Live Let Thrive Podcast
Airbnb, PadSplit, Corporate Rentals, Arbitrage, and Live Let Thrive cover all the creative ways to rent out your properties to maximize profits. We also cover creative ways to buy properties. Come along for the ride and have some fun along the way!
Live Let Thrive Podcast
Ep. 164: Hyrecar, Corporate Housing, Biz Credit, Timeshares! w/ Teonna Cruse
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Teonna Cruse runs seven hire car vehicles with a management company and makes $600-$700 per month per car - completely passive. She went from zero cars to seven in four months by leveraging personal credit across three people in her household, getting multiple auto loans approved simultaneously by controlling which banks saw her credit. The management company handles everything from dealership pickup to maintenance for $50-$100 per month per vehicle, while she focuses on her corporate housing units.
The episode covers Teonna's corporate housing model where she gets clients first through CHPA (Corporate Housing Providers Association), then furnishes apartments in under a week using NWM Rentals ($375/month for full setup). She runs all Airbnb payouts through PayPal to build business credit and qualify for working capital loans, keeping Airbnb transactions off her bank statements when apartment complexes request financials. She also operates 240 timeshare listings and discusses building business credit through net-30 accounts, virtual addresses, and leveraging banking relationships.
Work with us. Interested in professional management or consulting?
Myka — Sharebnb: www.sharebnb.com
Steve — Argest Rentals: www.ArgestRentals.com
Sign up for PadSplit with Steve's link and get a free 1-on-1 PadSplit strategy call with Stevie Stacks: padsplit.com/hosts
Myka's other podcast, Entrepremarriage — building wealth without losing the marriage: youtube.com/@Entrepremarriage
All our links: linktr.ee/liveletthrive
#airbnb #airbnbhost #shorttermrentals #midtermrentals #padsplit #rentbytheroom #coliving #corporatehousing #BRRRR #realestate #realestateinvesting #VRBO #shareeconomy #airbnbsuperhost #airbnbpodcast #sharebnb #liveletthrive #liveletthrivepodcast #biggerpockets #directbookings #bookdirect #dfwrealestate
Cold open
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Live Let Thrive, a podcast about the Airbnb life, the share economy, and everything in between. Here are your hosts, Micah and Steve.
SPEAKER_05Hello, hello, hello.
SPEAKER_03And welcome back to another exciting episode of Live Let Thrive.
SPEAKER_05What is up, Micah Man?
SPEAKER_03I'm chilling, Stevie Stacks. How you doing?
SPEAKER_05Doing good, man. Business is growing, things are happening, it's moving and shaking, man. It's it's like, yeah, it's it's it's really good right now, man. I'm excited. I'm yeah, I'm loving it. I'm loving it. How you been?
SPEAKER_03Oh, I've been great, man. Great, great, great. And I'm really excited for this today's episode. So I can definitely cannot wait.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, speaking of excited, yeah, we got an exciting guest for y'all today on this episode 164, rolling in my sixth foe, of Live Let Thrive, your favorite Airbnb VRBO, Homeway Turo, Lift, Hire Car Podcast, Share Economy Podcast in the world. And we got a special guest, and her name is she's a repeat guest. Her name is Tiana Cruz. How are you doing, Tiana?
SPEAKER_01I am good. How are you guys?
SPEAKER_05Hopped up on coffee. Yeah, for real.
SPEAKER_01And this is my first time.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Man, I swear you, I thought you hopped on our show
Hire car vs Turo - rideshare rentals explained
SPEAKER_05before. Well, we we've known each other for a long time.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Definitely been a fan of the show for a while. So yeah, they definitely known each other for a long time. So can't wait to hop into this one. So Tiana, you're in like how many areas of the share economy are you in?
SPEAKER_01Um two. I mean two areas.
SPEAKER_03You don't do Toro, right?
SPEAKER_01You just do well, yeah, Toro and Hire Car together.
SPEAKER_03And Airbnb, right?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So now I'm interested in the hire car side. Tell like if people who don't know what hire car is, explain what that is and like how you got into it.
SPEAKER_01So hire car is kind of similar to Turo, it's where you rent out either your personal vehicle or you can buy, you know, a fleet of vehicles to rent out. The difference is with hire car, you're renting it to ride share drivers, people that are driving Uber, Lyft, uh, Uber Eats, DoorDash, things like that. So they are using your car to work. So they tend to keep your vehicles for longer periods of time. Where, like my first vehicles, they were kept by the same people for a full 30 days, and they just renew it every two or one day at a time.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so they're keeping on you for long periods of time. Now, I is that a little bit better than Turo, where somebody's coming in and renting it more for leisure?
SPEAKER_01I think so because it's more consistent. And I think it also depends on the type of vehicle that you have. For a hire car, you need more of a sedan type of vehicle, something that is eligible to be driven on Uber or Lyft. Um, so more like of the economy class vehicle versus to get the bang for your buck on Toro. It works better if you have, you know, minivans, SUVs, luxury vehicles, different things like that, because you can make more money just renting them out to people at their leisure or on the weekends only versus renting an economy vehicle on Turo.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay, okay. Now I have a question. Since you do all three Toro, Airbnb, and Hire Car, which do you find to be the most passive, I'll say?
SPEAKER_01Definitely hire car.
SPEAKER_03Wow, more passive than Airbnb and Toro.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Wow. Okay.
SPEAKER_01And it's mainly because I work with a management
Most passive income stream: hire car with management
SPEAKER_01company that manages my fleet, so I literally don't do anything but purchase more vehicles. Like literally in January, I had zero vehicles. As of today, I have seven.
SPEAKER_05Damn.
SPEAKER_01And most of them I've never seen. Like I saw the first two. Um, but the management company, they literally I go
Zero to seven cars in four months
SPEAKER_01to the dealership, sign the paperwork, they go back, they pick it up, they make sure it's clean, they put it on the platform, you know, they run it out, they make sure the maintenance is taken care of. And of course they do that for a fee, but I pay them their fee, and then any maintenance that has to be paid throughout the month, they send an invoice because they pay it up front. But yeah, completely passive, and it's making the same money that my Airbnbs are making. Um, because you guys know I do the kind of long-term corporate housing model with mine. So um with mine, on average, I'm making in be in between $800 to $1,000 a month. So with my cars, I'm making about six to seven hundred consistently every month without having to deal with anybody. So I mean, it's pretty to me, the cars are better just because I have somebody else managing it, I'm not managing it myself. And that gives me time to focus on other things.
SPEAKER_03So you go ahead.
SPEAKER_01I was just gonna say, even with Airbnb, even with automating everything, like unless you hire a manager or a co-host or something like that, you still have to deal with you know the guests and issues and emergencies, things like that.
SPEAKER_03So you went from zero to seven cars in four months. So I'm assuming this is very scalable.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Yes. And how are you buying the cars? Like, are you buying the car from an auction
Multiple credit pulls, one day - the car buying hack
SPEAKER_03or you're going straight to the dealership?
SPEAKER_01Right now, all of the cars that I have are financed on the personal side, none of them are in the business side. And um, just listening to different podcasts and on Clubhouse, I learned about, you know, when you go to apply for a car, you know how they pull your credit a million times and they shoot it to everyone. Well, if you control who, you know, the banks that you're submitting to and they all approve you because it's a car and they know multiple credit pools are going to be on there, multiple inquiries, they don't know if you got approved by all of those people. So you can literally offer one credit pool if you go to the right dealership or even if you go individually to the banks, you can get approved for as many cars as you want, as you're comfortable with. So that's what I did. And it worked out because it's it works out really good if you have good credit, because like my first four cars, I didn't have to put anything down. So I didn't have to come out of pocket for anything. The only thing I had to come out of pocket for was for the down payment for the insurance. That's it.
SPEAKER_05So what's the key? What's the key to that? Like um, because I remember you put a video on on Facebook a long time ago. This guy, he talked about he would go, he went to like 10 dealerships in the same day, and then he made him run it from each different 10 different banks, and they never and he got improved all at once and and you know got 10 or whatever, 10 or 20. It was like ridiculous. They might have 20 cars.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think he did 13.
SPEAKER_05And when this in one day he bought 13 cars because they were luxury cars.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, because they are basing it on when you run your credit, they're basing it on what that credit is that day. So if your credit score is good, you don't have you know any other auto loans, or your debt to income is low, and you're able to qualify, they're gonna approve you. And if one bank will approve you, another place will approve you.
SPEAKER_05So that the trick is to do it really in the same time period.
SPEAKER_01Yes, with definitely within the same seven days, and really shorter depending on the bank, because some banks um will start reporting faster than others, but definitely within the same seven days.
SPEAKER_03So go ahead, go ahead, Steve.
