Spending money consistently on a cash flow negative rental isn't smart. It might be time to change your strategy.

Vacation rentals are a great way to make extra income from your property investments. Short term rental provider, HomeAway https://www.homeaway.com/info/getting-started/income reports that the run-of-the-mill vacation rental property owner nets $11,000 a year.

But if you consistently have to spend rental profits on roof repairs, vacancies, regular maintenance, bad tenants etc, you probably have a cash flow negative property on your hand. And there are two approaches to dealing with this problem. You can either wait it out and hope things will somehow change or kickstart an exit strategy to move on.

While cash flow doesn't have to be a decisive factor, especially when you have a vacation rental property in an up and coming neighborhood with strong potential appreciation rates. Many times, you might be spending more than you bargained for with your rental. And the faster you discover this, the better.

This article outlines five signs of negative cash flow vacation rentals but before we proceed let's see a simple formula for measuring cash flow on an investment property:

Cash Flow = Total Income (Application fees, Rent, etc.) - Total Expenses (Monthly mortgage (if applicable); General Maintenance, Electricity, HOA, Property Management, vacancies etc.)

As a rule of thumb when buying an investment property, it is wise to set aside an emergency fund to cover at least first six months of expenses. So let's dive right in and see some of the signs to watch for.

1. High vacancy/Low occupancy rate in a location: What's the occupancy rate for your neighborhood? An important sign of a cash flow negative property is high vacancy rate in the neighborhood. According to Turnkey VR https://blog.turnkeyvr.com/much-money-can-make-vacation-rental/ specializing in the management of turnkey vacation rental homes, "Occupancy rates for vacation rentals can be all over the map. For instance, a vacation rental home in a big city might create more demand than a rental property at a seasonal location like the beach". Location is key when buying real estate, especially for investment. Hence it's wise to spend time researching a neighborhood before taking the plunge.

2. High Maintenance property: Are you doling out high monthly fees for property maintenance? Then you might be dealing with a cash flow negative property. A 30-year-old property might offer a great deal but when you have to spend considerable time and money on maintenance and fixes monthly, you have to ask yourself if it's worth it.

3. Declining Rental Property Market: How strong is the rental property market? There is a strong correlation between a thriving property market and low vacancy rates. Many times a declining rental market is a sign of underlying economic issues, most times accompanied by high unemployment rates and slow growth. Sticking around in such a neighborhood would be unwise. Unless you're confident about a significant development in the neighborhood in coming years.

4. High Property Taxes: Did property taxes go up? Taxes can get tricky, especially when you're buying as a foreigner. However, when sudden tax changes are eating up your income, then you have a negative cash flow property.

5. Problem Tenants: Are problem tenants eating up your profits? You have two options, regarding managing your rental property. You can either hire a property management company, which means more expenses but better management. Or you can just ride it solo. While this offers you the chance to take an active role with your property, dealing with problem tenants (tenants who break things, tenants refusing to pay rent or pay promptly, tenants causing disturbance etc.) is a major headache and can eat into your profits.

Hence the importance of having a screening process that's hard to bypass. However, if you deal with problem tenants a lot, it might be time to consider setting an exit strategy in motion.

You can take advantage of short-term rental cash flow with sites like HomeAway and AirBnb. While tenant turnover rates can be high in the short term, short term rentals can be profitable, especially in a popular destination such as a ski resort or beach community.

The most important aspect of agent-client relationship is communication. A house seller or buyer can find it stressful dealing with an agent or buyer who is not a good communicator. An agent that stays in constant contact with clients and answers their questions proves his or her proactivity.

Yes you need to let buyers and sellers know where they stand quickly so they can move on to another property or potential buyer. Real estate is time sensitive. Buyers and sellers need the right information and need it fast. Hence, one of the qualities of a good agent is the ability to give the right information to the right kind of buyer at the right time. What an experienced agent might deem insignificant information might be important information to clients who are new to the real estate game. Putting the right information in front of clients communicate that you're an agent who puts clients first.

It's the responsibility of a good agent to sort out what clients need to know and provide this information. Hence it's important that an agent has a well updated website complete with valuable information. You don't really need to pressure your clients with too much information. Just the right information will do. Here are five content types that real estate buyers and sellers find valuable.

