Share numbers for first STR (small town, normal SFH)

[Britt Hennings]

I have the opportunity to turn my first home into a STR once moving into a new home. I have read all the blog posts, etc but would rather talk numbers with someone in a similar situation/in my area. I live far west of Knoxville near Crossville, TN so bonus points if you live near me. I have a hard time trusting AirDNA numbers etc. and I have a hard time reaching out to hosts near me because the platform is restrictive.

My home is unspectacular in a good way haha. It's a 3/2 bath home in good condition, good location, and is partially updated, but it is not the $300/night type listing. Crossville is a small to mid size city and growing with many retirement communities/cities nearby. I see similar listings up for $100-$180/night.

I am preparing to get the property ready with about $3k in furniture, dishes, linens, and everything else to make it ready. It will be self managed, I will be near the unit (less than 5 mins away) to clean and take care of any issues.

My numbers:
Approx Value of Home $240-280k
Current monthly cost / $860 mo (mortg,ins,tax)
Utilities / $250. mo (elec,gas,water,trash,internet)

Cost to run as Airbnb
Approx monthly cost with STR insurance ($250/mo?) / $1000
Utilities / $300 mo.
Supplies / $60 mo.
Lawn Mowers / $200 mo.

Total monthly cost$1600-1700

Target nightly rate starting out: $140
Cleaning Fee: $50
Avg. occupancy rate for my area: 46% (This could be inaccurate)
Projection: $1932 (@ 46% occupancy) + 300 (cleaning fee @ 6 stays) = $2232 - $67 (3% booking fee)

Monthly Revenue:$2165
NOI: ~$500/mo

So if you have a lower-end home in a smaller town here are the numbers I'm interested in:

Total Revenue for 2023 and YTD
Occupancy Rate
Approx. Value of Home
Operating Costs
NOI
Cost to turn a unit
Any other pertinent information I need to consider

Also if any of this is way off please do tell. Just trying to solidify my numbers before diving in.

[Jonathan Greene]

In general, if you have an average home and are going sparse on the furnishings and experience, this would be a bad time to do that unless there is no lodging at all in your area. Your target, from what you wrote, would be cheaper renters looking for a value stay that is clean, but unspectacular.

If you market is saturated, you will keep going lower and lower in the algorithm which will indirectly restrict booking. Your numbers are pretty detailed, but I think it really depends on your goals.

Anything other than a 5-star review will kill you slowly on Airbnb so I would just be worried that you are trying to hid the middle, but that will be a lot harder if there are nice ones and other reasonably priced lodging near you.