SPEAKER_05And so, and but you yours, you did it over a four-month span. So, how how did you pull that off without the other ones not knowing or or it didn't affect you very much, them knowing?
SPEAKER_01I used my empire.
SPEAKER_05Your empire, yes.
SPEAKER_01So in my household, I have my fiance and my oldest daughter is now 19. So, of course, I have had already been putting her on as authorized users and everything. So by the time she turned 18, her credit score was like 740. And I bought her a cash car last year when she turned 18. But um when I decided to do this, I was like, I can get her a new car and then get two additional cars, and then I can get some cars. So that's what we did first. So my daughter got cars, I got cars, and then just here recently, my fiance got cars because he wanted to trade in his vehicle.
SPEAKER_03Huh. That's a play right there. That's the play. Okay, so you got multiple cars now. When y'all pulling these cars, so for example, an Airbnb, like I go to one complex, we'll get five units, right? So did you just go to one dealership and then you got two cars, another dealership, two cars, or how does that work?
SPEAKER_01Um, all but one car we all got at the same dealership. It's a dealership that's partnered with the fleet management company that I use. Um, they're called the Autopeneur Club. And the dealership, he when he does the finance application, he just shoots it out to I believe about six banks. So after the first time we did it, he kind of got hip to it as well. And he was like, Well, shoot, you got approved for three different banks, let's run it. And as long as he has the cars, we're good to go. And for me, initially, I kind of was maxed out on my cars because my vehicle, my personal vehicle was on there, and then I got two more vehicles, and then my fiance's vehicle was also on my credit. But when he just um traded his vehicle in, that took that car off, and unfortunately, somebody totaled one of my cars already. So that car is coming off, so I'm gonna go back and get two or three more. Um, because my goal for this year was to have 10. That's what when I wrote my goals in December,
Fleet management costs $50-$100 per car per month
SPEAKER_01I wanted 10 cars and I wanted 10 Airbnb units. But honestly, when I saw how easy it was with the cars, like even now, I eventually, of course, I'm gonna switch these cars from my personal name to my business name so they're not affecting my debt-to-income ratio. But once I do that, the sky's the limit because I plan on going to the auto auctions and buying cash cars because obviously you make more money, you know, less expenses. But the good thing about this business is it's only maybe four to five expenses. You have the car note, your car insurance. For me, I have the fleet management and then my hire car fees.
SPEAKER_03Now, now, how much does a managed manager cost on a on a on a car on car on like the hire car side?
SPEAKER_01Um, the company that I'm going through, the first car is $50 a month, and each additional car is $100 a month.
SPEAKER_05It's cheap.
SPEAKER_01It really is. They completely manage it. Like even with my um when I've had accidents, because I've had more than one accident, but I only had one total loss, they handled the whole claim process, everything. I just got a check in the mail.
SPEAKER_05That's what I was wondering is the crash, you know. So what happens when when someone does total your car? How what's what's the process?
SPEAKER_01Well, for one, I don't know about you, but I never buy a car without gap insurance.
Totaled car and the insurance layers
SPEAKER_05Ah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so that's just the basics, must have gap. But the good thing about with higher car or even with Toro is you have multiple layers of insurance. Like I have commercial insurance on all of my vehicles. But because the drive the vehicle is on higher car, higher car issues an insurance policy for all of the drivers. And then if they are driving for Uber or Lyft, there's also a policy issued by Uber or Lyft to cover them while they are on the clock working. So if they happen to get into an accident while they're working, Uber, Lyft, whoever covers it. If they are not working and they still have your car, hire a car covers it. So the only time where your insurance is affected is if on your lot something happens, or while you're taking it to the car wash, something happens, but um you're protected on that end.
SPEAKER_05So how did the wreck happen? Was he on the clock? Was he doing something, or what happened?
SPEAKER_01Um, he was on the clock, and somebody um no, he rear-ended into like a truck, and the vehicle didn't look that bad. I didn't think it was going to be totaled, but it was a 2013 Ultima, and I guess a little bit of the frame was bent, and they were like, no go.
SPEAKER_05So who who covered it then? Who was he working for?
SPEAKER_01Um, hire car actually covered that particular one because he didn't have a passenger at the time.
SPEAKER_05Oh, okay. So he was like an Uber guy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Oh, okay. So Uber doesn't cover it because only when they have passengers, Uber covers it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, when they are um, I don't know what to call it with Uber, but whenever they're on the clock, I guess.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I guess they're getting paid when they're driving somebody, right?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_05Oh wow. This is this is interesting. And how much does commercial insurance cost?
SPEAKER_01It's really reasonable. I pay, I believe it's $64 per vehicle.
SPEAKER_05That's it.
SPEAKER_01What? Now the down payment, the down payment now, that's it's $225,
Commercial insurance at $64 per vehicle
SPEAKER_01I think, per car. Um so for each car, I had to get that was my out-of-pocket expense up front was the $225.
SPEAKER_04Your startup costs is still.
SPEAKER_01They send you the GPS units to install. Um you have to request the kill switch. Some of them have it, some of them don't, but you can see exactly where your vehicles are located at any time.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so and I've heard like the car, like the car car rental people, you guys do like kill switches and then GPS trackers, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Okay, now how and how often have like I know I know you don't manage, but like has have like the people who manage it, have they had to deal with any thefts?
SPEAKER_01Yes. And like my first car that got into a wreck, the guy would not return my car and he wouldn't respond to the management company. So they called me and we all had to roll up together to go get my car, um, which was very interesting. But I don't know, I don't know what he thought. I I don't know if he thought he was gonna go to jail or what it was because the the dent wasn't that bad. Like it looked like he backed into something, whatever, but he was like, I can't drive the car, whatever, whatever. He wouldn't even come outside to give me the keys. He left the keys like on the tire wheel. Um, but there have been people like I know there was a person who drove a vehicle all the way to Vegas. And unfortunately, when your vehicle gets impounded, only the owner can get the vehicle, and they do not take payments over the phone, and that's even locally or wherever. So the owner had to fly there to retrieve their car, plus they're charging you by the day.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, well, that's a racket right there. Impound places, geez.
SPEAKER_01So that's where the kill switch comes into play and setting up geo fences. Because you can set up geo fences so you get alerts as soon as they leave the state of Georgia, it's hitting your phone. So you know, kill switch it immediately.
SPEAKER_03Oh, so and I'm a kind of a geofence, so that means like, hey, if you release this radius, your car gonna die.
SPEAKER_01It won't die, but it'll notify you, the owner or the management company.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01So you definitely want to do that.
SPEAKER_05Do you kill switch it while they're driving, or you wait till they come to a stop?
SPEAKER_01It won't kill switch while they're driving.
Kill switches and geofencing to prevent theft
SPEAKER_05Okay, so okay.
SPEAKER_01And from what I told, I've never had to do it, but from what I've heard, that the vehicle has to be parked for them to kill switch it also. Like it can't be like they the car is on and they were driving and they're at a stoplight type thing. The vehicle has to be parked.
SPEAKER_05Hmm. You don't have a speaker in the car where you can communicate when the hey Mofo, stop this car right now. How did I do something like that? You know, police are on their way, you know, trying to scare them.
SPEAKER_01It's a gone star, pull it over.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there you go. Say it more. Yeah. Wow. This is cool. This is cool. We haven't uh we've had a Turo person on here before,
Timeshares purchased on eBay for $1,800
SPEAKER_05but yeah, you have a fleet of of cars that and you have other people, it's kind of like you have employees working for you making the money. That's cool. Um, so you you do have three uh streams of income because I you you do have timeshares too that you make money off of.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yes.
SPEAKER_01I learned about timeshares listening to this this little known podcast. You may have heard of it.
SPEAKER_05LLT, LLT.
SPEAKER_01LLT. So yeah, because I'm also a real estate agent here in Atlanta. So for me, when I started out, um, even when I got my license, I was working full-time. Um my day job was I'm an accountant. So I was trying to maximize my money and my time as much as possible while I was still working because I knew I wasn't going to be working there long. So the timeshares were like a no-brainer. It's like all I have to do is buy a timeshare and I can get money and not have to not even see, ever see the property and charge cleaning fees and make money. Yeah, sign me up.
SPEAKER_03So, question on the timeshares. Because this is what the question that I'm always getting out is how did you get your timeshare? And how much did the startup cost of the timeshare cost?
SPEAKER_01Okay, so another reason why the timeshare sounded good to me is because I was already a timeshare owner, and all of the timeshares that I've owned, I have all purchased them on eBay. Um, the other two that I own, I purchased them for one dollar. But for this one for the World Mark, I believe all in it was like $1,800. I had to pay um, it was like $1,295 or something for the ownership, and then I had to pay like three months of the maintenance fees, the transfer fee, and closing costs.
