It’s been about 6 months since I’ve done an update, and we’ve had some changes. Here’s how our 8 short-term rentals and 4 long-term rentals break down.
1. Bed & Breakfast
In early 2020, we owned a primary home and a duplex. We were looking for another rental property and had been making offers to no avail, constantly getting beat out by cash offers. I suggested house hacking to my husband, which means buying a property to live in that also has portions that can be rented out. My husband relented when I explained that we could basically get rid of our mortgage payment. We bought a property with a house, 2 cottages, and a mobile home. We sold our house in order to have enough cash for the remodel. We renovated the whole property and replaced the mobile home with a camper. We’ve been renting the cottages and camper on a short-term basis since January 2021. We now rent the house out as well when we leave.
2. Duplex
In January 2021, we did a cash out refinance of the (former) Bed & Breakfast (then-primary). Since we’d put money into the renovation, we were able to pull $100,000 back out. We found a neat property about 25 minutes north of our primary, an almost 3,000 square foot duplex on the water. We purchase it in June 2021. We had enough cash left over for a light remodel of the inside and a full remodel of the yard. Currently, one side is a short-term rental, and the other is a long-term rental.
3. 6-unit Apartment Building and Land
At the end of 2021, we did a 1031 exchange of the duplex we bought in 2019 (not the one mentioned in #2) into a 6-unit apartment building and 2 extra lots on the street (for parking). The duplex was a small nightmare during the pandemic. Also, we owned it outright and had recently become more committed to using leverage to our advantage. We were becoming more committed to short-term rentals, and the area is very short-term friendly. We converted the 3 long-term 2-bedroom units unto short-term rentals and kept the other 3 units as long-term rentals in early 2022.
With interest rates rising and our living expenses covered by our current portfolio, we’re not sure what’s next! If you have any questions, you can DM me on Twitter @AdultingIsEasy or email me at realadultingiseasy@gmail.com. You can find short-term rental resources here: https://app.gumroad.com/adultingiseasy.