Short Term Rentals / AirBnB for Santa Cruz County

[Jonathan Pflueger]

Hey BP, 

I am considering going the AirBnB route with one of my rentals. After browsing current rentals on AirBnB in my area (Ben Lomond, Scotts Valley, Felton), I noticed that most of them are fully booked for the next few months. This makes sense since the summer time is upon us and the majority of people do their travel during this time. 

My question is: how do people faire with short term rentals during the rest of the year? Are the vacancy rates significantly larger during the non-summer months? Do people see this as a viable model for smaller towns such as Ben Lomond, Scotts Valley, and Felton? 

Any thoughts or experiences are welcome. 

Thanks!

[Paul Sandhu]

I rent to working contractors, 24 STRs with 84 beds.  My only slow time is between Thanksgiving and New Years.  Most companies annual budget is used up, and most of the contractors don't want to work then.  

Don't limit yourself to just renting to vacationing people.  I've rented to 1200 people in the last 6 years.  About 5 or 6 of them rented a place to spend Thanksgiving.  The other 1195 people all came to town to work.  They are those people that work on those large erections of steel you see at a petrochemical refinery.