SPEAKER_03And how fast did you make that that that back?
SPEAKER_01Um, well, I will say the transfer of the ownership, it took a while. Like I purchased it around my birthday in March, and I didn't get complete ownership till about August. But I made that back in one month.
SPEAKER_03Gotta love it, gotta love it. So, okay, so you do the time share, you do Airbnb timeshares, you do the Turo hire car, and you're saying the cars, because I'm I'm very interested in the cars because it seems like it's the most it's not only profitable, but scalable. So would you suggest someone? Because me, when I do things, I like to go, hey, let's
Scaling with business lines of credit
SPEAKER_03just do it big right off the bat. Do you think it's like because I don't know if I had I would have a management company, do you think it's feasible to just go get 10 cars right off the bat and just put them on a higher car?
SPEAKER_01Yes. And what I would do, um, because that was our initial plan, was to go get some type of financing, get like a hundred thousand dollar line of credit, go jump 10 cars. Um but because it was a new business and we had no track record, the banks was like, eh, we'll wait and see what happens. So that's how we kind of got in putting the vehicles in our personal names and things like that. But ideally, if you can get a business line of credit, and it doesn't even have to be $100,000 for whatever it is. Second thing, if you can find someone that you know or someone that you trust that is a dealer who is willing to put you on as an agent and let give you um auction access. You following me?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And especially now, a lot of the auctions are online. Um, if you can get cash cards, cash cards are the way to go. And if you got that line of credit, there's no need to necessarily go through a dealership if you know a good mechanic that can, you know, take care of any issues that the cars may have.
SPEAKER_03So you go to oh man, this is just like how I buy houses. So you're telling me y'all go online, get the cards out the auction with a line of credit, run it by the mechanic, let him fix it up, whatever, throw it on a higher car, you're already making money.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And then if you do it right, you know, you let that thing run because they're gonna get those miles on it, especially if they're doing Uber Lyft, they're putting miles on it. Let them run it up for 18 months, two years, and then sell the car. Just like a remote car. And if you have a long-term renter at that point, you can offer it to them. Hey, give me a thousand dollars, you can have this car. Or if not, go back to that dealer friend. Hey, can I put this car on your lot? I'm gonna put it on Facebook Marketplace and sell it for a thousand bucks or fifteen hundred bucks.
SPEAKER_03Mmm. Ooh, it's a lot of plays with those cars. Um I don't know, Steve, you might have to hop in, man. Get a few cars.
SPEAKER_01It's like a yeah, and then the good thing is if you're buying cash cars, if you have an accident. Somebody told us your car, you're on the upside.
Getting business credit and removing inquiries
SPEAKER_03You just get a check in the mail.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Now, now, okay, so hire car and tour, because doesn't like Uber have certain requirements for the car, or does hire car take care of those requirements for the driver if it's like like an older car or something like that?
SPEAKER_01Because I thought there were certain requirements for uh no, you still want to buy your car within the Uber Lyft requirements. So you want to make sure it's no older than 10 years old. And you really want to make sure you pay attention to what the gap guidelines are, because like as of now, gap insurance will not cover a vehicle through some companies that are older than 2014. So definitely make sure you check with the gap company on that. Um, and then for us, our criteria is something that's a hundred thousand miles or less, um, you know, no older than 10 years, and that's no more than $9,000.
SPEAKER_05That's your criteria down.
SPEAKER_03And now I have one more quick question because you threw out a word in there. You said three words that were huge. You said a line of credit. How do you go about acquiring business lines of credit?
SPEAKER_01Now, I'm gonna be honest, I'm still working on that. I know the process, but I don't have a line of credit in my business yet. Um, but essentially, step number one is making sure your personal credit is good. And as business owners, that's something that we should always make sure our credit stays good. Like if you can stay 750 or higher, that's where you want to stay always. And especially with business credit, because it doesn't show up on your personal credit report, run it through your business. And even with the inquiries, when you go and get cars, or if you're getting even business credit cards and you rack up those inquiries, after you're done, clean those off. Start fresh, get them removed, and keep your inquiries. Oh, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03How do you get them removed?
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh. Um, there's multiple ways you can either send a letter to the credit bureaus, or the fastest way is to pick up the phone and call them. Say, hey, there's these inquiries I don't recognize. Can you help me? Let me speak to the fraud department.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. So you get the inquiries off. Even what about the um now what about old? I heard something about old addresses. Does that affect you as well?
SPEAKER_01Um, I don't know that it affects you as much on the business side, but yeah, anything that can connect you to anything that's old, you want to get it removed. Any aliases that you see on there, old phone numbers, old employers, old addresses, get it all removed.
SPEAKER_05Who do you call to get it removed?
SPEAKER_01You have to call each bureau. Now, for addresses and things like that, you definitely have to send a letter. And um, you know, because they want to verify you are you. So you want to make sure you send a copy of your driver's license, a utility bill, things like that.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Now let's hop into the Airbnb side. Because you said you do timeshares and you do the corporate side as well. So with you doing the corporate side, why did you choose the corporate side and more instead of like the Airbnb side?
SPEAKER_01Mainly because of my time, because I was working
Corporate housing model - get the client first
SPEAKER_01full-time and I knew I couldn't be there to greet guests, and I wasn't gonna be able to go and put welcome baskets every time and all that stuff. And the corporate housing model just made more sense to me. It was uh as passive to me as I thought it could get. Uh, so what I did, I joined Chippa, which is the Corporate Housing Providers Association, and registered with them. And literally, as soon as I became a member, I started getting calls from larger corporate housing companies out of state, and they were like, Hey, we have somebody coming from this state. Can you do you have an apartment here? And I was like, No, I don't, but I can get it. Give me their criteria, and I will let you know if it's possible. So that's literally how I acquired all of my units, is I got the guest first, and they really funded getting the unit, the furniture, and everything.
SPEAKER_03Oh, now what is SHIPA?
SPEAKER_01It's the Corporate Housing Providers Association.
SPEAKER_03How would one join that?
SPEAKER_01Um, you just go to their website um and you click membership and join.
SPEAKER_05Oh, it's free.
SPEAKER_01No, it was not free. It was not free. It's a uh a thousand dollars, I think, and I'm I believe they have different tiers of membership, but mine was a thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_05For one year or how long?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for one year.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01And then when I was right before COVID, or yeah, right before COVID. So, you know, I'm not sure what they do normally, but within the year that I was a member, everything was virtual. So they have like monthly and weekly meetings um in the state and also internationally with huge corporate housing companies that have things that we haven't even thought of yet.
SPEAKER_03Now, my question is so you you're getting the client first, right? How fast are you having to get that unit up and ready for that client? Like, what's the turnaround time? Like, how long do they usually say, hey, this dude's coming to town in two weeks, or this dude's coming in town in four months? Like, what's the U.S.
SPEAKER_01It depends. The first one I had maybe a month and a half. I had a lot of time because I was able to get I ordered furniture off Amazon. I had it shipped to my house. I was able to get all the furniture here and then get a U call, move it to the place and get it set up before they moved in. But I have had a situation where I did the same thing, and they are telling me Friday evening that after 8 p.m., hey, the guest said yes, they want to take your unit that I don't have yet, and they're moving in next Friday.
SPEAKER_03And you did it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Now, now I how did you set up a unit in what seven days?
SPEAKER_01Less than because it was already Friday evening. Um the person that reviews the corporate applications was not there Saturday, so they did not get my application until Monday. Um, and the fastest that they could give me the move in was Thursday because they had to prep the unit.
NWM Rentals sets up a furnished unit in two hours
SPEAKER_01So, due to COVID, I have been resourceful, especially with getting furniture. Um, one of the companies that reached out to me from Chippa was a corporate housing furniture rental company, and they're called uh NWM Rentals, and they were a lifesaver. And um, because their business was slow during COVID, they offered me three months free to see if I liked it, and I was like, Yeah. And they offered it to me on more than one unit. So I was like, Yeah. Oh and they are awesome, so it's not just furniture, they are in the corporate housing business. So they set up everything from the beds, the sheets, forks, spoons, knives down to the plunger of the toilet. So for that particular unit, I got the keys Thursday, and I had them come Thursday, and I actually got a root canal that day. So I left the dentist, went to the unit so that I can let them in, and they got everything set up in about two hours. And they take pictures, they do everything, they get it set up as if the guest is coming in right behind them.
SPEAKER_05Dang. That's awesome. How much do they usually charge without that, you know, specials going on?
SPEAKER_01Um for one month for a one bedroom, I believe it's like 360, 375, something like that. Not bad at all.
