Anyone seeing drastic drop in STR Bookings?

[Travis Andres]

I’ve recently seen a couple of stories on social media about a so-called “crash“ with Airbnb bookings in several markets, so wondering if anyone who actually owns is seeing it firsthand?

[Kyle Wise]

@Travis Andres there are so many different variables to this question. You'll see a bunch of STR gurus on here and social media tell you the market is doing better than ever before but remember they benefit from telling people that because they have something to sell you. At the same time, some of them purchased properties 4 or 5 years ago so of course their calendars are booked because they can charge $170 a night since they bought a cabin for $350k that would probably go for $900k in todays market. I'll also see the gurus who recently bought places but then put $350k in renovations and tout how much money they made in July when that's the busiest month of the year. Let me see how much money you make in Jan and Feb and let me see what your COCR looks like at the end of the year with $350k in updates.

Not trying to be negative, I actually own a positive cash flowing STR but I'm starting to get worn out with all the gurus who are touting 2020 returns or referencing how well their properties that they bought in 2016 are doing.

As mentioned, there are so many different variables to this question because it depends on when the properties were purchased, where the properties we're located, and potentially how much they put into it etc. Just because the property is booked up doesn't mean it will be profitable for you in 2023 because maybe you can't charge that same low fee. 

Bringing this full circle, is there a slow down, yes IMO. Can you still make money in the STR space, yes. You just have to do more research than ever before and your underwriting has to be extremely tight. In this market most STRs are not profitable so you have to find that diamond in the rough.