This Florida-based travel writer purchased an older property with two bedrooms not far from the Intracoastal Waterway and the beach, renovated it, and converted it into a successful vacation rental property in Palm Beach.
The concept of developing passive income streams is becoming increasingly popular among young DINKs (dual income, no kids) such as my husband and I. Because of this, after the financial success of both my profession as a freelance travel writer and his ultra-specialized social advertising agency, we were looking for ways to diversify the investments that we had in our portfolio.
We had heard nothing but acclaim about purchasing real estate as an investment vehicle, so we couldn't wait to get started in the industry. Warning: despite the tremendous success of our original endeavour, there is no such thing as passive income from this source, at least not while the infrastructure is being put in place.
To aid us in our search, we enlisted the assistance of Ryan Poole, a fellow member of 1909, which is a co-working space and creative community that was co-founded by my husband in the place that we call home, West Palm Beach. RealTrade is a revolutionary online real estate marketplace that was developed by Poole. RealTrade brings together buyers, sellers, and real estate agents on a single social network.
We spent close to a year looking for the ideal home and were torn between several different alternatives until we eventually found The One. It was an apartment in the "penthouse" of the only building in downtown West Palm Beach that was available on a month-to-month basis. (The majority require a minimum rental period of three or even six months.) In addition, I use the term "penthouse" loosely because all of the units located on the top floor of the building are considered to be penthouse flats.
I could immediately see the potential of the apartment, despite the building's very young age (it was constructed in 2001), which is younger than the majority of the other rental possibilities in our ancient city. Large windows let in a lot of natural light and all of them look out over the glistening pool and fitness centre below. The greatest part is that the complex is connected to The Square, one of the most popular places in West Palm Beach for dining, shopping, and entertainment, by a private breezeway. There is always something going on in The Square neighborhood, but it's also a great neighborhood to just stroll around in and soak up the sun. People from the surrounding area as well as tourists head there for fun on any day or night of the week.
After the deal was finalized, the first thing on our to-do list was to clean out the apartment. The sellers insisted on selling it furnished, most likely because they didn't want to be bothered emptying the flat of its outdated and mismatched furniture (which for some inexplicable reason featured — and I am not kidding — three couches and two armchairs jammed into the living room). We kept only one bedroom set and brought in some of our own furniture in addition to selling or donating the majority of the other pieces of furniture.
Following that, we worked with a contractor to make some improvements. We gave the entire space a new coat of paint, mounted brand-new light fixtures and ceiling fans, upgraded all of the previous white appliances to brand-new stainless steel models, and replaced the dated drapes with mirrored closet doors and glass shower doors. In addition to this, we engaged a father and son team from Jupiter Cabinet Refacing to replace the doors and hardware of the outdated cabinets that were flaking in the kitchen and bathrooms. This one modification gave the cabinet a significant cosmetic facelift at a fraction of the cost of a complete renovation of the cabinet.
West Palm Beach's station is a miniature version of MiamiCentral and more in line with what I think inter-city railway stations should look like. Sleek, clean, easy to navigate, close to the city center, and leverages real estate opportunities (an apartment building is next door) pic.twitter.com/A50VwicYOd
— Chris Stritzel (@chris_stritzel) January 13, 2022
Although the flat itself is fantastic, as the old adage goes, the most important thing to consider when buying real estate is location, location, and location. Additionally, the location is ideal in every way. The Square, the Brightline, Clematis Street, and the Intracoastal Waterway are all accessible on foot in a matter of minutes; however, the beach is located approximately 1.5 miles away. In around four minutes, you can reach Worth Avenue (as well as many other Palm Beach treasures), and in approximately six minutes, you can reach Palm Beach International Airport. You are just steps away from the Kravis Center, where you can see Broadway productions and a full calendar of performances throughout the year.
Following the completion of the renovations came the most crucial step, which was to transform the antiquated area into a contemporary and appealing place that lifestyle travellers with extensive experience, such as us, would want to visit. We were aware that it needed to have reliable Wi-Fi, comfy workstations, and an atmosphere that was congruent with the tropical and sunny character of West Palm Beach.
I had an idea in my head (and had to work around the furniture that was already there), but throughout this process, I relied heavily on the expertise of Mackenzie Rifkin, an interior designer who was working on Modsy at the time. Mods was a fabulous online design platform, but it has since closed its doors. (Havenly is the service that comes closest to being analogous to what I'm looking for, but when I tried using it for another project recently, I didn't have very much success with it.)
The floor design of the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment is split; on one side, there is a principal bedroom with an en suite bathroom and dual closets, and on the other side, there is a bedroom with a hallway laundry closet and bathroom. The apartment includes a total of two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The second bathroom is not attached to the bedroom it is located in, although it does have a door that can be shut for further privacy. In order to make the most of the space available in the second bedroom, we outfitted it with a trundle bed, a standing desk, and meditation cushions. This allows the room to function as a home office, but it also transforms into a cosy bedroom for two in an instant.
Leaning on the "penthouse" status and the plethora of palm trees visible from every window, we changed the formerly boring room into The Palm Penthouse, the kind of bright and fun pad that we would love to stay in ourselves and where every element tells a story. The interior design makes a discreet reference to Palm Beach's rich past by incorporating works of art that are influenced by an earlier era throughout, but it also pays homage to the cutting-edge modernism of our rapidly developing metropolis. The majority of the artwork is from our own trips, and the wallpaper was put with the assistance of the beautiful local Chelsea Lane & Co. The bookshelves are packed with locally written literature (including an insider's guide to the Palm Beaches), and my Book of the Month hand-me-downs.
Rare amenities such as two desks with monitors, a printer, smart TVs in every room, four different methods to prepare coffee, and even an Xbox Series X are all included in the Palm Penthouse. These amenities are excellent for a digital nomad couple like us, who both work from home. We are aware of how much of a difference the fundamentals can make to the overall experience during a month-long stay, and because of this, we wanted to make sure that our guests have access to vacation rental luxuries such as a well-stocked kitchen with various spices, dish soap, garbage bags, and paper towels at our place. We found out the hard way via our own experiences that seemingly insignificant expenditures on the part of hosts may make a world of difference for their visitors.
The return on investment has already astounded us, but the element that has exceeded our expectations the most is the overwhelmingly positive feedback in the form of five-star ratings that we have received from visitors who value the environment that we designed just as much as we do.
Did I mention that I managed to finish everything in just a little over a week, racing against the clock to get ready for a trip to Europe with my cousin who had recently graduated that would be spent showing her around the continent for the first time? I don't want to seem like I'm bragging, but... toot toot.