Why did we buy this property?

After the success of running our Airbnb business, we decided to buy a bigger property with a pool in the same area. While long-term rentals tend to provide predictable cashflows, short-term rentals have the potential of higher returns. On the other hand, it’s a seasonal and labor-intensive business. 

We were able to buy this house for less than appraisal value as the property needed some repairs. We replaced all the carpets with tiles and laminates, updated the kitchen, resurfaced the pool, replaced the washer and dryer, painted the rooms and bathrooms, and replaced all the doors. Finally, we bought new furniture and decorated the property with a cozy tropical style. Feel free to check it out on Airbnb and save it to your wish list  

Lessons learned

• Be very specific with contractors and have everything in writing. This was our first major remodel since we started our real estate business. Our experience with contractors had been limited to small jobs. We needed to replace all the doors in the house, and for the job we hired a general contractor. He came earlier than expected and installed all the doors before without our supervision. To our surprise, all the doors and trims were installed but had no paint! We had to either pay him much more to paint them, or do it ourselves. We went with the latter. Hence, we learned to have everything in writing and be very specific about our expectations.