SPEAKER_05And that's what's set up and everything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So they go set up all the furniture all the way down to the forks and knives. And so it's ready to rock as soon as they're done. And then you just rent it every day for like 375. You said for a month.
SPEAKER_01Three about 375 a month.
SPEAKER_05375.
SPEAKER_01Yep, and they work everywhere from Florida all the way out to Texas.
SPEAKER_05And nice, and they got nice stuff, it's nice furniture.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's really nice. I was surprised because I was a little a bit concerned. Um, and I also had them change it up for the second unit that they did for me because I didn't want it to look exactly like the other one.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so they definitely came through on that. And then because I'm following the corporate housing model, a lot of the corporate housing companies they automatically charge a thousand dollars above what their monthly expenses are. So that's what I do. So that's how I ended up with about seven to eight hundred dollars on my Airbnbs because that's taking out the furniture rental out of that money.
SPEAKER_05No, but it's great. You don't have to pay like five or ten grand to start up a one-bedroom, you know? That is freaking perfect. Uh yeah, I'm definitely gonna look at it.
SPEAKER_01Right, you can, especially if you get your guests first, you can literally with the deposit that they're gonna pay, the first month's rent, you can pay for the the deposit for the apartment, your first month's rent, and the first month of the rental. And I try to get units that already have washer and dryers, or it's you know, either it's uh available to be rented separately, or it's already in the unit included in the rent.
SPEAKER_05See, people people wonder why we do this show and they're like, oh, y'all are giving so much out there, you know, for for free. We're doing the show because we want to learn too, man. And we're learning, we're selfishly learning from you, and we really appreciate that. We're gonna I'm gonna hit up all these places. Um, this is an amazing way to scale. I mean, wow, they can put it together so quick, and you're renting it. And then as soon as uh your lease is up, hey, come get your come get your stuff, come get your furniture right.
SPEAKER_01Yes, because of course I was trying to do it the traditional way and buy furniture. Like my first unit, I bought all the furniture, I got everything, but it was so hard to get the furniture. Like I had to pay like three different furniture companies to deliver, which I was so mad about those delivery fees, but nobody had everything. I had to get the dressers from one company, I had to get the love seating couch from somewhere else. I ordered my beds on Amazon, and you know, then I had to get a moving truck to move the stuff from my house to there, and it was just so much. So this company kind of caught me right on time. And um, another resource that I used was the Habitat for Humanity Restore. Um, they get uh towels, blankets, sheets, furniture, stuff like that donated to them from hotels and casinos and things like that. And I wish I would have known that their stock wasn't always large because since they were shut down for COVID, they had, and I believe I posted it in our Facebook group, they had just awesome owls full of stuff, towels, sheets. So I went in there and I got enough for about three units. They had like um six bath size towels for $9.50, 12 washcloths for $4.50, king-size bed sheets, queen size bed sheets. And if I would have known that they don't always have those things, I probably would have gone in there and balled out. Because when I tell you, I have gotten more compliments on those towels than anything else because they are good quality wholetale towels, and uh, most of them have like the holiday end logo on it or whatever. Yes.
SPEAKER_05I've never got any um compliments on my dollar store towels, I don't know why. I'd be scratching people. Um, so the this the Chippa, you mentioned that Corporate Housing Providers Association. And now you pay a thousand bucks for the year, but you can put as many units on there as you want.
SPEAKER_01You don't actually list the units, you're listing your company.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01So what it really is, um, and it took me a while to figure it out, but it's really a networking community, and they also have like a certification that you can get. I believe you have to be a member consistently, I want to say it's either three or five years, and then you can get certified so you can be a certified corporate housing provider. And that puts you, I guess, in this premiere list, but it also um allows you to go to their conferences and things like that, and you get to meet these massive companies that are doing it on a large scale, you know, in this country, out the country, in multiple cities, um, you know, that have professional people that have been doing this 30, 40 plus years and learning from them.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so it's definitely worth the money to you, you think you believe?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, to me for um, and I unfortunately did not attend any of the webinars, but just for the contacts that I got and the referrals that I got, it was more than worth it. Because the one referral that I got literally the same week I joined paid for the membership. Oh wow. Because the first apartment I got, it was a two-bedroom apartment. Um, I think I did like a 10-month lease because they had a special, it was like $300 off the rent if you did the 10-month lease. So I got a two-bedroom in a really good area because they wanted to be in a certain school zone, and it was like $1,300 a month, and I had them paying $3,200 a month. So yeah, I made that money back immediately, and they stayed for four months.
SPEAKER_03So with CHPA, you just telling them, look, I'm in this area, my company is in this service, is this area.
SPEAKER_01And they have a directory. I uploaded my logo, I put my company name, my business address, and that was it. I didn't put how many units I had, I didn't, it didn't it didn't ask, it was just a basic listing.
SPEAKER_05So this is who like insurance companies and stuff go to when they need to find a place for their clients to go to this spot.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure they check the directory because it's public, you don't have to pay to see the directory.
SPEAKER_05And have you have you ever tried uh the only other one we really I mean hear a lot about is Furnish Finder. You ever tried them?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I actually got a guess from Furnish Finder, one okay. Um, I was surprised at Furnish Finder.
SPEAKER_04Uh to put it nicely.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, it was it was a lot different once you actually paid the fee than you know people made it out to be. And I don't know if it's different in different areas. Like I said, I'm in Atlanta, so a lot of the people on there were trying to pay like $700 a month for one bedroom apartment. It's like that's not even rent.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's yeah, they lowball, they lowball.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, I think that's more for people like if you have rooms to rent out, definitely go to Furnish Finder. But if you have a whole house, you know, I did get one person and he stayed, he was in my unit for like six months. Um, because um I made sure that my my unit was walking distance to the hospital. Because I was thinking ahead. So yeah, he was there on assignment and he stayed six months. It was great. Um, but that was I really haven't gotten any inquiries since that. And that was you know, last year he moved in like in September.
SPEAKER_05Now now speaking of corporate, because not every time they they check in on the first and then leave on the 31st of whatever month. So that sometimes they'll spill over a week or two. And how what what are some creative ways you fill in those gaps, those you know, a couple weeks here, a couple weeks there gaps?
SPEAKER_01So what I did, um, especially because I was kind of going after the corporate housing model versus the Airbnb model, is I went to a corporate housing company and I submitted an inquiry because I wanted to know what do they tell people, how do they say it, and how do they charge them.
Corporate housing pricing and prorated daily rates
SPEAKER_01And I copied it all. I did not reinvent the wheel. Um, so what I do is when I price somebody, especially um because I've had primarily direct bookings, I send them an email with like a quote and it gives them a daily rate and also a monthly rate. And I let them know that even though there's a monthly rate if they're staying monthly, it's still charged at the daily amount. So if there is a 31st day in the month or whatever, it's charged accordingly if they're not staying the entire month. So if you have somebody that is checking in on the 8th, I prorate it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, okay, I see what you're saying. So so let's say that let's say they are someone checks out on the 15th. So you have those two weeks. That's what I was wondering. Like, how do you fill in those that two weeks until the next person checks in on the first? Like, how do you do that?
SPEAKER_01That's where Airbnb comes in.
SPEAKER_05I see, yeah, I knew it. I knew it. You fill in the gaps with Airbnb.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then and well, also the good thing is with dealing with the corporate companies, um, one thing is with the corporations, I don't charge them a deposit. I have them sign over a corporate letter of responsibility. And that's the company pretty much assuming responsibility and putting a credit card on file saying any damage that the actual occupant does, they are responsible for. And it works out better for them because they're not having to put $500,000 every time you know they have somebody, and that credit card works.
SPEAKER_05And how and how about are you doing arbitrages with these? Like you're you're renting a spot and then you're filling it with furniture and they're renting it out. So, how are you dealing with the apartment complexes? How you how how are you getting them to let you sublease and and Airbnb, or do they just only tell you you can corporate corporate rent?
SPEAKER_01I am a corporate housing company.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01LLC and I'm a realtor. I have clients that are in between houses, they're selling a house, they're buying a house. I work with teachers, with firefighters, I work with business travelers.
SPEAKER_02Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01And every now and then I might have a couple days that need to be filled, and I use my company website and other marketing tools.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Because that's that I know I know it's it's yeah, it's a gray line because because they have a lot of them specifically say, you know, you cannot advertise on Airbnb, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and they specifically say Airbnb. Um, and I did have a guest go to the office and say, I am here with Airbnb, even though they were a long-term Airbnb guest. They were going to be there for like two months. But yep, she went in there talking about Airbnb, and they sent me a warning letter and told me that I had to remove my listing. And I did. Honestly, what I did, I just um took direct bookings for a while and eventually eased my way back into it.
