Sharing a success story - first flip to an Airbnb property!

[Jenessa NeSmith]

We closed on our 1st investment property around Thanksgiving, and put in some elbow grease and many trips to Lowe's to get it ready to rent on Airbnb.  It took a little longer than expected (they always do, don't they??) but since we both have full-time jobs and did most of the work ourselves, I consider it a success! We also stayed under budget, which was really important to us (and caused a lot of fights, lol)

It is officially up on Airbnb, and our first guests checked in on Monday for a week long stay.  We have kept our prices low this month since we don't have any reviews on this property, but we are already booked for Birkshire Hathaway (huge tourist event for Omaha) and a few Creighton games. 

This post isn't really a question, I guess, I just wanted to do a little bragging and also thank the BP community for being there to answer all of our questions along the way!  Does anyone else have any other success stories they would like to share? 

[Jenessa NeSmith]

Thank you for all of the support!

It's a 3 BR/1 bath in NoDO (about 21st and Cummings) so it's less than a mile from TD Ameritrade park and Creighton University.

Here are the #s...

Purchase price: 73,000

Rehab: 16,500: 11,000 for new siding, one side of the house had extensive termite damage.  We only paid 2,000 for a privacy fence because the company that put the fence in messed it up...so although we have some gaps in our fence it was half price.  3,500 for interior improvements including painting, plumbing fixtures, new dishwasher, vinyl plank flooring, some new baseboards, kitchen backsplash, and bathroom floor (peel and stick groutable tiles).  We used cabinet enamel to paint the cabinets with a combination of small roller and brush, and sealed it with a poly.  We went with butcherblock countertops because they were on a Cyber Monday special from Menards and we could install them ourselves.  Obviously they are more maintenance than a laminate, but with an Airbnb they wouldn't be getting the same wear and tear as a regular rental. Plus we really like the look of them!

Airbnb start up costs: 2,500 (furniture, electronics, kitchen items, and decor). 

So all in for about 92,000. I expect to be able to rent it out for $100/night, so at 75% occupancy that's $2250 monthly, plus $15 a booking of cleaning fees. Berkshire Hathaway was booked at $250/night, and for CWS I am hoping to make the same. PITI, utilities, and wifi are coming in around $600 (it hasn't been occupied long enough to be sure of utilities, but I estimate $100/month max).

Rents in this area are between $800-1000/month for a SFH. Our backup plan if Airbnb disappears tomorrow is to do student housing and rent out each of the 3 bedrooms at $450/month.

Our primary residence has an in-law suite in the basement that we have rented out on Airbnb since December of 2015, and we also rent out the bedrooms in the main part of the house during the summer as private rooms on Airbnb.  This has given us a lot of experience, and my wife works from 5 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon, so she manages the cleanings and inspections during the week and I help out on the weekend or when there is a break from school.  I have had a lot of people ask me about the Brian Page formula, but I am not sure you can charge enough for it be effective in Omaha (unless you can find a landlord that will rent to you just during the high season).  We love doing Airbnb and I have been researching starting an Airbnb management company for Omaha that can do guest communication, cleanings, and help get people started...currently going to do a trial run during this high season and see if it can exceed our full-time income. 

Thank you for all of the questions and all of the support/encouragement!! If you want to see pictures of our other property, or more pictures of this one, our website is  vacationrentalsomaha.com  (this is my first attempt at a website, so no judgements!!!) We also have a facebook page and instagram under the same name.