Forsure. Id love to own some parking lots in Vancouver
Short Term Rentals
- Thread starter Dawizman
- Start date
Forsure. Id love to own some parking lots in Vancouver
maxwell
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deaner
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Have you included "owned by Sean Maxwell" in the listing? That has to be worth some kind of premium to the sledding community?i have a few on the go
i will use the one in sicamous as i think it best represents what your looking for
1. We haven't been able to use the sicamous rental for ourselves since we launched it 3 years ago. So throw that idea of using it yourself out the window lol. It is too busy and very hard to justify using it for "yourself" if it could be rented that week for 2000$, If you can stomach lost revenue and block time off for you to use then it is possible, but i will say that was our initial plan that didnt pan out. The only times we could get in there to use it would be October and April Offseason.
2. Occupancy rates are 95% May to September and the same for December to March. The rest of the months are sporadic, we will sometimes offset slow months by renting the entire month at a lower rate to someone visiting family, working in town ETC during the off season.
3. I wont get into gross annual income as that's really dependent on the product you offer but i will say after all of the Bills are paid, repairs complete, cleaner paid, condo fees paid we are getting 15% ROI Mortgaged. If you are paying cash obviously that would be higher. We might only clear 1000$ a month profit on average but thats including getting the mortgage paid which is also considered income. Its not a bad gig, once its paid off we could potentially be clearing 4k a month on that property. This property was purchased at a good time, The unit has since increased in value by 40% over the last 4 years. We will see if it holds or if it was a pandemic trend. Obviously the price you pay for the property determines your return. Just because you paid double what it was worth 3 years ago doesnt mean its going to bring in double the rental rate.
This property is a Condo style with garage. Some advantages to this style is it is pretty much hands off for us. Someone cuts the grass, removes the snow, maintains the building etc. Of course this comes with condo fees. The only thing we literally have to do is schedule our cleaner, and we actually have a calendar synced to her so she can just see check ins/outs. Air bnb takes care of the payments, we really dont have to do much now that its all setup..
But if your looking for a residential style home, those are all things you will have to consider and factor in, snow, grass, garbage, etc. do you want the hassle? pay the cleaner extra to take care of it? all manageable items depending on the amount of extra work load vs cost you want associate yourself with.
What has really helped us be successful was our investment back into the property. We did a full renovation and are constantly updating things as we can so that return customers and future customers can see and appreciate the updates. People are starting to get very creative and very good at this short term rental thing, to be successful you need to do it RIGHT. High quality product and high standards of expectations from your cleaners. These short term rental systems are based on reviews and ratings, it doesn't take long to get booted to the bottom of the list if your not good at what your doing. You need to also take into consideration
in home amenities and consumables. people expect nice pillows, sheets, towels, coffee, etc.....All things that cost money that you should build into your business plan and plan for full replacement at least once per year.
You need a reliable home, reliable appliances, reliable mechanical systems, and reliable people to help you if you aren't living in the immediate vicinity.
Your "cleaner" is going to be your lifeline, on average we payout the cleaner 120$ per visit and it takes her about 3-4 hours to go through the place. You will transfer that cost directly onto the consumer through the rental platform you choose. Plan for paying the cleaner a bit extra every year for a couple deep cleans etc and perhaps a few times where she stays a few extra hours because the guests brought dogs they didnt tell you about etc etc. If they workout, and are doing a good job a little christmas bonus goes along way to keep them happy and doing a good job. This is the person you are going to 100% rely on, so your going to want to interview them, meet them, make clear your expectations and confirm their availability to you. If you have back to back checkin/outs they have a 6 hour window to get in and clean. You are putting the sucess of the next stay fully in their hands so hopefully they show up! I also recommend a backup plan B. The cleaner will be the one to run over and check things out when customers complain or there is a mechanical issue etc, like i said, your lifeline.
Something to consider for property selection would be year round activities. Sicamous was a no brainer for us as its a popular snowmobile destination and a popular boating destination. As for Revelstoke and Golden im not so sure about that for summer season other than the travelers through? Either way, feel it out. You need to be busy 75% of the year to make this worth while. Your first few months/year may be slow as you start to build up a reputation/review base. So count on covering the costs of the property for a few months at least until its setup and operating properly.
It also needs to be EASY to access/operate for guests, get smart wifi door locks, smart thermostats, as much smart chit as you can think of so that when you have an issue you can figure it out for yourself. Change door codes, open the door remotely, adjust the air conditioning while its empty ETC. ETC.
sorry i just realized i could write a book with what we have learned over the years LOL end rant. Ask away if you have any questions
Edit*** when looking at properties, make sure the municipality and zoning allow short term rentals, if they do currently make sure its not on their radar to ban it. If looking at a condo style unit also check the condo bylaws to ensure it is allowed and not currently in discussions to ban it. Lots of condo developments trying to cutout short term rentals, same with some municipalities or specific zones within municipalities. Attend all the meetings you can to make sure no funny business is happening in the background that could effect your rental
Zero maintenance which is why some parking lots have 1' deep potholes in them and even with a 4x4 you have to be careful.....
But it's definitely a good gig, no chasing people for money, and virtually nothing to destroy.
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