SPEAKER_03Now, now this is I think you said something really powerful, and if that powerful is what I'm trying to get at. How has you been having a real estate license has that helped you get more units?
Real estate license opens doors with apartment managers
SPEAKER_01Um, I think it helps them, as in the leasing consultants or the property managers, let down their guard. Um, and and that's all because they feel like we are equal, you know, we're co-workers, we're in the same industry. And a lot of them want to be agents. So usually the convert, like they no one has ever asked me about Airbnb, but it was in the lease. So usually the conversation, they never ask me what I want it for or how I'm gonna use the units. They're talking about, well, how's the real estate class and how's the market right now? And do you think I can do it? And I want to, you know, leave here one day. And I indulge every conversation while they're showing me the community.
SPEAKER_03You're looking at it from like they they they're looking at you like a mentor type, and you just kind of feeding it and getting a relationship. That's dope. I ain't gonna lie, I'm I'm I'm I'm about to, I'm actually I already got my book stacks of books. I do plan on getting my real estate license, so yeah, that's a play right there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it helps because I do actually have clients that are in between houses that need places to stay, or I've had other realtors call me and say, Hey, do you have a place? Now, the only thing about working with realtor clients is that unlike business travelers, they're not trying to pay $3,000 or $2,500 for a furnished apartment. So it's a little tricky there. Um, but um I would charge them by the night and do it that way instead of by the month. And if they have to say long term, it's just not gonna work out for them.
SPEAKER_03Where are your places at?
SPEAKER_01Um, I am outside Atlanta. I'm in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I'm in Alpharetta, Georgia, and I do have one in Atlanta in the city. And I'm actually getting a new one in Lawrenceville because surprisingly, I thought being outside the city, um, with my one that's like in the walking distance of the hospital, I thought it would kind of be slow. But that one has turned out to be the one that people want to stay in really long term. Like I have somebody who's there now, they've been there two months and they want to stay for another six months. And like, okay, I think I need to get another unit here.
SPEAKER_03Now, this one that's walking is that a house or an apartment?
SPEAKER_01It's an apartment, and the new one that I'm getting in the same Complex, um, found out they have townhomes there, so I'm gonna get a two-bedroom townhouse.
SPEAKER_03Oh, now now you brought some up. Now, your units are they usually one bedrooms or two bedrooms?
SPEAKER_01I had a mix. I have three one bedrooms and one two-bedroom, and now I'm gonna be adding another two-bedroom. Okay, now because the two bedrooms definitely get more increase for the two bedrooms.
SPEAKER_03That's what I was gonna do.
SPEAKER_01Okay, crushing it, yeah, and that's where the money is.
SPEAKER_03Okay, do you plan on owning any in the future?
SPEAKER_01I would love to. I really want to buy a loft. I want to do like a diva dan themed loft in the city, mostly for me, but other people can use it too. That would be yes, because I want it to be. Y'all know I love blue. Blue, so I really want like one of the rooms to be like an all-blue room. Like, I want a blue throne chair and you know, diamonds and sparkly stuff. So kind of like to do like the mix of the peer space, Airbnb type place.
SPEAKER_03I think that would hit. I think see, and have you now have you hopped in peer space yet or no?
SPEAKER_01No, I haven't because my units are not set up that way.
SPEAKER_03Got true. I do kind of want to look into the peer space, especially if you start really decking them out that way. I do think that is a major way to like when you start charging by the hour, what if you start charging something by the hour, like that you charge by the night, that's a game changer.
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, peer space is definitely on the it's on my and it is, and especially because for whatever weird reason, I am always looking for spaces like that. Whether it's like um before COVID, every month I was doing a um home buying seminar, and believe it or not, it was hard to find a place to do a seminar that wasn't gonna charge you two or three hundred dollars. Like I ended up doing a lot of them at the libraries because they would let me go for free. But to be able to have a place where not only I can rent out, but I can go too, and it looks good and it's a good environment and it's free, you know, that helps.
SPEAKER_05Business expense though, right? Expensive. Um, uh real quick, because you said, okay, it's your it's your um your corporate housing company is the one, you know, doing business with these apartment complexes, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_05LLC.
CHPA membership paid for itself in one week
SPEAKER_01LLC.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01So what I did is when I got my real estate license, I knew then that I wanted to do corporate housing. Um, and that was back when I learned about the timeshares, and I knew what I wanted to do. So I set up my company then. And I slowly, you know, got the quill accounts and the Granger and the Uline and all that stuff. But I didn't even end up doing anything with it till like a year later because when I bought the timeshare, it took like four or five months for that to go through. And then once I got the timeshare, I had to get all these listings on Airbnb because Michael didn't tell me that part. He's like, Yeah, I got 400 listings on Airbnb. And I'm like, that's great. I'm gonna knock this out. It's okay. I get it in August. So in the meantime, I can just be putting these. Oh no, it took forever. Forever. So eventually I got a VA that helped with getting all my listings on there.
SPEAKER_05Shout out to Frederico.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_05He says hi, but he says hi, by the way. Friend of the show.
SPEAKER_03How many listings do you have now?
SPEAKER_01I am still not up to 400. I have 240 listings right now.
SPEAKER_03That is dope though. People don't understand how fast you can get those listings of doing that.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, well, what I did is I literally took everything you gave and I got that spreadsheet. I got all the listings of all the resorts, and we just went down the list. And some of them we didn't put up just because either they needed a permit or you know, all the stuff, different stuff like that. So, and then as we go, as they get booked, we just duplicate those listings instead of just putting so many up in the beginning. I tell them, hey, if we get booked, just go ahead and duplicate it immediately. Yeah, and surprisingly, even last year, um, when they finally gave us a little break from COVID, like last summer was amazing. Because there was like no activity, like February was great, March was okay until they start canceling those reservations. April was dead, May was dead, but June? June was the first month I hit my goal, and I was like, wow, this is great. But then July, I think in July, and I actually have it on my um vision board because my goal was for the timeshares. If I can make if I can gross $5,000 a month with my timeshares, I'm
PayPal keeps Airbnb off bank statements
SPEAKER_01great. June, I did six thousand, July, I did eight thousand, August, I did ten thousand. And I was like, this is great.
SPEAKER_03I mean telling people, man, that timeshare play.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and the good thing is um another thing that I learned just listening to different podcasts and being in groups, is I run all of my Airbnb payouts through my PayPal account because I knew that PayPal has like these loan products. Haven't used it yet, but because I have a lot of my income going through there, I'm eligible for the loans if I ever need it. And another thing is um that kind of lucked out, even with this new unit that I'm getting, the complex asked me for like 12 months bank statements. So on my business bank statements, it doesn't say Airbnb anywhere, it just shows deposits because I'm transferring my money from PayPal to my bank account. Whoa. So that way, if anybody ever asks me about my business, you know, if I don't bring up Airbnb, they're not gonna see it anywhere because I don't mention it on my website, and I do have a professional website with booking and all that stuff, and I don't bring it up because to me it's like a second option. That's not what I do primarily. Primarily, I am a corporate housing company. My goal is to get 30 plus, you know, 30-day plus stays, and if I have a couple days to fill, I'll reach out to VR, you know, Airbnb, VRBO.
SPEAKER_05That's a rug right there. Yeah, that's gonna that's like the biggest one of the show for me. Because I I was trying to, I was gonna ask you how you, you know, some shortcuts to setting up your business credit. And you just said run it all through PayPal and from PayPal into your checking account, and then you could show them 12 months of just making ridiculous money, they don't see that it's from Airbnb, right?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_05Oh man, that is beautiful. Yeah, we gotta do that.
SPEAKER_01We gotta do that because and the only thing with, and I I know some like one of our friends had an issue with PayPal here recently, and that was like weird to me. So I've always used PayPal, so my account was already getting money in and different things like that, and I run my direct bookings through my PayPal too. So one thing that I will say is start slow with PayPal and gradually use it. Don't put all of your money in there if you don't have to, just in case, because they be doing weird stuff that you know. I haven't run into it, but I heard.
SPEAKER_03And one thing I also want to add on to what Tiana said about PayPal, that's a major plug for your business because a lot of people they have all these transactions going through a bank and they don't leverage the bank. Like if you're pushing six, seven figures through a bank, dog, they should be willing to give you lines of credit or something. And if you're they're not willing to do it, you got to go somewhere else. And that's the thing I love about how she said, I'm gonna leverage PayPal, I can get credit from them. If your bank ain't doing that, go to a different bank straight up.
