Newbie to Airbnb: New Orleans

[Essien Benjamin]

Hey BP!

I am excited to announce that I'm closing on my second house hack tomorrow! It is a side by side duplex that I originally analyzed with a long term rental. The numbers are pretty good and I'll be living in the middle of the city for a very cheap price. However, I was thinking about doing Airbnb on the other side instead. I've never done Airbnb, and under normal circumstances (without COVID), I know that New Orleans would be a great place to do it. But as we all know, there is a pandemic still going on and a lot of New Orleans is still shut down. Does anyone know if this area is still profitable for the short term rental strategy? Or should I just stick to doing a long term rental? Any suggestions would help, thanks!

[Beau Guidry]

Hello Essien, I have been running my Airbnb in New Orleans through the pandemic and I can confirm returns are way down. With that said, there has been an uptick in bookings and the average price per night. With the vaccine deployment in progress the optimism is high for travel to return in a big way. But be aware, when it comes to vacation rentals you have to be very strategic to ensure you are getting the highest dollar amount and low vacancy. If you do decide to do a vacation rental, let me know, I can share strategies I have developed throughout the years.