Local insight into Short Term Rentals in Albany, NY

[Andrew Curro]

Next year I'm looking to purchase an owner occupied multifamily rental in Albany, NY. For a long time I have been set on having long term tenants, but lately I've been considering setting the property up to be a short-term or medium term rental. Does anyone have insight on what may be the most profitable type of rental in Albany? What would you look for in a property to make it a great short/medium term rental in Albany? What type of renters would be the best target population (healthcare workers for example)? I'm looking to make the most out of the property and I want to make this more of a active business than passive income. Where do you see a market need?

[Stefanie Gouvis]

Hi Andrew!

For a truly short-term airbnb, I'd recommend looking close to areas people come to visit during much of the year, for example downtown Saratoga or the Saratoga Race Course. Folks are often looking for entire "track season" rentals (the season runs from mid-July to labor day). Oftentimes if you are willing to rent out an entire house or unit for that whole season, you can make well over what your entire yearly mortgage is within those few months. Folks still come here in the fall for leaf-peeping, as well as wintertime to enjoy the charm of downtown during the holidays, as well as visiting nearby mountains for skiing. Lake properties (Lake George, Saratoga Lake, Sacandaga Lake, etc) would also be a good spot for STR/Airbnb but mostly for summertime renting unless it is close enough to ski mountains or snowmobiling trails, then you might have more usage than just summer.

For a more medium term rental, I would recommend being closer to the hospitals. Albany Med, St. Peters, and Albany Memorial hospitals are all within about 3 miles of each other, so anywhere within range of those would be a great spot for traveling healthcare workers.

Airbnb has become more and more popular in the Capital Region, so there might be a lot more competition. If demand for those ever slows down too much, you'd have no problem switching to a long term rental because the demand is strong in this area. With an estimated rate of about 57% homeownership in Albany county according to the Census bureau, there are a lot of renters. Long term rentals are always in demand here, currently there are 69 residential leases actively listed on the MLS in Albany county, but 78 rentals have closed since January 1 2023, so you can see the demand is there.

I hope this was helpful, if you want to discuss anything further please feel free to reach out!