get there right away. Like I had a fridge break and I was at Costco buying like a small fridge to get in there. And with the long term, you're I got my guy coming over, but there's some flexibility. With short-term, you got to get on it. There's no leeway for repairs. So just a tip on that. So this is kind of the flow of the process. So you want to get your— there's lots of software. I have a lot of options and you can Google it, right? There's a ton of options and some are more kind of high-level enterprise level and some are more like you just have a few properties. You know, but you basically collect your application, you collect your rent, you want software. These are like the main things that you want your software to do, which most of them do, right? I mean, this is pretty basic. But I just say, don't— please don't use like Venmo, use some kind of a system. It just helps with accounting. It makes you look more professional. And then you're kind of building a system if you want to have more. So I'm a big believer in screening tenants, verifying employment. And in this space, you know, oftentimes people book fairly last minute because they got a contract or they just got to town. So you want to do this as quickly as you can. And then again, I kind of stress this, I'm a little neurotic about it. I think because my best friend's an attorney, probably, but just use local landlord-tenant-specific leases. Make sure you're doing all your disclosures because you are technically in that landlord-tenant space. You know, you're not— Airbnb is not covering you unless you get a booking from Airbnb, but essentially you are in that kind of space. And then management, automate your rent collections, your maintenance tickets, your communication. I have like a pretty enterprise-level one. I can text my tenants, they can open maintenance tickets. It just shows professionalism and there's certain functionality that I just like about it. So I really try and keep it in a good system. And then move in and out, it's you want a welcome letter, move-in checklist, checkout checklist. It's kind of like you have to think they're moving in that you need to have very clear house notes and stuff. So this is kind of the overview of that. Um, but anyway, yeah, just to reiterate, you know, if you have a network of subs like a plumber, an electrician, a handyman, they're going to cover most of your things. So you really want to build that network of subs. You want to pay them right away, like immediately. Here's your Venmo, right? You just— that's what keeps them happy. Be easy to work with if they have to reschedule. Be really understanding because they're doing their best and they don't know how long the last job was going to take them. So I think that's really important. Like, I've been working with the same subs forever, and they know, like, we have a good relationship, and I'm always— if they can't make it, I'm like, I'm not going to get mad at them because they didn't show up between that certain window, right? So it's really important to treat them well and be respectful. Um, yeah, I just have a trusted team, and like, I don't, I don't show up for a fix. Like, if the toilet's broken, I don't really add any value to that. I'm like, not like, hey, why don't you try that thing? Here's this wrench. So I think there's this perception that we need to fix things ourselves, but you do not need to, and you just have— need to have a good team, and you can always ask around for So yeah, I think it's just important to have systems in place, have your subs in place, and it takes a little bit of work, but I think it's really doable to kind of self-manage with that team in place. So anyway, this is my salesy part. So, you know, if you want to learn how to do this, you don't need me, but I definitely, I think I can kind of jumpstart people if they need that extra, just having that person that guides them through it. So, you know, I think some markets, again, you could totally up to 2x your cash flow. We are in very expensive markets. I think with the insurance claims in California, you probably can do this. The numbers are closer to STR. I love insurance claims, but they are kind of last minute too, and you need to do a lot of networking. So that's just, you know, food for thought. So anyway, and this is kind of a little bit about my course. If you guys are okay with me sharing it, I'll just do a quick kind of overview, if that's all right. So I kind of put on my hat, like, how do I structure it? So there's planning, building, and launching. It's kind of 3 parts, and I'll kind of break these down. So the planning is kind of the furnishing and setup essentials. You know, I think it's really important to be— to plan and be strategic because you don't want to wait. Time is really money in this. Like, you need to get a tenant in there. If you're going to buy and hold, you want cash flow, right? So it's really important to be efficient. So these are kind of the 4 pillars in the thing. You know, you want to do your market research, know who your guest avatar is, how to furnish it, and kind of what design style you're going for. So market research, you know, is your place— this is my biggest question, right? Like, is there demand? I went into midterms, I didn't— I mean, now I do that, but I had— I kind of did enough research to know when I had long terms, and I have a way of testing the market. So, but it's definitely, you know, I think as investors, as entrepreneurs, running your numbers, running all your numbers, not assuming it's going to kill it in midterm, right? You— I think you always have to be conservative with that. Like, what would long term be? Could it be an STR, right? Can you get a, you know, a permit for that? So I think it's really important to do research. And then, you know, along with that, like, who are you renting to? I think we all think of traveling nurses, right? They're here on a 3-month contract. They're great guests, right? They keep to themselves. They're here to work. Smaller spaces are great for that. Like, I have a couple, like, smaller 1/1s under 400 square feet that's furnished. Like, they don't need a lot of space. They like privacy. They like safety, well-lit areas. Nice neighborhoods, right? Then there's also kind of this digital nomads trend where, you know, I think COVID opened up this whole kind of remote work thing. So a lot of times people just like, I want to stay there for 3 months and check out, like in my case, Portland, right? So there's that. And these are very broad buckets, right? I'm not saying these are the only avatars. And then there's kind of the insurance claims for a family, like maybe they had a pipe burst and their insurance company is going to put them up in housing. And of course, you know, insurance has very deep pockets. So that is the most lucrative out of all of these, it's also the most hard to predict. And from a property size, it's kind of going from smallest to biggest, right? Because a family wants a comparable house. They want the amenities they had in their house because the insurance company is kind of responsible for putting them in a comparable property. So, you know, you can make great money, you can get lucky, but I