How Hampton got $20,000 in Airbnb bookings in the first weeks

0:00 so in today's episode we're talking with Hampton who's a process engineer along with his wife who's a county lawyer we're going to talk about their journey and what made them decide to start an Airbnb business over other businesses and how they were able to secure $20,000 with the bookings in a short amount of time we're going to learn about his strategic approach on how he selects and setups his properties and how he's able to balance everything with the demanding day job this is a great episode we talk about a lot of tactical stuff you don't want to miss this one all righty hey Hampton excited to be chatting with you today you got an awesome property you know on the water and so you know before we get going let's kind of talk about you know how you got started you know real estate your entrepreneur journey and then also what you do for a living and then you know that kind of give the viewers good background and they we'll take it from there okay yeah sure sure so a little bit about my background my daily job is I'm a process engineer I work for a company that we're Consulting Engineers I work there my wife's a lawyer she works here for the local County and we've been talking about getting in trying to get into investment properties and we've been just trying to we've been kicking it around for several years I actually started doing a little bit more digging as we started kind of getting in through our careers and getting to a point where I kind of felt like I wanted to do something a little bit different and kind of just wanted to start branching out we I started doing a lot of research on rental properties I've seen everything and then I actually got in actually saw one of your legacy investing shows and I started one of your little Facebook and stuff and started following and got really really interested stepped into one of your little seminars you did for how to do

1:17 short-term rentals and everything got hooked on that and got a lot of knowledge and finally got to and that finally gave me to the point where we we decided to take a leap and and start and start doing the short-term rental invest once we started once we did that we started looking for properties looked for a long for months trying to find the right property and stuff and specifically with the one we have in in L Gast and um kind of as I said it's my parents property and we kind of were looking at places to start up there that's kind of where we wanted to start we had been there before that was something that was comfortable for us to start with and so I was talking about it with my parents and I was like hey uh we're looking at places to start up there and they were like well what are you going to be doing I was like well we man the short-term rentals and I kind of explained it to them and I kind of showed them I actually took some of the tools that you kind of provided with us that were like I like a lot so far as breaking down what to expect and stuff and I took that and showed them I said look this is what it's a great property we love being up there I said so but here's what you could make if we rented it on some of the weekends were're not there and our car presented it to them they looked through it and they were like wow I mean so they kind of like didn't realize what they could be making on it and we kind of started putting things together as we started going through some of the courses and started like really kind of broadening the knowledge on this started putting stuff together they finally agreed for us to rent the property and put it on their BNB and start moving it through kind of

2:35 started from there and it started growing I will say the courses that we that I have really really gave me a good a good fundamentals on what to expect how to do it it has been a very good guy for me to help me get started to help us get started kind of you know just branding into into the property itself awesome man so yeah you know we're going to there's a lot to unpack there but it's kind of take things one thing at a time here so for you know obviously you know your property is awesome um you know we're kind of get get into all that as well so let's first talk about something interesting that you said was you know you were thinking about doing this for years with your wife right so what was like kind of that final you know push you know over the fence to be like okay I'm going to this is like it I'm going to start this now versus you know maybe like I don't know if this is the right time cuz you know a lot of people get stuck in analysis paralysis or you know they see all these different business models out there and they're like I don't know which one they just don't end up doing anything so what was kind of that final nudge to you know finally get started with something it was so the final thing pushed for me was so as consultant engineer and we you know the company I mean they have their highs and their lows and so we were kind of going through kind of a low period where like for work and I was kind of you know still getting my hours in and stuff but it was something that I was like okay well there's going to be times where I'm going to have lows and work and there may there may be times where you know the company just doesn't have work for experient period of time and I may have to may not have work if I don't have work I don't get paid so it was

