Christina VanDergrift - Vacation Rentals: the Ultimate Guide: My Wealth-Creating Secrets with Little to No Money Down!

VACATION RENTALS:
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

My Wealth-Creating Secrets
with Little to No Money Down!

CHRISTINA VANDERGRIFT

Copyright 2021 Christina VanDergrift.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,
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any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer
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ISBN: 978-1-9822-6210-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-6212-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-6211-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021900986

Balboa Press rev. date: 02/01/2021

Dedicated to Barb, Aunt Bob. You told me the very last time that I saw
you, that I had the most grace and biggest balls of anyone that you knew,
and that I should jump on in, whenever I doubt myself. This ones for you!

CONTENTS

PART 1
Getting Started: How I Did It

PART 2
Now Its Your Turn!

Have you ever wondered what all of the buzz is about with vacation rentals, a.k.a. Airbnbs? Or have you stayed in one and thought, Wow, I could so make our garage into one! or Maybe I should buy a house and do this? And then maybe the thought stopped there, because you had all sorts of wild and woolly ideas of where it would be or how you would decorate it, and you got so overwhelmed that you didnt know where to start. So like most other dreams, you put it somewhere in the back of your mind for another day. That day still has not comeuntil now! I have been there! Many times, with various ideas and dreams. How about this: have you ever wanted to make more money? Or create more long-term wealth, or any wealth for that matter? Free vacations, anyone?

According to an article about global vacation rental statistics at ipropertymanagement.com, the projected vacation rental revenue for 2019 was $87.09 billion! That does not include any hotel or motel stays just homes, cabins, cottages, apartments, and any other random structure that has been converted into a vacation rental. So why not you? Wouldnt you like to have a piece of that huge pie? The revenue in this area is expected to continually grow annually, surpassing the annual global revenue for hotels very soon. That same article explains that millennials currently make up 40 percent of the global travelers and travel more than any other age group. They are predicted to spend $1.4 trillion on travel each year as of 2020 and are more likely to choose a vacation rental than a traditional hotel. It could not be a better time for you to explore this new idea and learn how you can create exceptional spaces where memories can be made and where you can make some extra money and potentially build equity in the meantime!

When I started down the vacation rental path, it baffled me that there was not a single go-to manual to explain the process. I had to figure things out myself from scratch each time, over and over again. There were short little lists or blog posts online, but I didnt get any real information from them or steps to take. They were so vague that I regretted wasting my time even reading them.

Between the launches of my third and fourth vacation rentals, I decided, Enough is enough! I am going to write a book and create a course to teach people how easy it really isand to show them how they can make a ton of money doing it too! Plus, it is just so gratifying to have and operate these rentals and create a space for other people to make lifetime memories in. It has become a huge passion and focus of mine over the last few years. I have been in or selling real estate for more than fifteen years (as a broker/owner at my company), and Ive had investment properties myself for about eight years. I have been extremely successful at all ends of real estate, but Ive realized it is so much more rewarding and fun to have vacation rentals! And they also are much more lucrative than traditional rentals, and you dont have to chase people down for rent money or evict anyone. You can make a lot of extra money on the side, or it could even replace your current income and become your main gigif done right!

I want you to know and keep in mind, thoughwhen I started buying homes myself, I was twenty-two years old and single, with little money, but I was a hustler when it came to my work ethic. I got my real estate license when I was nineteen and learned early on in my career that there were two types of people in this world: (1) the ones who had invested in real estate early and who often were pretty well-off and established, not having to kill themselves as they got older, and (2) the ones who hadnt and still lived paycheck to paycheck with no nest egg or equity to speak of. The latter people kicked themselves for not buying real estate earlier in their life when it was cheaper and also tended to not take risks and to stick to their nine-to-five job security, not getting out of their comfort zone. (My family, on both sides, belongs in this category.)

I decided during those early years that I wanted to belong to the first category, and I was willing to put in whatever work or self-education was necessary to make that happen. That is also when I came up with my own mottos to live by: Live Life Out of Your Comfort Zone, Life Is What You Make It, and Make It Happen! You will see these common threads in everything that I do!

So here goes! Here is the first-ever, easy-to-read guide, covering all of my trials and errors, what to do and what not to do, the must-haves, and basically a cheat sheet for figuring it all out so that anyone on any budget in any area can make it happen! Whether your budget is big or small, this guide will help you decide if owning and operating a vacation rental is for you, where to start, and the order to go in to get the process rolling. Beginning with my first rental, I will walk you through my experiences in the industry, through what it looks like managing a rental yourself versus using a property manager and going live. I will teach you how to price a property and what you need to provide for amenities and will save you a lot of work, money, and time along the way. I do believe that anyone can do this with any budget and am so excited to be on this journey with you. I will break the process down into small tangible pieces so that anyone at any level of experience can understand the process and how to make it happen.