wouldn't just limit yourself to any one of these, right? You just want to be open to all things. But when you're looking at a property, that's kind of how you analyze what would make a good midterm. And then it has to be fairly urban, right? And then the third step is furnish it, right? Like, go room by room. I am, I kind of teach like it has to be functional and nice and stylish, but it's not luxury, right? It's not like a tricked-out kitchen with the fancy appliances. Like, people are not there for vacation. They're there to work, right? They're going to get up and go to work and make a meal, right? So you do not have to go crazy on the furnishing. And then design, like, I, I personally love design. I, you know, that's kind of the sweet spot for me. I am. So you kind of, you know, either you kind of have that love, if you do, like, go for it. But I think if you don't like design, like, hire a friend or get some help because I think you can do a lot with not that much, but you really want, it's an important part of to make, to really maximize your cash flow and stand out. So, I mean, I personally love that part. It's like a fun challenge for me. And I've kind of developed that. Like, I wasn't, I never considered myself like an interior designer or anything, but I think I'm a creative at heart. So this is a way to express that. So these are just some examples. And this is kind of like, this originally was like our office, so it's kind of quirky, you know, and nothing like, look, this is old, an old fire, but it has some quirkiness and people like that, right? So if you have a certain style, like don't, don't be afraid to, I guess, put a little bit of personality into it within reason, right? Like you don't want to have family pictures, but I think just showing a little bit of character is nice. This is This is actually a flip, but yeah, I mean, like bedroom, just think throw pillows, some like this is Target artwork, Target lights. Like it's not fancy, but it looks inviting, right? It looks clean and comfortable. That's kind of what you're going for. These are just, you know, some testimonials. I won't like stay on these too long, but just how I've helped people, resources and documents and link in the furnishing list. I think, because again, it can be very overwhelming later. Like you go to Amazon, you type in Smart Lock, you're just like there's 30 options. Everyone has a different review and you didn't have analysis paralysis. So at least I did. And then the other part of my system is this, you know, build— building your management systems out. So like without systems in place, it's really overwhelming and it can be hard to manage. I'm a big fan of self-managing. Like I think it's really doable. You save, you know, you can save like 10 to 20%, which oftentimes is your profit margin. So that's what I teach. So this is essentially, you know, how to self-manage kind of the lifecycle, right? You advertise, you screen, you lease, you onboard, and you manage. That's kind of like very big picture how this works. You know, advertising, I think that's one of the biggest questions I get. Where do you advertise, right? It can be very overwhelming. I definitely have an opinion on that. You know, I think the bigger ones, you know, everyone— I went to— yeah, like, you know, Airbnb, Furnished Finder. And again, there's— it depends on who you're kind of going for, but I'd say, you know, choose 3 of them, like Zillow. Choose 3, start there. And I also like to get a lot of eyeballs, so I will just put it as many places I can think of. And I have all those sites listed, but I definitely— that's kind of my approach to get, to get really booked quickly. And then again, I mentioned this, use an online application. You want to verify employment. You want to see a pay stub or an offer letter, background and credit checks. And yes, nurses are highly vetted. I— that's great, but I'm still the bank. I want to make sure that these people have good credit. You know, and I will work with individuals that sometimes someone sold a house, they're in between jobs, but they have like a decent amount in savings, right? So I'm not like, within reason, but I do have pretty strict criteria. Again, this is not legal advice, right? Follow all fair housing laws, use state-specific leases to make sure in compliance. I also think being really clear and onboarding, like, I always get on the phone and say, hey, like, thank you so much for your interest. You know, do you have any questions? Here's the property. Like, it's a duplex. This is the basement. Unit, you know, it's really nice and bright, but there's no parking. Or here is all the quirks of the property, because I just don't want there to be any surprises. I'm a big fan of being really transparent, having very clear check-in instructions. You know, when is garbage day? Because you'd be surprised about the things about garbage with the duplex, like who took the garbage out. I'm like, in Portland, we're every other week, which really sucks. So it's like, hey, don't miss that Friday garbage day, because otherwise you're sitting on it for a month. So it's Sounds silly, but overcommunicate. Like, I have like 5 pages of notes and I email that to the guests, they're printed out. And I honestly, you know, I'll get someone in there. I have smart locks, they check in. I oftentimes never meet them and I have such clear kind of instructions. And it's kind of like when you check into an Airbnb, you know, so I don't have to answer the same questions over and over again. So, you know, and I have templates for that. And then again, I think I've been kind of weaving this in. I think self-management is really doable. It's, you know, I think there's a lot of fear about being a landlord, but it's not that scary. And I can tell you guys, like, all the stories, I've got some pretty hairy ones, like really hairy ones. But you know what, in the grand scheme of things, I feel like if you have nice properties in A/B class neighborhoods, you really take care of things, you do the right thing, you like make little upgrades, you're gonna attract for the most part, really high-quality guests, and especially with midterm, right? Because they are there for like a short period of time. So again, just set up and streamline your systems, and I think you can keep more profit. And I also have heard a lot of stories of people not being happy with their management system, you know, their management companies, because no one's going to care about the property as much as you, right? No one's going to be as invested. No one's going to go the extra mile. So again, it comes down to like what your goals are. But if you have a couple, and I also think even managing your first one, then you kind of know what to do down the line if you want I want to build out more. There's a couple testimonials. So this is a neighbor actually, you know, helped him get his property listed and booked in 24 hours. So yeah, I think this can happen really quickly, right? So I think with some guidance, it really can save you time and money. And then the launch part, right? That's like the third piece of the puzzle here. And are we doing okay on time? Is that— are we okay? I feel like I'm talking a lot.

