Boosting returns on commercial property using AirBnB ?

[Robert Plumpe]

Hey all:

I'm analyzing a rather unusual situation.  It is a commercial property with 3 retail stores/offices that are all filled at or near market rates....HOWEVER, there is an apartment above the commercial spaces.  It is in a rather odd situation...the neighborhood is OK, maybe slightly better than average...HOWEVER, due to a very unusual zoning situation, it is in an INCREDIBLY good school district.  That should make renting out the apartment relatively easy...BUT FOR the fact that it is a walk up and above commercial spaces.  While the school district would be a BIG draw...the fact that it does not have a yard and so on probably makes it unappealing for a family with school age children.

I think it might be great for Airbnb.  It has been modernized and is spacious.  It is near major roads & freeways.  It is a little bit isolated from houses, has plenty of parking, very private.  No neighbors would complain or even notice if different people were staying there during the month.

In this part of town, there are almost no hotels...you either have to stay downtown OR move 5-6 miles further out to the suburbs to get decent overnight accommodations.  So I was thinking of simply updating that space and then turning to AirBnB to rent it out.  It is immediately adjacent to some of the best/wealthiest suburbs in the area.  A couple of miles away, nightly rents for apartments/small houses seem to be going for over $100/night.

If that space could be rent 10 nights or so a month, that would turn that property into a tremendous cash flow situation.  At 8 nights a month, it would probably bring in MORE revenue than it would as an apartment.

I am in the area...so managing it would be of little difficulty.

Has anybody else done this?  Anybody have any experience with a situation like this in re: Airb&b