3:52 kind of like you know I think I really think I was talking with my wife and I was really thinking that was like we really need something like extra you know to help us kind of you know make it through anytime that way we're can be financially stable and say okay it doesn't matter if I don't have work for a month or two we still got rentals we still got the rentals we can rely on to help with that and then she's got her job and she doesn't have to worry about if she needs to do anything specific with that or be work any extra with that and we could kind of be you know be financially independent and we looked at a lot of things I mean I looked at there was a lot of things going on everybody saying you can do anything from you know 18 TM machine vending machines all this other different stuff and I was just like man I just it isn't a lot of that stuff just didn't didn't seem to fit with me didn't really seem to like meet what we were doing and then we followed some of your legacy investing shows and some little things like that to started saying okay well you can automate this and do that and I was like man that seems like that that seems to be more of a fit for us and we did and it just ended up like we were like okay we did it and I was like you know now's the time we've got to do it during that low period it's it's we're in a low period again I've got the time I need to start taking the time to set up and do it and we just sat down came to an agreement said this is okay this is it we're going to just take a leap of faith and just go with it and it's worked out very well very excited about doing it you know been extremely nervous about it but

5:09 sometimes you just got to take a leap of faith and take the risk and it's definitely paning out yeah I think a lot of people you know kind of worry about the whatif right you know especially if you haven't like done any sort of entrepreneu you know anything entrepreneurial right and it's it's totally normal you know everyone goes through it right but you know something that I really like about you know what you guys did was you guys came together like okay this is I'm sure you are making a good living right now being a lawyer being an engineer consultant but you know like a a lot of people you know in the program in the community they're you know really high level people we got doctors we got uh you know Engineers a lot of you know really successful people but even they know like hey like overnight if I get a call you know I might not have that income tomorrow and so really starting to head your bets and you know figuring out okay we need additional sources of income so that way we're not completely stressed if you know one day you know something you know bad were to happen so I think there's a lot of people in the community like that you know love that you were able to kind of take it finally and just be like okay let's let's just go with this because there's you know a bunch ofit business models that can work it's just all about a matter of fit you know like you said um I think that's really really important that dig into before you get started with anything so you know your parents program or property is awesome you know let's talk about kind of the numbers on that property right so I know you said that you got you know $20,000 in bookings within like the first couple weeks of it going live um so where is it at today um and what are we looking at So today we're looking at I think we're

6:26 up to around up to around $30,000 around $30,000 and booking so forth for the year now we started the property back we came online with it just on Airbnb I think it was around mid June end of June so we picked up so basically we've done about little little probably a little over $30,000 in bookings from probably toward the end of June through July August September so being here in October getting into the we're getting into kind of the winter seasons we're trying to really trying to really manage the property and turn it into trying to cover us for like the offseason so to speak so we do have that offseason up there that particular property it does it does get slow in the winter months so for this particular property trying to fill out the the winter month so to speak so our offseason we so we're going through the offseason yeah I mean obviously there's seasonality involved in you know pretty much any market right so understanding like when those are planning for them like you said the way that we look at properties is kind of the aggregate of the entire year right because once when you do that and have all that data you can you know figure out okay this is these are the months where it's going to be slower where we can you know you know keep a little more reserves in here are the busier months where we're going to you know go all in you know make sure that we're fully optimized for that and and then you can you know make it over for the and then when you do the average for the entire year then you can see what your cash flow is going to be so love love that you're going to kind of see the whole you know all the seasonalities of it but you ran the numbers and obviously you know the numbers make sense so excited

7:43 for that so let let's talk about your path moving forward now so like what's your strategy behind uh your your the next property are you looking in the same area um let's talk a little bit more about your future goals here okay so for our future goals is so we started with so with this property up and running we didn't really have to since it was already set up and you know we already kind of had everything set up so we didn't have to put a lot of money into it into it to like you know there's a few little things we had to do to get it you know fire extinguishers you know a few little things to get it done so now that it's done and it's kind of moving and kind of setting it setting itself up we've started to move we found another place where we wanted to do another we have another property that we're working on and we actually just went live with part of it so we have another property that we picked up in in West Virginia big ATV country up there so we picked up that so we picked up a property over there it's kind of coming in two phases this time so we've picked up something and we've kind of gone into a remodeling piece of it so we picked a place that had a had like an apartment in a garage and we've remodeled it and that's part of the property so that property is setting up and it's going and it's doing actually pretty well pretty well right now and now we have as the second part of that second phase of that property we have a house that's right next door that is a fair it's a big house and we're working our way through it remodeling it and getting it set up so hope hopefully looking at