So you're doing good on time.

Okay, perfect. Perfect. So, you know, I love this Seth Godin quote, "In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible." So marketing, I think, is the blood of any business, right? So I think it's a really important piece. You know, you can have an amazing property, but if it's not marketed right, if your pictures aren't good, if you don't have systems in place, it can go unrented, right? So I think it's just marketing is super important. So this is kind of like the workflow for marketing. Right photography. I kind of really emphasize that, and again, I cannot stress that enough. I also— I'll give you guys some tips— I also actually do like virtual tours, and I actually host them myself. And then I do video tours because I don't like doing in-person showings. I just think oftentimes people are tired, not so much for the midterms, but I can just be like, hey, like, they might want to see it. And I usually say, look, I don't want to disturb the current tenants, but what I offer is a virtual tour. And it just takes away that like fear about maybe the pictures don't match. And usually like like 95% of the time I don't need to schedule, and I'm usually doing back to back, right? I don't have really any gaps in my bookings usually because I really want to optimize it. So I definitely— and you know, do that when you have an opening. Don't, don't try and do it like, oh, I have an open— just before you list it, do all that stuff, right? Get everything documented really well. Um, then advertise, right? Pick your sites, and then you move them in, you move them out. That's kind of the lifestyle of— and there's a lot more, there's a lot like of extra stuff that I kind of do to really make sure that I'm always booked and kind of some levers that I pull to hustle if I don't have a reservation. Um, yeah, so we covered photography, you know, really big ROI, a small investment. I would say go with a real estate photographer because they have the right lens, they understand lighting, and, you know, show up on that date. Just be over there. Think of like a stager, like go put all the stuff on the sink, under the sink. No one wants to see toilet paper or like paper towels. Just, just kind of think like clean up and you might have that in there when guests come, but you don't just show that in the pictures in my opinion, right? So just kind of be there and kind of make sure it's really kind of ready to go. And then advertise, you know, pick a couple platforms, you know, highlight your amenities, your property's amenities. Is it close to anything? Like I think people ask a lot, does it have to be close to a hospital? I'm like, no one really wants to wake up and roll out of bed and go to work at a hospital. So I think what attracts people is Again, nice safe neighborhoods, walkable, reasonably, you know, reasonably, a reasonable drive from wherever they're working or hospital. But a lot of times people are remote, so that's not really an issue. But I think, you know, highlight whatever you have, like, you know, fenced yards are great, washer dryer, high-speed internet, those kind of things. Make sure that's really clear. And then, you know, move your desk in. I always send self-check-in instructions, and I like to leave a little welcome gift. There's different opinions on that. Like, some people say don't leave food because of allergies or don't leave alcohol in case they have they're avoiding that. I just play my cards. I'm like, I like to leave some chocolate and wine and popcorn. If they don't want it, they can just not eat it. So that's my take on that. But I feel like it sets the tone. Like if there's any problems, you're just kind of like, hey, and oftentimes people are literally driving cross-country, right? They're landing at your place. They haven't been to the grocery store. They just kind of want to get in. I'm like, here's a little snack, right? Just to tide you over. And then move out, you know, communicate your move-out expectations. I actually just did a move-out, you know, I usually say like, hey, you can— the expectation is it's professionally cleaned. This is kind of unlike Airbnb. It's professionally cleaned and the carpets are clean. So I'll usually offer to take care of that and just take out of the deposit, right? Because I usually don't want to deal with that. But I'm, you know, I definitely let them know ahead of time what the expectations are. So anyway, these are kind of the steps that I teach to kind of, you know, get your place booked. Another kind of Testimonial here just about tips and tricks and recommendations. So yeah, you know, relatable, approachable, and creative. It's great to provide well-organized tips and tricks, materials, lists, and media recommendations to kind of jumpstart your midterm rental business. So I hope that you can take away that anyone can do this. You don't have to overanalyze, or you just kind of have to jump in and make some mistakes and figure it out, right? That's how I did this. And I know when I first started, I thought I was calling it a hybrid strategy, right? I didn't know that midterm wasn't really a common word. So I just kind of dove in headfirst and then figured it out. So, you know, I hope you guys can take this framework, you know, to your own rentals. Or I do offer, you know, I do offer coaching. You know, there's the worried investor or the cash flowing investor, right? We all want to be over here, I think, right? You know, so definitely I would really want to emphasize like just, you know, hustle, get your thing on the market. Don't wait for everything to be perfect because you really— it takes a while to get bookings. So I do have kind of a framework with instructions and, you know, if you need help with that, I'm here. If not, you know, hopefully I provided some value tonight. So I do have a course, The Midterm Rental Playbook. I'll just kind of go over what that covers and then we can open up for Q&A if like anything that I didn't kind of COVID So with the course, you get access to, you know, the Midterm Rental Essentials, not the coaching. And then there's a bonus and I'll break So the Midterm Rental Essentials method is, it's, it's hosted, it's very similar to other courses I think we've all done. There's like on-demand videos that are self-paced that are pretty detailed. There's a resource vault with like done-for-you templates where you can just download them, get started, you know, and recommended tools and software and all that stuff. So that's kind of the self-paced piece of it. And then there's coaching calls. So it's kind of that hands-on support. We meet weekly for about 3 months. You know, we can workshop anything. It could be a hot seat if you're like, okay, I just need help with this one thing, or I'm really stuck on like what lot to buy, or I have this quirky thing. Like, I think that's important to be able to talk to me. And I think having a coach helps you make decisions quicker and just move things along. Um, and there's also a private Facebook group, um, and students only just provides support and encouragement for anything. So we've got you on that. Um, And then, yeah, there's also just, you know, if you do join, I have this kind of download of the top amenities that most people are looking for when they're looking for midterm rentals. So kind of overall with the course, you get on-demand video training, a file vault with checklists and templates, the private Facebook community, and then you got the coaching calls. So, and then another kind of testimonial, just kind of breeze through these. But again, this is— and also kind of as a next step, if anyone's interested, to, you know, no pressure. I do what I do. I like to make sure that people are a good fit. So either I have a link to book a coaching call that just takes like 30 minutes. I'll give you some tips and see if you have any questions, if it's a good fit, right? It's really friendly. And my goal is to kind of, if you have a quick question, I can give you some strategies to help you and see if it's a good fit. That's kind of how you get started. Uh, there is a money-back guarantee if you start everything. So, um, so now it's kind of, you know, if you want to book a call, I can put it in the chat. And then you guys are welcome to do that. And I can just answer some questions. I'm going to stop sharing so I can see the comments, but yeah, I can read them off to you too. Okay, perfect.

