Is AirDna worth $500/month for analyzing STR?

[Matt Grubb]

I've been using the free version of Airdna to get a better idea of how specific markets perform with STR. Does anyone currently pay for the state or national information? Is it worth the $500/month?

[Jon Crosby]

@Matt Grubb, I will start by saying I have not paid for their investment explorer.  :)

I think it really depends what your goals are though. If you are going to be investing millions of dollars building a geographically diversified portfolio of STR assets, then it's probably not going to hurt to have as much data and information at your fingertips as possible. Airdna has arguably the most comprehensive STR data available and with their new partnership with HomeAway/VRBO, it's even better than before.

But if you are just looking to acquire your first or 2nd STR for a small portfolio you are trying to build over time, I think there is plenty of information available publicly or for free (by Airdna and others) that will help you achieve those goals. I suppose you could also just get it for 1 month and use the crap out of it try and find that perfect property or region as fast as possible. :)

The one thing I always caution people about STR data is that your revenue and occupancy is going to eventually depend on the the quality of experience you provide your guests for the price (value). So you can have all the historical booking data you want but in the end your STR will fail if you are not providing the customer service necessary to keep reviews and bookings high.

Not sure if that helps or not but thanks for the post!

Best of luck!