9:00 right now spring of 2024 to have that entire property as a whole completed and done so really excited about that we call it there's a little house and then we call it the big house little house is on is on right now and it's it seems to be since we s loud just at the beginning of October and we've seen probably the first month is probably around $2,500 worth of bookings so far and that just going from October and then we are picking up and then we're we're starting to see we're starting to gain speed and coming up in November to people booking out into November as well so very excited about that so that's that's another big thing it's kind of a different shift from being on the lake being on the lakeef front now we back up into the kind of in the mountain area in the mountain area catering to a little bit different crowd of people yeah let's kind of unpack this deal here so sounds like you guys purchased this property right we did so we came in we found somebody that was looking to move there they had an existing actually they had an existing call it Airbnb place up there they were trying to sell so we bought half of it we bought like there's up and the lower half we bought half we bought the lower half of it and so when we bought it we bought it we bought the house next to it and then we bought two two other Lots there's there's pretty much a lot a couple lots that are right next to each other so we kind of bought all that together and so we did that because after doing the research from using you know using air DNA and using

10:17 some information from that we took that and looked and started looking at some of the properties that were up there and we really wanted to get into that market so we really took that down and said okay by this place we need places for people to park because up there you know everybody P ATVs so they need trailers and they places to park so we really needed to focus on that and that's why we bought the lower half because it had the most space it had the most space and it seemed for where we wanted to be to make sure we had a lot of stuff covered for the property we could so using that information we knew what we could do we knew what we could we kind of use that to back into what we wanted to put into the the little house to start with to get it up and running and it it seems we finally since we finally got it took us a lot of trips up there to get it you know start remodeling everything and put it and put it in place but but it really it's really come together with the research we've done with the design we went with and yeah it's that's come really come along really really well and then the big house it was something that kind of we got and we knew we were going to do it as a later project and once we got done with the little house we were going to move right onto the big house and we've kind of done that so it's it's definitely it's definitely coming together you know it's just Pro we're making progress on it so I'm very excited for spring of 2024 when we get this on Airbnb and getting it rolling the goal for this particular property is to be one of the bigger properties in the area up there and by the time we're

11:34 done with the entire property and call it like the lodge is what we call it but it will be probably one of the bigger properties up there by the time we're said and done it will have I think we're looking at seven bedrooms and five bath we're all said and done with so it's going to be a pretty it's going to be a pretty big property no yeah love love that that strategy cuz you know there's you know there's things that people you know think about and one thing that I think about when I especially when go to purchase a property is these value things right so you had the small apartment with the garage and you know you can get all these bundled up in one deal but you can you know basically they're two different assets right and so you go live with the smaller one you know it takes a little bit you know it's quicker cuz there's less Furniture there's less rehab you have to worry about you start bringing in that income and then you know perfect strategy and then you have that bigger home which is going to be kind of like your cash cow you know coming up in here in a few months and then that once that's live now you basically have two assets on one property so I love that you saw the vision from that cuz you know not a lot of people you know kind of see those Visions they just like like what are we going to do with the stinky apartment right but you're generating you know income from it so you know love that strategy so what are we looking at as far as once everything's done I know the first little apartment's up and running the bigger hous is come up coming like what's the cash FL of numbers looking like for for both properties here so I just had those pulled up the numbers I'll have to I may have to go get them and pull them up but I do know with what we have so our our cash on cash return

12:53 for the little property one now that we're now that we're done with it and I'm still going through figuring out we had some estimates on the Utility side so we're still trying to get the Utility side figured out on what that's actually going to look like more long term but right now our cash on cash return for the little apartment is looking to be somewhere in in the 25 to 30% range so far as for that so really excited just for the little house and then the big house in itself is I think it's going to do a lot better I haven't really sat down and figured out the numbers because what we're what we're trying to do here is have more of a plan forward for the for the big house to make sure when we we've were already worked on the downstairs it's getting put together and now we're getting on the upstairs the upstairs part of the house and working on it so I really don't have quite numbers on there but the initial estimate I did once we all said and done from like going using air DNA was something around 75,000 a year just for the big house and then the little house would pick up whatever it had had the second part so got hopefully we're looking for once I put all the numbers together and I can send you these when I get them done but probably looking north of 100 100 Grand a year in that in that particular property between both of them that's awesome man so yeah I mean for people that don't know what cash on cash return means so basically it's like amount of cash that you get back for the amount of cash that you put in and so for the long-term rental just so people can put into perspective the ones that you get like a couple hundred bucks in cash flow like I mean now it's I would be lucky to get a deal that's like 8% cash on cash return right and so you