All right. I wrote a bunch of questions too, but I'm going to start with the, with the chat. Okay.

Okay, perfect.

And I do want to say that coaching program and what you've put together is incredible. I've actually like, not secretly, but I've watched your journey the last several years and the amount of time and education and how far you've dove into this. To figure it all out and put this together is really commendable. It really is. And I appreciate you sharing some with us and the opportunity to work with you closer. So I wanted to say that. It's, it's all your content. Everything looks really great, and I've already heard from other people how fabulous it is and, and how much you've helped.

So, oh, thank you, girl.

You go, girl.

Thank you.

Uh, okay, I'm gonna start at the bottom and go up and start asking questions, and then, um, if you have a question you didn't type in or you don't hear it, raise your hand and we can go from there. Uh, how long does it normally take from start of advertising to first booking on average?

That's a really good question. And it, I mean, it's a hard one because people book really last minute, so it could take 30 days or you can get a booking in like 2 days. And especially with insurance, right? Like I have the last opening, I didn't have someone lined up and I haven't, it, it's, it can be really quick there. It's, it's hard. I, it's hard to say. It can be very, very quick, but I will say you have to be, comfortable with that kind of not having your next personal line of debt because you will bucket. And it just really depends. But I, again, with that being said, I, I didn't mention this tip. I'm going to share this tip. This is like my favorite secret sauce tip. I'm gonna let you guys in on. So I had the strategy where I, um, I'll get a proper— I've done this, I've gotten a property under contract. I'm like, I don't love my long-term numbers, I don't love this. It's kind of like— oh, I really developed this because like I had a basement unit that just the vibe was kind of funky, and I'm like, what if I went midterm? But then it was so kind of not great. I'm like, well, how do I test it? So what I did was I digitally staged it, and you can do this with AI like in seconds now. Put it out there as an unfurnished and a furnished and really test your market. And then when you get— if you find someone, I'll get a lease, I'll be like, okay, I'm gonna furnish it. So that's what I do. Like, I get it to market really as fast as I can to see if there's a market to test my price. And I'm very upfront about like, you know, this is part— this is not how it'll look, but I, you know, most people are fine with it. I've booked places digitally staged.

So yeah, that's a great tip, doing the digital stage to see and test the market a little bit. Um, do you have any tips on how to make sure the property is clean to your standards?

That's actually— that's funny. Yeah, I've got— so growing up we had vacation, it was like Airbnb before Airbnb, but I grew up like cleaning and making beds. And I, I have my cleaners, but I go in after, like, I'm local too, you know. I think if you're not local, like, I'm kind of neurotic. I like have to go over and fuss around. That's just how I am. I don't know, it's probably a control thing. But I think if you're not, here's some tips. Like, have very clear, like, here's the move out, I want you to dust the lamp, and like a checklist, right? And I think also taking— having pictures printed out because, like, the— I want the pillows like this. I don't— people will move stuff around and I'm like, I want my You know, so pictures, and then you could do like a FaceTime tour or something. But I think it comes down to documentation. And, you know, if you can't be local, maybe doing a FaceTime thing and like, did you check the shower curtain? Like down to the minutia of like, what isn't— I don't want my— I don't want things in the fridge. Like I want, I want it to hotel level. And that's how I run. So it depends on if you're remote or in person. And again, it's 3 to 4 turnovers a year, right? So if you have to pop over there, I'm like, I'm not doing this every 2 days, so it's not that big of a deal.

Yeah, I think there's a combination of people on here that would be local and then also, you know, invest out of state, which I know a lot of California ladies invest out of state. Um, okay, would you self-manage if out of state?

You know, I think it's totally doable. I haven't, and I always like to speak from experience, but I feel like with the software that we have and, you know, having like, if you have your core team in place, like your cleaner and your handyman are like the, the people, right? And they're— and so I think if you have those people that you trust and you have your subs, like, I think it's totally doable. And I think a lot of people do. I just, I haven't done it, but there's so many— and again, like, if something breaks, you're gonna get a— if it's local, you don't go fix it. You just, you text your plumber and be like, hey, the toilet's leaking. So I think it totally is. I think there's probably a few bumps, but yeah, it's totally doable.

Yeah. Um, I actually manage a long-term rental out of state, but midterm rental can be— that can be a lot of turnover and work. So like you said, a good housekeeper and handyman. And I also love what you said a minute ago about the pictures, like actually printing pictures of how it's supposed to be.

Yeah, you'd be surprised, things move around a lot. Like, why did that table go to the other room?

I move things around, like in an Airbnb or something.

Things around.