SPEAKER_01Well, you get to hit both of them because not only can I hit PayPal, and the good thing about PayPal is I don't know what their loan program is called, but they have it where they give you, I think it's like 12% of what your um it's I want to say they look over the past six months or 12 months, something like that, and they give you 12% of whatever your gross is, and then they take the payment out of your transactions through PayPal. So you don't have to physically make a separate payment, they're taking a percentage of each you know payout that you have that comes through there, which works out. But then you still have those deposits hitting your bank account, so you can still go to your bank, like um, like you said before on another episode. When you open that business bank account, you need to be getting a business credit card with that. And when you start showing that you have money coming through, if they don't have another credit card, you need to be trying to get a line of credit, you need to be getting an increase on the one you already have. Like you have to leverage these relationships, and you can open up multiple bank accounts at different banks, definitely utilize credit unions, community banks, as well as the big banks.
SPEAKER_03Facts. Facts. Yeah, this is powerful right here because I'm I'm just now starting to leverage it with another bank. I'm starting to create a relationship with BBVA. By the way, they're giving out some really good stuff. Go ahead, Steve.
SPEAKER_05So so now, okay, so you have your Airbnb account set up, right? You got all your um corporate rentals on there and all your timeshares, whatever. You got them all on your on your one account, I believe, right? You have it all under one account.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I did. Okay, but what happened was I couldn't see clearly what I was doing with what. And because I have a VA managing all of the timeshares, I really don't need to see that on a daily basis. He's handling that. I need to focus on what am I doing with my local units, how are they performing, you know, what are my reviews looking like. So this January I separated the account because another thing, because I am an accountant, it got a little sticky with doing the accounting. Because you definitely, um, especially if you're using QuickBooks, should be doing your accounting by class so that you can see what each unit or how each unit is performing.
QuickBooks for tracking unit performance by class
SPEAKER_01So I have my classes as timeshares are one class, and then each of my corporate units are separate, so I can see how much each unit is making individually. So with the payouts with them all on one account, it was just getting confusing because now I have to go in and look and see, okay, which one are timeshares, which one are corporate units, and separate that and then enter it in the QuickBooks. And that was just taking too much time for me. I like to be able to say, okay, this payout from this one is all timeshares, done. Deal. I set up an automatic thing on QuickBooks. So every time it comes in, it knows that's what that is. And then for the other one, I still have to go in and manually separate it if I have bookings that are on the same time period, but that's not bad at all.
SPEAKER_05I have a million questions. Every time you say something, I have a million more. But just real quick on QuickBooks, because we're thinking of getting that. And with that, you wouldn't need another, like um, let's just say another software, just kind of like that's more for real estate, more for rentals, more for management, stuff like that. You could do it all in the QuickBooks.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you just have to customize it for what you want. Okay, like you know, you go through and you customize your chart of accounts, you know, instead of it saying customers or clients, it's gonna be guests or vendors. You know, you're gonna have on your um balance sheet deposits that you collect because you need to be keeping them separate. I transfer those deposits to my savings account, so I'm on an interest, and if they don't mess up my place, they get that back.
SPEAKER_05Oh, nice, nice, nice.
SPEAKER_01But that is an asset.
SPEAKER_05I love it. Um so so okay, so what I was getting at earlier. So you you have everything running through PayPal. So, like, okay, let's just say someone out there has five Airbnbs, then they just and they're used to just getting it straight to their bank account from Airbnb, right? So it hits your bank account. What like after you know, after the first night, it hits your bank account, what, three three to five days, they say, right? Or whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01That was another reason why I chose PayPal. It hits PayPal the next day. So if somebody checks in today, my payout is on PayPal tomorrow. And then I can instantly transfer it to my bank. And PayPal does have a feature where um, if you're getting so many transactions, you can call them and tell them you want um auto transfer. So it's like an auto dump every day, it just dumps whatever's in there to your bank account.
SPEAKER_05And you say it's instant, but don't you don't you have to pay for instant?
SPEAKER_01No, you're right. It's not instant. I don't pay for instant. I wait the three days, but it really doesn't take three days. Um, my business bank account is with Sun Trust, now truest. Uh so it takes maybe a day and a half, depending on what day of the week it is.
SPEAKER_05Okay, cool. That's that's okay. That's what I was worried about. I was worried about okay, it's gonna take three to five days to get to PayPal, and then three to five days to get to the bank. So I was like, oh man, five to ten days to get to, but you're saying it hits PayPal instantly. That is okay, that's that makes me feel better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and with the timeshares rolling, it's I'm really doing that every day. So it doesn't bother me to have it wait the two days or however long it takes to get to my bank account.
SPEAKER_03Right, right.
SPEAKER_01Because I know it's it's going.
SPEAKER_03I I never I I've never thought about using the PayPal working capital plug. So you're using PayPal, you have a leverage with PayPal working in capital, then you have more leverage with the bank.
SPEAKER_01That that's yeah, and then what I did with my rental car business is I thought about it and I was like, I really don't want to start another business because I want to be able to be able to get business lines of credit so I can buy cars. And I was like, well, it's still share economy. So what I did was I did a DBA. So my car rental company is a DBA of my corporate housing company, and I set up, you know, its own business bank account. It's really at a separate bank because I have that account at Navy Federal, um, which I get, you know, my at-home corporate housing now has a relationship there, plus the DBA, and I'm at Sun Trust. So I have two banking relationships, which of course always credit union way to go. But that helps me not have to create credit history again and building up business credit and you know, more inquiries on personal credit, guaranteeing stuff. You know, I have one company now that I can do multiple things with.
SPEAKER_05And so and you run all that money coming in through PayPal as well.
SPEAKER_01That money actually goes directly into the bank account because higher car did not have an option to go through PayPal. But if they did, I would have chosen that. Yeah, and with higher car, they deposit every 48 hours.
SPEAKER_05So when yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01No, I was gonna say when people renew every like most of them renew by the day. So even though they're renewing every day, you only get the payouts every two days.
SPEAKER_05Okay. See that I mean all the all the you know, hitting the getting the credit from PayPal, getting the credit from the you know, bank or credit union, all that's great. But I mean, I guess the one of the biggest aspects is that when, like you said, when you're dealing with an apartment complex, they just see all the money transactions. They don't see Airbnb, so they're not gonna get scared off. Oh, you're just gonna come in here and Airbnb. That's that's that's the biggest thing to me I see in this.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I have a question on that. Have you had luck? Like, I know you don't, I know Airbnb doesn't show up on your bank statements, but have you had luck doing proof of income by showing just like a PL out of QuickBooks?
SPEAKER_01Yep. Like this time with this unit, which I think is weird since I already have a unit there, but this was the first time anybody's asked me for bank statements because the first time I got them with them, they wanted a PL, they want a copy of the business tax return, um, which since it was the LLC, it's on my personal tax return. And that's all they asked for. And then one apartment complex didn't really ask for anything. They just wanted to verify that I was the owner of the company and that we had a legitimate business because I do use a virtual address for my business, so it's not my home address either.
SPEAKER_03I gotta do that.
unknownYeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I use i post a one, and I have mo I have like four businesses and one address um because it's $9.99 a month, but they have locations everywhere, every state.
SPEAKER_03Now, now if they have to send mail there physically, how does that work?
SPEAKER_01So, depending on what it is, I really don't get a lot of mail there. Um, except when I got my first direct booking guest, they started sending me checks. Luckily, it the address is like right down the street, well, not right down the street, but it's within 20 minutes of my house. So I went there and picked up the mail, and they charge you like a dollar to pick up the mail, but they'll also forward the mail to you. And for stuff that you don't physically need, I just have them scan it in so I can see what it is. They scan it in as a PDF. You can download it and have them, you know, throw it away out of the mailbox if you don't need it physically.
SPEAKER_05That costs extra or huh?
SPEAKER_01They charge you for everything.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's $9.99.
SPEAKER_01But if you do it in bulk, like what I usually do is because I don't get a lot of stuff there, and I cut out them sending me checks, cut that out. So I usually only go to my mailbox probably once a month, usually in the middle of the month, um, because they only charge me a dollar to pick up. So the more things I can pick up at one time, it's only a dollar instead of me going there once a week or whatever. And for that one, I stopped having them scan stuff since I'm gonna go once a month. But I also have one in Minnesota, um, because my fiance has a trucking company out of Minnesota. So for that one, I just have them scan everything, and I don't get anything important sent there that I physically need. I haven't had to have anything forwarded to me so far. But if it is, you just pay the regular postage on it.
SPEAKER_05I guess it seems pretty cool because like let's just say you're gonna go to uh an apartment complex in Phoenix, and they're like, who's this out-of-town person, you know, trying to rent from us, whatever? But you show your address is a Phoenix address. I mean, there that that builds trust right away, right?
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. And I don't know that with corporate though, that they would really care. Okay, but that is an option, right?
SPEAKER_02Right, right. Okay.