14:11 know you're basically almost tripling that from like long-term R that's why such a huge proponent and then of course as you get into Arbitrage those numbers get even crazier but of course you it sounds like you guys have some income you want to take advantage of some of the taxs U the appreciation you all that stuff that you know all the benefits that come along with owning real estate so sounds like guys got yourself an awesome deal here so you know awesome stuff man so let's also talk about you know as you start to scale right because you know a lot of people really don't believe me when they're like there's no way you're working a couple hours per week on your portfolio like it's a Hospitality business you're probably in the day-to-day working 40 hour plus weeks for just a couple properties but like now that these properties up and running like how much time does it take you per week to to manage everything you know I was really worried about that when I first started I said okay I got with my job my wife's job we have two kids two wonderful kids that we have to you know practice you know shuffle to practice and do all that so I was like I have a really busy I have a hectic schedule so I'm like okay how am I going to manage this how am I going to get this and so I was really worried the initial setup getting everything set up so putting everything in the Airbnb getting everything set up and linked up that did take a little bit of my time take a little bit of my time probably like I would say probably spend about two on average two hours a day for the initial week where I can to get everything set up and get everything how I liked it now again that being my first property probably took it took me a little bit longer to get it set up as I was you know being trying to be very

15:27 slow be very methodical about setting everything up to make sure everything work worked like I wanted it to so but now that the place is up and running I log on probably get on guesty every day kind of go through check a few things get on price lab you know check in my pricing tools and all that stuff probably not a whole lot of uh maybe maybe maybe an hour a day at most to manage that to between the two properties right now I'm going through and making sure photos are added up maybe move those around you know at most an hour a day it's not more than that yeah I mean once you have like the solid boots on the ground team you know set up like all you have to do really you know and you're probably spending more time than you you actually need to just because you want to you kind of hone in things but once you know kind of figure out the groove of things with the pricing the guest management and then all the different operational sides and automate all that backend stuff like it becomes you know it's it's honestly like way less than you would expect I'm sure that you've probably found the same yeah it's oh yes it's it's definitely been with between the two properties you know we've had we've had some issues that come up but you know having a good team or having a good list of people to call in that general area that that can help out that can help help out and go address these issues and all I have to do is send a message to somebody be like hey can you do you mind stepping over here I need you to check this out or messaging like the cleaning crew having those messages set up and getting my cleaning crew engaged to where they get every time we get a booking they go ahead they get a message to say hey we

16:44 got a new booking we've got a cleaning on these dates you're going to we're going to have to have a cleaning on these dates and go ahead and get that up front to them and then I said and then another reminder to them a little bit closer to the date saying hey we remember we have this cleaning coming up make sure nothing is changed let me know we can adjust and being very up from with them and getting them engaged like that has been has been very um been very very helpful and that way I'm not chasing somebody down like okay I've got a booking I need to go call this person and call that person and and yeah it's a lot of that automated messaging has helped me out so much and especially with our hectic lifestyle is it's it's been a lifesaver really yeah no no doubt all right man so appreciate the time but you know before we wrap this up always like to ask people that come on to this question so what would you say to someone that's considering kind of playing with the idea starting an a BB business or just any sort of business in general would you what kind of advice would you give to that person I would say definitely it's going to be scary it's going to be very intimidating because there's going to be a lot of things that you think you don't know but if you take the time you be patient do your research look at different things look every look look several look just do your research look up things and to be patient before you buy before you get into your first property and and take that and be very methodical you will have the confidence to do to do what you need to do I mean that's that's the best advice I can give you don't just say oh

18:03 look I found a property that looks great and cheap and I can go ahead and get right into it take the time cuz I Have Made It by taking the time analyzing it using the steps that you've given us and and several other things that I've kind of brought in I've avoided buying trying to going out and just buying a property and and then it's more like hope for the best now make sure the Bigg that's that's probably the biggest F I can give you make sure you take the time be methodical in your evaluation and then and then just commit to it love that man awesome stuff thanks for sharing all the you know the great great news excited to see this huge property Growing Up live here in a few months as well forat on all the success we'll talk to you soon man all right well thank you so much course see you man