I'm gonna put this chair over here. I need more space here. It's for people.

Yeah.

Um, okay, and I have another question. What are your thoughts on mixed end use on multi-family units? What are your thoughts on mixed end use on multi-family units as a way to test the waters on a midterm rental in your area? Or is mixed use kind of a no-no for midterm rentals? Laura Lee, do you want to jump on and kind of explain that better than I just did?

Sorry, I I didn't say that very well. I know that you converted from long-term rental to midterm rental. I'm just wondering if it makes sense to do that in, let's say, a triplex where you already have tenants as long-term, but now you have a vacancy. Would that be a good time to test midterm on one of your units, or is that weird to have mixed tenant levels in there? I don't know how else to say that. Sorry. No, I totally got it. I did actually do that, I think. But what I will say is, I have a couple of duplexes where I'm like long-term midterm and I actually love it because it mitigates my turnover. And I have every year, I have, you know, I'm not worrying about turnover. So I personally love that. I will say I'm very upfront like, hey, this ADU has midterm guests that are coming and going. As long as you're upfront about it. And that's, so I think as long as you're clear about it and there's little things like who takes the garbage out? I'm like the long-term tenants take the garbage out. I've had good luck with it. Again, I think it comes down to communication and just being clear about it. And again, you're not, you're not running an Airbnb. If you're running an Airbnb next to a long-term, I think that would get kind of annoying. But it's people sometimes like I, if I get lucky, I get a 6-month contract, right? That's like my dream. Or I've had a year contract, right? Actually. So I think it's setting expectations and you're, you know, I think it's, I think it's fine. I kind of like that because then you're really maximizing without, you know, not all of them being on the midterm. So I did that and I think it's okay.

Yeah, that question makes sense now to me, Loralee. That's a good question. Um, do you ever use your midterm rentals and also just host them for Airbnb, like kind of short-term rentals slash if it books midterm, great, but if not, I'm going to open it up to short-term?

Yeah, that's kind of a hybrid strategy, and I think it depends on your market, right? If you're in like a destination area, like by all means, like summer months, you're probably going to going to kill it, right? So 100% do that. I personally am not in destination area, but I definitely would coach someone like, hey, you know, manage your calendar, right? Like don't accept like a 2-night stay in the middle of winter and that's going to kill your chances of a midterm. So I think it's a little more calendar management, but I think that's really optimizing, right, for busy season. So I think it's a great thing to do. And that's also, and then also, you know, you get to use it, right? If you have an STR, you get to stay there a couple nights and you can block that with with midterms, I still sneak in, but it's harder, right? Because I don't have that much vacancy. So good question.

No vacancy is good.

Yeah, right?

That's what we all would hope for. Okay, now kind of going back to, you know, tenant vetting. So would you request sort of a minimum of 3 months pay stubs, or how do you do that financial? Are you pulling credit scores, or are you asking them for 3 months pay stubs? Can I check your credit? How do you do Yeah.

So I, yeah, so I mean, there's a lot of the management software sites have an application and they will just automatically pull credit and background. It's pretty easy. It's pretty cheap. That's fine. You know, I'm usually looking to verify employment and like one or two pays. I actually have a service and I think they would work. They're pretty like West Coast, but it's called Pacific Screening and they will actually— my application feeds into them. They make the phone calls, they run credit and background, and their fee is what I charge tenants. So yes, do all that stuff, be really thorough, because I just don't want to mess around with tenants. I'm like, I'm like, I think part of the appeal for me is being in a market that's not friendly is when I have midterms, it's— I'm— I've never had anyone overstay or like, it just doesn't happen because I usually have a set home somewhere else. But yeah, I mean, I— all of that and, you know, verify employment or an offer letter and check, you know, make sure the name and the date are on the pay stubs. It sounds really thorough, but it's your due diligence, right? Yeah.

What was the company that you said you, that you used for that?

Yeah, so Pacific Screening. I'm sure there's similar ones, but I would get inquiries from them and I was like, oh, I don't have to make the calls anymore. So when you have a couple turnovers, like, and they will vet like, oh, this, does this person that's a reference actually own that property? Like, I never quite went that far. So it's really streamlined the process for me. So yeah.

Yeah. Do you work with local insurance agents or insurance companies like Nationwide, etc.? If you were to kind of target that and focus that?

Yeah. So I would say, you know, I think everyone wants insurance claims because they're the most lucrative. They're also the most kind of elusive and you can network, but if no one's having an emergency, right? So I would say, you know, ALE Solutions is the biggest one. You can go directly to them and you can actually list yourself as like a landlord, list your property. And just start, you know, if you Google like temporary housing providers, there's a lot of them out there. There are sites like HomeAds is trying to kind of get in that space. You can list your site there. I mean, investors, they don't really want to work. They want to work with like companies, right? That's why there's— so there's the insurance companies and the middlemen are kind of like the placement companies. So networking is key. I, you know, I think getting the names of those placement companies like, hey, you know, here's an email. I've got an opening coming up. Do you know anyone? But as an independent person, I think it's best to focus on kind of like, you know, getting in front of those, like, AliExpress is the biggest one, right? That's the biggest name brand. There's a lot of other ones you can actually list your properties on. It's some legwork, but then you're in their system.

Yeah, that makes sense. And then I have some questions in here too about how many bedrooms, bath are the most desirable. I would assume that kind of depends on where you're targeting and where you're going and what your avatar is and sort of a deeper dive. But is there sort of like a midterm standard that is good? Like you don't necessarily need a 5-bedroom or a 2-bedroom, or does a studio not really work? Anything like that?