SPEAKER_01And the good thing about it, I believe you can put up to four businesses on one address, plus you know, your personal name is on there, and you can put up to four personal names on there. So it can be used for you know different things if you are going out of state.
SPEAKER_03Now, how now does the forward cost money?
SPEAKER_01Yes, it does.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Now they charge you like a dollar for their service fee and then regular postage costs.
SPEAKER_03Okay, yeah, I'd pick it up too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I've had like certain credit cards, they only want to send it to the business address, not my home address. So I'm like, okay, no problem. I let them send it there. And you know, had to go get it or have them forward it to me.
Virtual business address through iPostal1
SPEAKER_05Cool. So when you're approaching uh apartment complex to do corporate and and then they give you these forms to fill out stuff like that, uh what exactly are they looking for? They always say they want like one to two years of uh you know of business of business credit, right? Which you already had because you started building it up, you know, a couple years ago, right?
SPEAKER_01I didn't have two years, I had like a year and some change. Um, and I've really only run into one apartment complex that completely denied me because I didn't have two years, because it was uh the Cortland apartments. They wanted two years of business credit, not two years of being in business, um, which I didn't have that. But aside from that, most of them want to see that you are a legitimate business that's making money. So they are gonna ask for either a PL, tax return, bank statements, whatever that particular company wants. Um, and then they're gonna ask for uh other vendors that you have. Like I put U-line and Granger and Quill on my application as vendors, um, in my bank, you know, who I bank with, stuff like that. And in the beginning, I didn't have anything other than Quill and U-line. Like that was it. I didn't have any credit cards then or anything.
SPEAKER_05And so explain to our listeners what Quill and U-line are.
SPEAKER_01Um they are net 30 business accounts, so they are essentially companies where you can go order supplies and they will invoice you, and you have 30 days to pay that invoice, and they will report your payment to Dun and Bradstreet. Now, at the current moment, Quill is not reporting um due to COVID. They're not reporting to Dun and Bradstreet currently, but hopefully that will change.
SPEAKER_03So, wow, that is due to COVID that they're not reporting.
SPEAKER_01They said something about it. They sent out a whole letter. I don't remember what it said, but yeah, everything's due to COVID right now.
SPEAKER_05I know, right? Oh man, dropping some gems today. Heavy ones.
SPEAKER_01Well, this is for me, I was scared. Like, I was one of those people who, okay, I listen to podcasts, I watch YouTube videos, I've learned about this, I'm doing the timeshares, but to get an actual local unit, like, uh, how do I know somebody's gonna rent this thing? Like, I'm gonna go and spend Spend $5,000 and furnishing this unit and all this stuff, and then I just wait. So that was kind of my apprehension. And it kind of worked out for me the way that I did it. And then once I did it, I was like, oh shit.
SPEAKER_03Easy money.
SPEAKER_01Because the acquisition part was just easy. And it's so easy to get a customer to pay for it. And of course, eventually it'd be nice for me to, you know, do like you guys and get four or five units at a time. But you know, for me to get a unit and have somebody else pay for it, and I don't have to come out of pocket, and my cash flow is still going, and I have money sitting in my business bank account all day.
SPEAKER_03I love that model though. I love the model of hey, you already have the client, you just go set it up, they pay you a down the uh down payment, and you can use that to go acquire the unit. I love that model.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because then it's like, okay, oh, you're gonna stay for 90 days. That means I have 90 days to figure this out. I have 90 days because what I've done on all of my units, I get professional photos, I get professional video walkthrough. So I have video tours. So I'm putting that on TikTok, on Instagram, on Facebook. I'm, you know, not as much as I should, but it's out there. And you know, that's stuff I'm using in the meeting between time while somebody is there. So I'm marketing this unit, getting the buzz up. And I have had people like um, because I've had a unit up and it had no um stays or no reviews, and somebody's like, Well, why don't you have any reviews and your place looks like this? Because I've been doing direct bookings, I haven't had to use Airbnb for all of my listings. Like I have a listing where I've had somebody there almost 11 months, it has never been on Airbnb or VRBL.
SPEAKER_03Great, I love it. Have you on the case?
SPEAKER_01I kind of worked in backwards, like I'm still trying to get used to like I've never used a channel manager. You know, I've just been kind of winging it, you know, between Federico and the timeshares and Smart B and me.
SPEAKER_03That's as passive as you can get.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but now it's like I'm ready for, I think I have enough to where I can justify a channel manager and you know, getting stuff more automated so I can like even up to till now, I haven't had cameras either. I haven't had automated locks. I have lockboxes because all the leasing agents were so cool with me. They're like, Yeah, you can put a lockbox up, you can do whatever you want. So I just put lockboxes up because I was like, What if the Wi-Fi goes down and they can't get in and this and that? And it's worked out until recently.
SPEAKER_05Oh, what happened? What happened?
SPEAKER_01I had a direct booking guest, and I should have known something wasn't right, but long story short, he booked, paid like $3,000 up front. Great, he said he wanted to stay for six months. Cool. So as we get towards the third week, he's like, Hey, I'm with this new job, I don't get paid till Friday of this month, which was like the fourth or something like that. Can I pay you know the rent on Friday? And I'm like, this is a corporate housing company. We are not a traditional leasing company, we do not deal with late payments. However, as a one-time courtesy, because you are intended to be a long-term guest, I will give you until Friday, but this is only one time. So Friday comes. I send him the PayPal invoice before the first with the late fee on it, because I did charge a late fee. I didn't hear nothing come Friday. I'm texting, I'm calling, no answer, no response. And I don't have cameras, so I can't look and see because I'm like, is he okay? Did something happen? So, you know, I had to call my brother and my husband, and we had to roll down there.
SPEAKER_05Some muscle. Some muscle.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because what I did first, because I'm like, I just want him to go. Like, I hope he didn't mess up my stuff, but so I sent him checkout instructions Saturday morning Saturday morning, like at midnight. And I told him, I said, by Monday at 11 a.m., my cleaner will be there to clean his apartment for my next guest. You need to be gone. He never responded, never said a word. So shoo, we roll down there. And I'm like thinking in my head, now what am I gonna say to the leasing office? Because this is about to be some ish. But luckily, we get there. One, my apartment was unlocked, but he was gone. It was in good condition, nothing was taken. He even got all his trash out.
SPEAKER_03So, okay, so he wasn't there. Unit wasn't it?
SPEAKER_01He wasn't there, he had brought all his stuff at the front door, but he cleaned it all out. It was really in good condition. Um, and we changed the locks, of course. And he did leave my thobs and my parking pass, so we were good on that. So I was like, I went immediately from there to Best Buy so that I could get the um August lock and the cameras and all that stuff. And I decided not to get the doorbell camera because I see so many people saying they're covering the doorbell and all that. I still got a ring camera, but I got excuse me, like an indoor-outdoor camera that I put above the door so they can't cover it. So it's like facing down, looking down on them. Plus, I didn't want everybody that's walking by to be setting the thing off.
SPEAKER_03That's a good idea. I might have to get that down camera. That's a smart one right there. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I left the lockbox up, so I'll use those now in case of emergency if the Wi-Fi goes down.
SPEAKER_05Right, right. No, no, you got it all set up. Um this has been this has been a great show. I mean, we've we've talked about everything from hire car, timeshares, uh credit hacks, uh, how to how to build your business credit, you know, corporate leasing. I mean, wow, what else? What's what's in it? What's in your future? What do you what do you got planned for your future?
SPEAKER_01I'm shooting for my seven streams of income. Like next is I wanna burr. That is next on my list. Like um, we didn't get to do it last year, the tax lien sales uh in Detroit. So I am patiently, impatiently waiting for September to come so that I can get me a house and see what's cracking down there. So that is next on my list. I wanna yeah, I want to borrow property, and then I would like to start buying property to Airbnb, preferably multifamily, but I'm down for condos.
SPEAKER_03Now, yeah, if you need we got a few, yeah, we got a few Detroit plugs, so yeah, that is definitely a good play. I will tell you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we were supposed to do our our road trip, our field trip to Detroit. We didn't mess us up.
SPEAKER_03We end up, I know COVID messed us up. We ended up going to Vegas and it was raining.
SPEAKER_01It was cold in Vegas. Holy hell, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So what we gotta do is, yeah, so I will tell everybody the Burr method with short-term rentals is the top most powerful play in real estate right now on the single family side. If you have time, learn how to burr, because that is the that is a game changer right there. So definitely. But yeah, Tiada, thank you for coming on. This has been a wealth of knowledge. Wealth of knowledge. I've got a bunch of stuff I wrote down over here, and uh, yeah, definitely. Go ahead, Steve.
