How difficult is it to AirBnB, VRBO, etc. outside of peak months?

[Myles Cardenas]

Hey BP Family,

I’m looking at a vacation rental in Daytona Beach. 1/1 condo. Looks to be in great shape, great location, seems lucrative on the surface. Never done vacation rentals, so this would be my first one. I’m looking at it for the AirBnB/VRBO potential. There are a couple of things that make me nervous about taking this step:

1. I live in Atlanta, property is in Daytona Beach. Anybody own vacation rentals in other states? What tips do you have? Is it difficult? Easy? Do you have a team in place to take care of this for you, or do you do it yourself just fine?

2. How do you survive outside of the peak season? Looks like the peak season is only 6-7 months out of the year. How do you survive the other 5 months out of the year?

Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

Kind Regards,

[Dan Baker]

Originally posted by @Myles Cardenas:

@Rush Wall Yeah, I'm a little nervous about it being out of state trying to pick up a VR. It's priced very well so I'm not too worried about the down payment, but it has HOA fees, plus if there's a maintenance/management fee, plus insurance, that will need to be paid even during the slow months. So I'm trying to figure out how people keep themselves afloat outside of peak seasons. I would be purchasing this basically at the end of the peak so I'm nervous about the purchase putting me in a rough spot financially if I can't float the expenses during the off season.

 I do Airbnb’s, some long distance. Peak season should cover your costs year round, off months are the profit. Look at listings in the area you want to buy, check how many reviews they get per month in the off season. Determine how comfortable you are with your revenue based on that assumption.