It’s less risky to buy an inexpensive residential rental, where you would have year-round tenants. Of course, a place where you could attract good tenants would tend to cost more money, so then there’s more risk. But the potential for more reward too, eventually. And you could have someone manage the property, but with one tenant, it may be possible to do it yourself.

This is just a new way to market real estate agents.

I was guessing that cabin renters would stay longer than just Fri/Sat night, but when I rented before I only stayed 2-3 nights. The main draw of cabins is that you can cram so much more people in there. Of course, we were mostly young and broke.

I just used the prop tax from InvestorLoft, I figured they would at least have that part right. Prop taxes are greater than 1% in SLT? Ouch.

Well, Erika has contacted me, and said that an employee of InvestorLoft left the “Somner” comment, and that they are dealing with this issue. She apologized and I accept her apology. Let’s go back to focusing on feedback for InvestorLoft, and finding investment properties in general.

For a vacation rental in SLT it is not unheard of to pay 30-40% in management fees! And, that does not include bi-annual cleanings or the credit card processing fees that are passed on from the renter to the owner.

Additionally, based on a $269k purchase price, your CA property tax is going to be closer to $3300/yr or $275/mo – about double what you’ve budgeted for.

Next time you’re in SLT pick a neighborhood and walk the streets – you’ll see many, many vacation rental signs tacked on houses – there is huge amount of competition for vacation rentals. I don’t think we ever had more than 45% occupancy in any one month. Most of your rentals are going to be Fri/Sat night only.

Based on my experience the only one making money is the property management company.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

I ran across this website while just browsing real estate investments:
http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/.....tment.aspx

Do you think it they have any sort of agenda? It’s hard to tell, but this one seems pretty good.

That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking after I read the comment and then scrolled down below to see your note. Thanks for confirming.

A nice write-up, btw, that really shows how difficult it is to make money in real estate when you really add up all the variables.

[Update: It has been confirmed that the Somner comment was from an InvestorLoft employee, but not Erika as I had guessed. I apologize for accusing her of leaving the 2nd comment. More information in another comment by me below.]

I do not feel I “summarily” dismissed you, I think I just gave you some free publicity and exposure, while pointing out some weaknesses. I’m a bit offended by the “true” real estate investor comment.

You aren’t even getting a studio in NYC for less than 400K

* InvestorLoft’s default numbers are a starting point. Our FinancialDynamix property analysis calculator allows real estate investors to manipulate the data based on THEIR assumptions, not those of the seller. Data often provided by the MLS is seller-generated and the InvestorLoft system allows for complete override by the investor (just as YOU did!).

*There is no analysis system that takes the place of extended due diligence. We consider InvestorLoft to be a powerful resource for the real estate investor to BEGIN their search – not the final say. There are so many additional criteria that go into a real estate investment purchase decision. By allowing our members to do exactly what YOU did (manipulate the data), we save them hours and days of number crunching and wasted time walking unsuitable investment properties. And all with the click of the mouse.

It’s professionals like yourself that help us make our platform a deeper, more relevant tool. If you or any of your readers are interested, we’d be delighted to have your feedback on how we can improve from your perspective. Instead of summarily dismissing us as a toy, perhaps you’ll see a different perspective and let us interact with you beyond Twitter and your blog!

Warmest Regards,

Erika Napoletano
Director – Communications
InvestorLoft.com

The Property Mgt co will usually charge about 10% of EVERY charge they setup. If they setup the rental, cleaning service, etc.

Most places in the US are down with the rental occupancy %, around 45%.

The best you can have is around 65-70% occupancy, as you need some downtime to clean and fix up, etc.

Some places have better occupancy than others for demand purposes.