SPEAKER_05Well, I think people are gonna call you for a few reasons, you know, if you want to give out your information. And and one of them is is how do they get on this higher card thing? Is it H Y R E? Yes, H Y R E. Okay, but the you you run it all through a management company, which I've I've seen their videos and stuff. It seems pretty cool. I didn't take the leap because I was like, ah, I gotta stay focused on what I'm trying to do right now, you know. But what's cool about how you're doing it, you get your different streams of income set up and you're you're letting you know an expert handle it for you. So you're not like I'm going crazy with doing the juggling too many things. You got someone for doing your hire car, you got someone doing your time shares, and you're you're currently doing your um your corporate rentals, but I mean maybe you could pass that, pass that off one day too. You teach someone how to do that for you. And um, so I like I like that you're growing, but then you're you're handing each thing off so you can stay focused on one thing and do that one, you know, perfectly or you know, really good. And um so they're gonna be hitting you up and and definitely leave leave your information and um yeah, where can people find you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that's the key to growing businesses and becoming a business owner versus an entrepreneur is putting systems in place and putting someone in your place to now manage and run that business, so then you can either focus on another business or you can enjoy your life. So I'm trying to master that. But you can find me. I am on Instagram, I am homes by Tiana on Instagram and at home corporate housing as well on Instagram.
SPEAKER_05Homes by Tiana.
SPEAKER_03Straight killing it. This is up for real. I'm up here. I need to I know I already took some notes. I need to change my business address for one. Um, but that leverage in the bank, that pay at that PayPal plug was yeah, because I oh, so I didn't mention, but I quit my job.
SPEAKER_01So I eliminated my daytime job in 2019. So like 2020 was like, okay, I'm out, I'm doing this full time, and then COVID comes, and I'm like, oh shit. So now we gotta do this, and I have to get multiple streams of income because I have to one replace the income that I had, but it's so inconsistent because we don't know what's going on. Every day is you know unpredictable. Even now we thought things would be back 100% now, and it's still kind of sketchy a little bit. So I had to do multiple things so that I'm able to replace my income and cover, you know, all of my expenses.
SPEAKER_05So so you're still but you're still uh a real estate agent though, right?
SPEAKER_01I am okay.
SPEAKER_05So you do that kind of as a as your day job.
SPEAKER_01Inventory is low.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_01Inventory is very low. So if you or someone you know is looking to sell a house, call me because we need houses on the market.
SPEAKER_03Listing agents right now is where the money's at.
SPEAKER_01Man, yeah, because it's it's so many buyers out here. Like even now, um, what made me get my other two-bedroom unit at an apartment complex, I really wanted to try to go with the private owner. There are no rentals either. You know, I went on the MLS and I'm like, okay, let me find a condo or even a single family house. There are none.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_02There ain't nowhere to rent right now.
SPEAKER_01Even with the apartment complex, I can't get this unit till July. Like they have no vacancies.
SPEAKER_03Wow. Even if you like go to like three-bedroom apartments, they no vacancies?
SPEAKER_01No vacancies. Which is very rare.
SPEAKER_03That's funny because I earlier now, I know I told people I was real close to selling my house, and then when people kept saying, Where are you gonna go? Well, I had already looked up like apartments, I'm like, you can just go get a three-bedroom, but I guess that inventory would be low if I guess we truly are in a housing shortage right now, aren't we?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because what happened was like a couple months ago, there were apartment complexes that had whole buildings that were empty. Like when I got my unit in Atlanta, I got such a good deal because they had half of a whole building that was empty. Um, but that quickly changed because you know, you have people that were coming up on their um leases ending that had already been under the pandemic, under the no eviction thing. And it's like, no, they can't evict you, but they don't have to renew your lease. So as those leases were ending, now all these people have to find somewhere to go. So I'm assuming that's what happened. Obviously, I don't know for sure, but yeah, it's it's nothing out there now.
SPEAKER_03Speaking of that, I'm gonna tell people out there if you own a home right now, get yourself a HELOC. If you ain't gonna sell, get a HELOC. Like, that's some free money. And I'm talking this it's some free money sitting out there. I'm just saying, get you a HELOC if you want a home.
SPEAKER_01And because inventory has been so low, the values in certain areas have been going sky high.
SPEAKER_05Crazy. It's nuts, man. Ah, well, this has been a great show. Thank you so much for hopping on with us. And yeah, look for homes by Tiana, everybody out there, and start funneling everything to PayPal. That's how that's that's my big lesson of the day. I'm gonna tell Federico. Get on that, man. Let's get on that PayPal train. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you for hopping on.
SPEAKER_01We hope to thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we'll have you again in the future because we want to see your progress. Because by the time we have you on the next time, you probably have like 20 cars and like 50 uh condos. Who knows? Seven streams of income.
SPEAKER_03We're gonna interview you when you're at that seven streams. That'll probably be next year or something. You probably in a few months, you kill it. For real.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because the car management company is franchising, and I am definitely buying.
SPEAKER_03Oh, nice. Uh yeah, I need to bring that to Dallas, then we gotta bring that to the DFW. That's that's yeah.
SPEAKER_01So by the end of this year, they will be franchising to get it in other markets. So that is something to keep your ears to the streets on.
SPEAKER_05Sweet. Well, all right. Well, thank you, Tiana.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_05Keep hustling, thank you every day.
SPEAKER_01Like, y'all take care, have a good one.
SPEAKER_03You too, you too. Bye, man. That that was some power right there. That was a heavy episode.
SPEAKER_05Big time, man. She was dropping all kinds of gems. So your doggy, your doggy hears something to what yeah, my bad. No, it's fine.
SPEAKER_03But no, um, but yeah, man, that that was powerful. That was real powerful.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and god man, there's so many people that are that are discovering these things, and then they hop on our show and they share it with the world. It's like, wow, yeah, we don't there's so much wealth and knowledge. I mean, uh every time I on the show, I have a full piece of paper of all these things, man, that I'm learning. And yeah, we're not teaching. I mean, yeah, we're we're teaching by by having great guests on and you know, sharing our knowledge, but I think we learn a lot more than than we teach from this show, and then uh the listeners out there.
SPEAKER_03Bro, I would not be where I am without this show, bro. Like, that's a fact, man. Like, this is crazy. The stuff she's doing, man, the lines of credit, the level that the power part when she said she had her daughters credit at like what a 740 something by the time she was 18. Like, yeah, that's how the rich people do it, man.
SPEAKER_05They put all the kids on their lines of credit, and they got you know 800 credit scores right away, you know, right off the bat. I said the the rich get richer, the rich keep, you know, it's just it's just they got the credit, they got the money, they you know, that's how it is, and we're trying to get there, and then we're gonna change, you know, how how our kids come up. You know, it's it's a beautiful thing, it's beautiful, uh, life-changing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. That's a fact, man. That was powerful, dude. Uh got 240 listings off the timeshare. That's dope. But yeah, man, uh, this is a great episode. I can't wait to hop back in next week. Uh, I think this is gonna be a powerful episode. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_05So drop your company and I'll drop my company, and then we'll end it right here.
SPEAKER_03What's your company?
SPEAKER_05My company. I'm glad you asked. It's our just uh just rentals, arges, rentals.com. Our just is the largest. You know, I'm I'm coming up with cash phrases this time. And so me and Federico, you know, we're starting to manage more units, and we got another Zoom call coming up to people uh you know onboarding a couple more units. And it is growing, it's beautiful, and um, and yeah, so that's my company. Yeah, hit us up. We can manage from anywhere. We we we get the we get the thing going, we we'll deal with all the cleanings, turnovers, boots on the ground. We got we got you covered. Our just is the largest, our just rentals, y'all.
SPEAKER_03That's dope.
SPEAKER_05What do you got? What do you got? What do you got?
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, yeah. Share B and B. This is what I do, you know. Hit us up. Hit it go to the website if you want to go book somewhere in Dallas, Houston, Arkansas, or anywhere across the globe, really. So yeah, uh, this has been a dope episode. I'm loving this one. So thank you. And also, thank y'all for continuing to listen to us. Uh man, we learn, like Steve said, we learn more from this podcast than the knowledge we give out. It's crazy. Like if you're listening and learning, we're learning where we're with you. So, yeah, definitely thank you for continuing to listen to us.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, always have a notebook with you when you listen to our show.
SPEAKER_03Facts. Drop some heavy gems. If you were listening, she dropped some heavy ones. So, yeah. All right, guys. We are out later.
SPEAKER_00Peace. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Live Let Drive. Be sure to tune in next week for all the latest in the world of Airbnb and all that entails. Bye bye.
People on this episode
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
Real Estate Rookie
BiggerPockets
Entrepremarriage
Myka & Mahogany
The Co-Living Show
Craig Curelop and Miller McSwain
BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast
BiggerPockets
LEAN Podcast
Mahogany