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of— it really depends on your avatar. I think they all kind of work. I will say if you just kind of want to have like smaller units for nurses, they don't need a lot of space. They're generally more budget-minded, right? Because they're trying to maximize their money. So, and if you're going after nomads, like like, you know, bigger houses are great, then you're kind of— in my mind, you're really going after the insurance claims, which can be a little bit touch and go. Like, you don't know when you're going to get one. It's hard to like know when your next booking is coming. And for me, that makes me a little bit uneasy. Like, I would, you know, I'd take one, but I'm not going to hold my thing, my house open for a month to get an insurance claim, right? And it also depends. Like, it's a lot of negotiations and back and forth, and the family really makes the call. Like, they want to see the property, and they may not like it, and you might get an insurance late and And the adjuster has to approve it and it's like a little bit of a dance. So I think, you know, it's in my experience, I've had really great luck with smaller units. And again, like what I like about like a smaller unit is like long-term rent is like, say, $1,000, midterm is close to $2,000, right? Then you're really getting to that maximizing. When you're getting into bigger spaces, your long-term rent's generally more. So if you, you know, it's just, it's getting closer to like similar numbers unless you're going after insurance. Claims. So I, you know, I think smaller spaces are a good bet. It just depends on your avatar, like you said.

So yeah, I'm going to ask a couple more and then we'll go to the questions of people that have their hand raised. So when you're understanding sort of the market for rental comps, right? So that was one of my things, like how do you determine what a midterm rental sort of, you know, predicted revenue could be? You know, at Airbnb there's different, you know, AirDNA that'll show you short-term rentals. Is there anything in the space for midterm rental that helps you sort of understand the potential of income in the area?

Yeah, so that's a little bit of art and science, and it's, you know, I think like we all know Airbnb, AirDNA is the go-to for short-term, right? You put all your numbers on there. I talked to the founder of, um, I think it was AirDNA. Is it AirDNA? One of the, uh, anyway, one of the bigger ones. They're kind of all working on it, but there's not like a go-to place. I think I was talking to HomeAds and it comes down to data and like insurance claims, right? She was like, they all want to know what the other people are doing in insurance claims. It comes down to like, what, how much coverage do they have on their claim, right? And that's not necessarily public. So it's kind of, as she said it, the HomeAds founder was like, it's in the early days of Zillow, right? We don't have all the data, right? So it's not at the S tier level. So you kind of have to do it more manually. Like I start with like, what's my long-term you know, and I'll add 30 to 40%, and then is that worth it, right? If they're too close, I'm like, it's not worth it. But, you know, Furnished Finder, you can check demand on there. You can go to Corporate Housing by Owner. Airbnb has links. And I would say I, I'm always of the mind of being like really conservative. Like, you might get a crazy number and you might get an insurance claim, but then you might have to go back to the, you know, the nursing market. So don't underwrite something assuming you're going to totally 2x your cash flow. It does It depends on your market, you know, a lot of factors. So you really have to pull comps. Like Rent-O-Meter for long-term gives you that base and then you can go to Furnished Finder and then start like, I'm like 30 to 40% in Portland on average over long-term. That's kind of how, and I like to test, right? I like to put it out there and test it with that kind of digital staging. That way I can adjust that lever if I need to. And it's a bit seasonal too, surprisingly. Like I wouldn't have thought midterms are seasonal, but they are in my experience.

That's actually incredible information, right? Go to your long-term rent, see what that looks like, then go to Airbnb, look at Furnished Finder. That definitely gives you enough to at least kind of put some numbers together and think. And I would assume in California it would be, and even Tennessee, it would be similar to, you know, 20, 30% more.

Yeah, some markets are really R2X. I mean, I've talked to enough people where I'm like, that it really truly is there. But the thing is like we're in high, like, well, I don't know, Portland or Oregon and California are high rents, right? So we're not, you know, some markets where the rent is actually like $1,000, $1,200 is pretty normal. You're getting almost double that. So like Ohio or something, right? That's the thing about it. Depends on your market and you have to know your market well enough to do that. So you can, I mean, sometimes it's like, oh, hands down, that's totally worth it. If you're in an expensive market like San Francisco or whatever, California, it might not be, that might be, you know, not worth the effort. I'll be honest. List, right? You just have to really look at it and analyze it.

And then you said something in your thing, you taught— you were talking about the landlord association. I'm gonna assume there is, but is there a landlord's association everywhere? Like, is there a local landlord association?

Okay. I mean, I, I'm gonna make sense.

I didn't know that, but it makes perfect sense.

And I like them because, like, I use software, it's called Tenant Tech. I bet it would work in a lot of— it works in a lot of states, but they they kind of have partnered up with landlord associations, so they are constantly updating all that fine print. A lot of changes that you had no idea, then you're totally out of compliance. So I, I don't like— I will not use a Zillow lease. Those are too generic. Like, I'm sorry, they don't know what county I'm in. They don't know all those nitpicky laws that, you know, someone took me to task, which has never happened. I just think that people overlook that and they're a little cavalier about it. That's my personal opinion. So that's why I like to teach, you know, and once you have your systems, you're not reinventing that wheel every time. Like, and they may not have software, but they usually have some kind of software you just fill in the blank, right? And it makes it really easy to fill out. Yeah.

And, you know, okay, so I have another question. So when you look at short-term rentals, you know, our friend Sharon on here could, could talk about that. You have a lot of permitting and different permits and regulations around short-term rentals. Do you find that with midterm rentals or not really at all?

