[Video] Is Joshua Tree & Hi-Desert California A Good STR Market?

Question

I'm the owner of a vacation rental management company called Stays You Like and we have 25 STRs under management in the Joshua Tree area. I took that experience and data from reliable sources to put together this market report for you.

This video analysis includes:

- Trends of the overall Joshua Tree market for Airbnb/Short-Term Rentals

- What bedroom count generates the highest amount of revenue

- What kind of properties are most oversaturated in Joshua Tree Area

- Which areas to invest in and which areas to avoid

- Data compiled from AirDNA to help show the profitability of vacation rentals in Joshua Tree, 29 Palms, Yucca Valley, Landers, and Morongo Valley (Joshua Tree Area)

- Data compiled from Rocket Mortgage to show overall real estate trends and market information across the Joshua Tree Area

- Includes Cities: Yucca Valley, 29 Palms, Joshua Tree, Morongo Valley and Landers

- And more!

If you have any further questions, feel free to comment below or message me here!

Jon Martin · Answer

Seems like it is. A simple enemy analysis shows a lot of properties with professional photos and designed interiors with wide open calendars.

Patryk Swietek · Answer

Yes excactly this! And yes there are WAY less competitive markets where you can operate your properties. I just have a good construction team, great agent relationships, whole management company in-house and more which gives me a leg up above anybody else looking to enter the market. Most of my clients just utilize my resources to find the right properties.But you're right, I'm not going to sugar coat the fact that a lot of people are losing a lot of money by not doing things the right way in this market. The standards are high, but that also comes with SF, LA and SD demographic that demands high-end and is willing to pay good money for it!

Zambricki Li · Answer

A lot of people who bought in desert cities during pandemic will be selling. This could be a good opp for someone who truly loved the area and wants to live there, to come in and get a nice renovated place at a discount. Joshua Tree is a 1-2 day trip for most people so there is bound to be huge vacancy mid week at a macro level. Yes, it's by LA ...though it really is like a shortie trip for most people. For a successful STR you need places that people will spend 4+ days and has positive seasonality. Locations where there is things to do every season, or an employment hub. For example Colorado has ski/snowboarding in winter, in summer switches to river runs and mountain biking. When its hot no one wants to be in the desert, as there is nothing to do but sit in the AC.

Jon Martin · Answer

That's awesome, good for you! I've done some mid-week searches for upcoming weekends during the winter and I still see a lot of options where the host clearly does a good job with the decor and experience. Whereas when I do this in a market where I'm invested and some others I'm interested in, there are maybe a few dozen listings at best, and 80-90% of what's not booked is either garbage or too expensive. That said, it isn't always clear what's next door and I imagine that at least some of these listings are in cookie cutter neighborhoods. I am speaking of Yucca Valley in particular. The listings where there is clearly a lot of privacy and/or are up against the rocks seem to have much fuller calendars, like you mentioned.

Patryk Swietek · Answer

This is actually because right now the average lead time for the market is 14 days for smaller properties and 21 days for bigger ones. Residential properties don’t do well. Remote properties with big lots and amenity dense absolutely crush it. I’m 90%+ occupancy for my properties.

John Underwood · Answer

Is it true that that area is saturated and getting worse?

Patryk Swietek · Answer

Yes you're partially right in the sense that the average stay length is much shorter, but that's also an opportunity to capitalize on shorter stays. We make $50 per clean for some properties and more for others so really the more short bookings that happen, the more money we make. Also, Joshua Tree has nothing to do which is the APPEAL. People don't want to be in the big cities for long and travel here to get away. The seasonality is amazing year round actually. Summer is lower but that's also when summer break happens and not everybody can afford a trip to Greece for 2 weeks. It's an opportunity for families to come to the desert. Yes it gets hot, but it also cools down at night and it's amazing to hang out outside at night or early mornings. The pools and shade options make it so much easier for people to enjoy the summers too. Our properties with pools really don't have much seasonality in Joshua Tree year round is what I've seen :)

Patryk Swietek · Answer

Are there a lot of STRs in the area? Yes.Is competition fierce in area? YesThe area reminds me of Orlando. The demand in the area has been rising significantly and residential area properties are getting crushed. But if you know what to look for and buy right + are not cutting corners when you renovate it, then it certainly can pull amazing numbers for you.

Michael Baum · Answer

With all the action here on Joshua Tree et al, I am not sure how well one can do these days.