Narrowed it down to Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley/29 Palms area

[Daksh Raheja]

Hi,

We are planning to get our first STR and have narrowed it down to high desert area as it will be close enough for us to manage by ourselves.

I am looking for any inputs from current or aspiring STR owners in the area for the insight on how is the market these days? Are there a lot of vacancies. While doing the research I have seen most of the properties have all the dates open, which doesn't bode well. Are the rentals booked last minute in the area? ADRs are also compressing it seems from the data.

Which cities are best to deal with when it comes to STR rules and regulations? Should I be staying away from certain arears?

Also looking for a local realtor who has dealt with STRs in the area or have current STRs? Any and all help is appreciated.

It is scary to get into this without knowing if it would be a good investment, but I want to jump right in now as I have had analysis paralysis for almost 5 years.

Thanks,

Daksh

[Yash Bhatt]

Hi,

we recently put 2 properties in the Joshua Tree market. There is a lot I would share. First of all, Yucca Valley is heavily restricting permits and they have a cap on them. Max occupancy is 8 and higher than that requires special consideration. Also, there is heavy saturation and our PM has told us the projections are significantly lower than they were 6 months ago. Joshua Tree is similar but with different rules. Definitely more last minute bookings and also lower ADRs. You can still make it work but definitely need the right property. It's tricky for sure. If you have other markets you're looking at I would also consider those. Now, that being said there are a few properties with a pool on sale for a decent price since they're not selling quickly anymore. I'd highly recommend a pool as it significantly increases ADRs, in some cases almost 1.5x to double. I'd also make sure the property is unique and not a cookie cutter home.

We have an amazing agent we used in the area who is very familiar with STRs. I can DM you his info if you need. Happy to discuss more as well.