That's the beauty. You're totally out of that. There's— that's why I think that's why it's going to get more crowded as Airbnb, as you know, regular people are sensitive to Airbnb. They think it's competing with long-term housing. They don't want 10 people in their house next door. So yeah, that's the other reason if I didn't mention it. You do not have to deal with permits. I mean, you have to make sure if you're like in an HOA, an HOA, right, they might have different regulations, but you're really good. That's why also I'm going that harping on this, like, contract stuff or paperwork, right, as a familiar term, because you're in— you're in long-term rental kind of domain. Yeah.

And you want to stay there so you don't have to really be in the same regulations as short-term rental.

Yeah.

Let's look at a sort of loan or financing. Can you get a DSCR loan on a midterm rental?

Okay. So like 3 or 4 years ago, DSCRs were not the hot thing. They were like just a newer product. And I had done this refi and I was like, I have all this money. I don't have a W-2 and I'm like, nobody would— I'm like, but there's got to be like a pro. And I kept kind of hounding my mortgage guy and he was like, well, there's this thing called the DSCR. It was income-based. So I've done a purchase and a refi with the DSCR. Okay. I love DSCR. Yeah, for sure.

Okay. Somebody lost their short-term rental permit, so now they're doing midterm rentals. And then I have the— oh, the AI. You said you use a staging AI company. What is the name of that? Do you know, or is there—

I have to look it up. I mean, I think there's probably a lot of them. I had— there's a lot of virtual stagers, but they take like some turnaround time and it's per image. But virtual AI, I mean, it's just you can kind of do it really quickly and say, change the room, I want mid-century style, or I want modern. And it's even if you're doing like long-term, I think it's worth staging. It just really helps out. People cannot see a vision. They just can't see an empty room and think, oh, there's a bed in there. They're just like, it's an empty room. Like that doesn't, it's unappealing, right?

Yeah.

You know, so.

Okay. Yeah. I'm going to, you can unmute. It's Than, right?

Yes, that is correct.

Hi.

Hi.

Do you want to ask your question?

Yeah, so I just want to double-check. When Sonya mentioned earlier about the property insurance, you mean when you have a midterm rental, you want both tenant and landlord have property insurance, right? You want them to have renter's insurance. It's really important because if anything happens, it's not covered, and you have to have You have to make sure that you're telling your insurance that you are renting shorter-term rentals because it's a little more expensive. It's riskier in their minds. But I also require renters insurance. It's probably unusual for a midterm, but I just want them to be protected. Right. If anything, I mean, nothing— no one's had to use it. Right. But if something happened, I'd feel really bad if they hadn't done that. And it's really— it's not expensive. Right. So I do require that. Yeah. Good question. Thank you.

Wanna, I have another question or 2, but I wanna open it up and see if anyone else wants to ask a question that's on. You could just unmute.

Sorry, my son.

Okay, while we wait, there is this question. Did they pay for renters insurance? So you require the tenant moving in to pay for renters insurance on own.

Yeah, and like, you know, I use software that has in the resident portal, and again, I'm kind of coming from, I have a mix of long-term and mid-term. It's built in and it's really cost-effective. They can just hit a box and they have it, right? It's pretty much, there's no like underwriting with it because it's renters. So yeah, I mean, you know, everyone has to find their style. I'm probably in the more overcautious style and what I would coach, but I've really never, I've had very few problems and I think that's because I'm really, you know, just mindful and careful and have, you know, just do all the things so that hopefully things never come to pass.

Yeah. Nancy, I'm just going to ask you about like, if I'm thinking, because I'm in San Francisco, so forget it here.

So I've got to go out, but I'm still stuck on trying to figure out where's the better target market. Market. It's like, do I stick with the bigger places or should I go to a smaller market?

I just don't know.

It's like I keep jumping from place to place. I think that I've targeted a place and then I'll talk to people that are there and then I jump to a different. So I'm just wondering with you, is like a submarket of a big city you think good or what your thoughts are on how to find a good target area. Yeah, I mean, I'm— so here's the thing, there's a lot of point of view, points of view on this. You know, I'm in a very expensive market. I've just decided to make a go of it here because I, I— there's— I like the appreciation, I like the high rents, I can kind of— I can control the property. So I mean, I don't know, I know your California is very expensive, but I mean, I think there is opportunity everywhere. I think it's just looking at the industry and the growth and what kind of industry is there and talking to other people. But I do think you can get like overanalyzed, but I think I think it just comes down to data and maybe even joining some Facebook groups in there and, you know, pulling up Furnished Finder and seeing what the rates are going for. I mean, I just personally, I think I like to, I like to be able to see the price and just kind of maintain them. And it's not an easy— and I don't have a ton of properties, but it's really, you know, I think you just have to do the research and then just, you know, maybe find some groups that are there that can kind of help you with, you know, if you can find a midterm group or something. Um, so it comes down to research. Yeah, I know that's not super helpful, That's Nancy's question right now.

We're going to do a whole series on that. How did you pick your market and why? Right?

Yeah. It's always my question.

I know it is. It is always your question. And it's a good one, right? Like, how did you decide? So for you, you decided because this was right in your hometown, you were living here, it was a close proximity, right? Would you say that's accurate?

