Lubbock Short-term Rentals

[Corey Zant]

I'm super curious about the profitability of Airbnb/VRBO houses in Lubbock. I've combed through all the active listings on AirBnb in order to try to compare our prospective short term rental to others. Based on "comps" I think we could rent for $250/ night and expect 50% vacancy. Or maybe 200/night and 75% occupancy. Obviously this is on the higher side, but we have quite the sqft and its totally remodeled.

My largest concern is the vacancy...I have no idea what to expect. I tried Mashvisor and not sure I was convinced in it's validity. And when I check AirBnb's booking availability...I can't tell if some of these rentals are actually totally booked or are simply blacked out because they don't feel like renting it for the week.

I'd like to have coffee or a drink with someone experienced in the field..maybe someone that manages short term rentals or maybe has been in it awhile or has a few themselves. I'm experienced in marketing-- and understand appeal will obviously drive occupancy, but assuming the marketing/photos/appeal are all the best they can be, I still wonder what general occupancy is.

Insight from anyone would be great!