What Happens If No One Is Booking Your STR?

[Zackarias Aitchison]

Assuming you're listing your property on AirBnb and VRBO, 

Is it just a given that these properties will be booked out? (Assuming an attractive property in a good area with a good AirBnB listing) 

Or is it common to have to direct your own traffic to an STR to really have it be booked out and profitable?

Has anyone had any experience with not getting any bookings from these hosting platforms? 

If so, what did you have to change to see bookings start to come through? 

Did you have to send traffic yourself? 

Super curious! 

[Michael Baum]

Hey @Zackarias Aitchison. 4th question! WOOT!

So it is possible that you won't get bookings. Your first year will be lean for sure as you build up the reviews.

You will need to have some kind of cash reserve to cover expenses and be ready for lean times. Otherwise convert to LTR to pay the bills.

AirBNB and VRBO are the dominant platforms and all you should need. Some folks are trying to build out their own sites but they don't leave those 2 platforms.

As you build up your reviews you will start to get more bookings. If you did everything right and in a good area, one year should be all you need. Our first year was lean and we didn't make any money but we were prepared for that.

Year 2 was in the black. From then on, it has been awesome. We are booking 2023 of course, but we also have bookings for 2024.