Yeah. And there's appreciation. Like, I can go to a cheap market. It's not going to— I mean, the appreciation we have is off the hook, right? So to me, I'm in this for the long game. You go to a cheaper market, you don't get the appreciation, you don't get the same tenant base. There's things, right? It's all these levers. So yeah, you might look at your cash and like, I can buy a house for $100K, but who's going to rent it? I don't want to say quality, but there's a lot that goes into that, right? So it might on paper look like what a deal, but who's going to rent it? How much can you rent it for versus if you're in an expensive market, appreciate appreciation, you get higher rents. So I don't know, that's all just things, food for thought, right? That's just been my, like, I just built slowly and strategically, and I, you know, I'm careful about what I underwrite because I want to make sure it's really going to cash flow. Because there's nothing worse than getting into something that's not right or you didn't underwrite correctly. I walk away from more things than I actually execute on because it's just, you know, things can look really shiny and you start putting the numbers in, like you have to factor utilities and, you know, like internet and all that stuff, right? So I think you just have to love your spreadsheets, right?

As that brings me to a different question. Um, if you're doing midterm rentals with long-term rental, obviously they take over the, you know, the garbage bill, the, what, the electricity. You're paying for all of that?

You are, yeah. And, you know, we don't have— in some markets you're dealing with snow removal, right? We don't have that, right? And I, you So yeah, the expectation is that unless you're renting for a year, that people don't want to set up utilities for 3 months. It's just like a total hassle. They want to move in like an Airbnb and just have everything working. You know, sometimes if you're, you know, sometimes I've been like, okay, I'll lower the rent and not include utilities, like if they're renting for a year. But that is the expectation. And I don't, people don't usually overuse water or heat. I, you know, and like it depends, like Portland water is really expensive. I don't know, every market's a little different with your utilities, right? So I don't Yeah.

I have a question here about how many properties do you own? How many midterm rentals or properties do you own?

Yeah, so I have 4 midterm rentals and some of them are duplexes. I, we have like about 9 doors total. Okay. So I'm small, right? I just post a lot.

Yeah.

Do you, yeah.

Do you ever manage or take on that piece of management for other people for their midterm rentals?

You know, the main reason is like I, I want my— I'm pretty busy with my own businesses and it's a very, very kind of hairy landlord-tenant favorable place. And I just, that's not really something I'm super interested in. Like I'm good at it and I have my systems down. I love coaching other people because I think it's pretty easy, but I don't really— I, that's just not where I really want my passion is, you know, acquiring and teaching because I think it's not that hard. And I think people are A little afraid of it. It's a little daunting, but like you're doing it, right? It's not that hard. You know, you get some bumps and I have stories, you know. That's mostly long. My stories are mostly long-term. I don't have any bad midterm stories. I'm being 100% honest. I really don't. I have some questionable neighbors that are, you know, and tenants that weren't great, but I don't have any bad, only bad long-term stories and, you know, just a few. So yeah, it's worth—

that's good. So you haven't had any squatters or had to deal with any of that, but it sounds like you have some pretty good systems in place to kind of prevent that, right? From all your background.

Yeah, that's where I think that screening bit and being so thorough, like, it's hard for people to slip through the cracks with when you're being— and you're also setting the tone of like, I'm, I mean, I'm really nice, but I'm also, I'm thorough, right? So it kind of sets the tone a little bit.

I would say I love the idea about doing the virtual walkthrough as you're— I mean, that is a brilliant little nugget that you gave us right there.

Yeah, that was like, that's my favorite. I get a little kick out of like, I have residents, I've never met them, they've never seen the property. I don't meet them the whole time. And I just feel like that's how you streamline and that's how you really take away that I want to see it. Well, you know what, I have guests in there and I don't want to disturb them. Like, I don't want to disturb you when you have your next thing. And there's, I have a video, I have a virtual tour, I have professional photos. If that's not enough data, like, it's probably not a good fit, you know?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay, so is there any other questions and then we can kind of wrap it up and, and give everyone their, their night back? Okay. Um, again, thank you so much for joining.

I'm just gonna pop in that link really fast too. Put it in the chat right now. Yeah.

And then if you could also send it to me too, I can add it to the meeting invite on several.

Okay.

So that they can have it to book an appointment to talk about potential coaching or ask more questions or see what you can do. I'm getting lots of thank yous.

I do have a Facebook group too. Let me just pop that in there. It's free. It's like a good— let's see. Hold on. Should have had this ready.

While you put that in there, I want to say thank you, ladies, everyone joining us, especially our East Coast ladies that joined us. I know I know it's really late now, or at least it's really late for me, or would be if I was there. And thanks for joining us. And we will get this recording of this and we'll put it in the events tab for the groups that have it. And we'll also be sending this to Shona so that she can have it too. And join us next week too, next Monday, 6 o'clock Pacific time. We're going to talk with our California firefighter and she's going to really speak about about trying to work one-on-one with insurance companies and corporate housing. So that'll be interesting. And then the following week we'll have a panel of ladies that are in all different ranges of their midterm rental investing and process. They all have different processes and the way they do it, so it's a good way to kind of get some more feedback on all sorts of strategies. And then I highly encourage you to follow and reach out for anything because, you know, we kicked it off with the best one. Everyone else is going to have a little bit of experience where our speaker tonight really has tons and has just really dove in headfirst the last several years educating herself. And we appreciate you sharing some tidbits with us tonight and giving us the opportunity to, to follow you for more.

Yeah, thank you. And if anyone wants to book a call, like I just, just a conversation, right, to see if it's a good fit. Or if you have a particular question, like, I'm more than happy to do that. So just don't be shy about that if you're interested. And thanks for the opportunity. I hope I, I hope I gave everyone some insight and takeaways. Good.

Well, I know you and I will talk again, and, um, we'll follow up.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks everyone.

Time tonight, everyone.

Okay, thank you. I'm gonna sign off. Good night.

Okay, I'll follow up with you in a day or two. Oh, she's already gone. Okay, all right, should we all hang up? Goodbye.