The Future of Airbnb

[David Klefeker]

I am so excited for Airbnb and the short term rental market in the upcoming year. There is still so much opportunity to invest in property that are perfect for Airbnb. However you have to make sure you do your home work before hand. 

Top 3 things anyone looking to Invest in Airbnb should do:

1. Know the Market. 

You have to do your research and know exactly what the average daily rate or ADR in hotel terms is for the area you are looking to invest in. This will help you value a property correctly and build a property budget for any renovations you need to do, decor and operational expenses. You must speak to other local operators and find out the general attitude towards Airbnb/Short term rentals in that market. Sometimes a community of well organized residents are able make it very difficult to operate in their neighborhood. In which case you wouldn't want to invest their anyway. At least not an Airbnb business. What the local municipalities general attitudes are towards Airbnb. Some markets the hotel lobby is incredibly strong and force certain municipalities to clamp down on Airbnb/short term rentals incredibly hard with very high fines. 

2. Host with the Most!

You have to have an amazing Host. A well located, well designed and decorated Airbnb will fall flat on its face if the host is lacking in any way. The competition has gotten really good, which is great for the overall image and experience of Airbnb but that also means you must have all stellar reviews along with Superhost status to really do well and reap the most from Airbnb. 

3. Operations and Systems

If your intending to really turn this into a 6 figure business and be able to scale then your going to have to make sure you have a solid team of vendors and systems in place because you are now playing in the hospitality game. Guests can be ruthless and all it takes is a few bad reviews to turn a unit from a $6k per month Airbnb to a $2k per month Airbnb. All those Investors who love Real Estate because its slow, steady and quiet....oh and "passive", then you either will need to build an incredible team/systems to operate for you or maybe just stick to the long term rentals. 

Hope this was of some use for anyone looking to invest into Airbnb/Shorterm rental property. There is still so much opportunity for anyone to get started. Just need to make sure, as with all investing to due your homework first so you can enjoy the best possible returns!