Requesting to AirBnB a Landlord's Property

[Gabrielle E.]

I'm trying come up with the best strategy for finding landlords who would be interested in allowing me to rent their property to AirBnB tenants. The owner would benefit from the relationship because I would ensure the landlord will receive their originally-advertised rent payment each month and I would take care of property upkeep. This would allow the owner to basically have a no-hassle rental and I would have a rental that I control without much money out of pocket.  I've considered contacting landlords to take a look at their property as a prospective tenant, then after building rapport I could pitch the AirBnB concept.

I plan to contact landlords who have properties in areas with high demand in my city. I'm in the Richmond, VA market so this would be properties downtown, near colleges, etc. I plan to get a pretty good sense of demand in certain areas by searching on Airbnb in specific areas throughout my city and checking out various listings. I can ensure the spread is there between the landlord's rent rate and the AirBnB price by checking local rates, how many reviews other listers have, and whether those reviews are concentrated or spread out over many months. (A listing with 30 reviews in the past four months shows good demand. A listing with 30 reviews over the past three years, not so much.)

My main question is, as a landlord, what is the best approach to pitch an AirBnB opportunity to a landlord? Any advice about how I should go about this process?

[Ethan Cooke]

@Gabrielle E. I am doing exactly what you’re talking about in the San Francisco Bay area and would be happy to share how I have been successful convincing landlords to work with me and building my portfolio of furnished rentals. When I find a good property, I will typically spend $10K up front on first month's rent+deposit+furniture, then clear about $600-$1,000 a month in net profit. So I disagree with folks who say it can't be done profitably. As suggested by @Edward B., I do corporate rentals with a 30-day minimum, and adjust pricing to keep vacancy low. In addition, I typically offer the landlord free property maintenance, early rent auto-deposited every month into their bank account and a higher rent than they are asking for. This means I need to find below-market-rent properties.

I am part of a national community of “rental arbitragers” following in the footsteps of longtime experts like

@Al Williamson and 

@J. Martin.  Rental arbitrage can be done profitably, but you need to be very selective about the property. For example, I have learned that sometimes I can find a single-family home for rent with an in-law unit (basically 2 units) and pay just a bit more in rent than the single-family. But that nicely furnished extra unit is worth a whole lot more to a business traveller than the extra $300 a month I am paying for it. Also, 80%+ of the business traveler market is folks traveling alone who want either their own unit or at least their own room. So studios and 1-bedroom apts are easier to keep full than 2BR and 3BR homes. 

Feel free to PM me. Happy to chat.