REAL ESTATE CONTENT TYPES THAT WORK

When correctly done, real estate content marketing can be a game changer for your real estate business. You have the chance to attract thousands of new leads through well-researched, helpful content. This is why effective real estate bloggers put a lot of plan and effort into creating the right content for their real estate website. Here are some of the real estate content types you should be posting for your real estate business.

1. Market Reports. Writing a recap of real estate activity in your community for the month shows you as a knowledgeable real estate agent in the community. Buyers and sellers want to be informed about the real estate market in their area of residence. Even if they aren't going to take action immediately, when you post fact-based market reports, they know whom to approach for questions. Also, Google ranks market reports high. Since few realtors are posting them, your posts have less competition.

2. Local Community Information. A local community guide includes details about a neighborhood such as detailed information about the local real estate market, local economy, housing and population, local school information, parks and restaurants and attractions. This type of content is important because it increases your real estate website's SEO value and helps the area residents see that you have strong knowledge of the community.

3. Home buyer and seller tips. Both buyers and sellers have a lot of questions on their minds about real estate. Providing helpful information on your site can be timely and help you gain more leads. However, when covering the questions, your visitors would find it much more helpful if you cover the topic in 'extreme' detail and they'll love you for it.

Cold calling for sale by owners or door knocking is old school. A much better way of gaining trust and new leads is through helpful content.  When you consistently post content that real estate buyers and sellers love, you'll start reaping the benefits of real estate content marketing.

I’ve always been intrigued by the way surfers ride across the waves. The surfer waits long for a little sign, puts his gear in motion, gets into position near the peak and glides through with a small wave, trying to catch the big wave before it breaks. It’s a really risky game, requires a lot of patience. But he trusts his calculations, stays perpendicular to the upcoming waves and there he goes, riding the wave. Successful real estate investors have learnt to move like the surfer.

They have figured out that the best investment strategy as a real estate investor is to simply be on the lookout. That is, open your ears and eyes to the possibilities available to you. A lot of real estate investors built their real estate empires by being informed and proactive when they spotted opportunities. How do you adopt this same strategy and generate wealth by spotting hot real estate markets?

Yea, it’s true. Too much information may be disadvantageous in some cases. All you need may be a stroke of intuition. Alas some real estate investors fall into the trap of making ‘educated guesses’ and filling their heads with too much details. Eventually, what could appear to be a ‘hot property’ ends out being a deal turned sour. Looks may be deceiving. But you need to look at the obvious signs and trust your instinct at the same time to ride the big wave of global property investing.

IDENTIFYING AREAS OF GROWTH

1. Gentrification.

These areas may have had poor reputation in the past, but now they are seeing homeowners moving in and changing the suburban landscape. Are there a number of renovation and improvement projects going on? Are new homes being built? Which means developers are turning their focus to that area. Are new cafes or retailers opening up? Most importantly, compare house pricing for a period of 2-3 years, if prices have grown steadily, look at the demographics. An increasing number of young residents with decent incomes is a strong indication that a suburb is about to gentrify.

2. Look for the ripple effect.

If you cannot afford to buy in a hot real estate market (you may have missed the mark this time), you may still be able to shop in the area by checking the surrounding suburbs. This takes time, so you need to know what phase, the local real estate market cycle is in. This will help maximize your chances of riding the wave of growth. How to analyze real estate market cycles.

3. Examine supply and demand

The relationship between supply and demand for property in an area is a key factor in price growth. If there is no more capacity to build in the suburb, but demand continues to grow, prices are likely to rise.

TIPS FOR FINDING HIGH DEMAND AND LOW SUPPLY AREAS.

·        Look for areas where rental performance is increasing. This indicates that an area is popular with tenants. When tenants become owners, they also tend to buy in the same area they are renting;

·        Look at the demographics of people moving in the area. For instance, suburbs where median age is around 35 or so tend to gentrify faster as these demographics tend to have better incomes and can thus afford to buy or rent more expensive properties;

·        Look for areas with increasing population. The population itself is not enough to boost prices, but when combined with other indicators such as increased incomes and low supply, this is a good indication that real estate prices will grow in the area.

·        Look for large ongoing infrastructure projects. This is a good indicator that the area is likely to see an increase in demand for housing as workers gather in search of employment. Projects that have already begun are preferable, as project pledges can fall through with changes in government and as budget priorities change.

Yes, you can be the one sitting on the next hot property. All it takes is a little knowledge, research and intuition.