Airbnb in Rural Areas

[Jacob Gelinas]

Hi all,

I found a property in rural Vermont that is very reasonably priced and I'm thinking about buying it as a vacation property. My goal however would be to essentially own the vacation property at no cost by using it as an airbnb when I'm not around. I've never had an airbnb though and I'd like to get some advice on this idea. Although it would be awesome to have a vacation home to go to a few times a year and not have to pay for it, I'm not sure it would actually rent because of the area it's in. When I say it is rural, the population of this town is less than 200...

It is located in northern VT near Canada. There are snowmobile trails right near the house which would cater to the snowmobiling community and it even has a garage they could stash their sleds in when rented. There are a few ski resorts within about an hour's drive of the property as well. It may also act as a place to stay on long drives for people traveling to or from Canada as it's right on the border. The only issue is, there isn't really any infrastructure in the town such as grocery stores, liquor stores, etc. These are all about a 30 minute drive. There is a small country store but that's about it. There is a border patrol office and the road goes right into Canada but I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference? 

The other question is operating the airbnb. I live in RI and it's about a 5 hour drive from my house. I would have to find cleaning services, handymen, plumber, electrician, etc and it may be difficult being so rural. Other things like landscaping and trash removal would also have to be done (no municipal trash removal in this area). Whoever was servicing it would probably have to drive an hour just to get there. While it would be so awesome to have a free place to stay when I go skiing in the winter, is it actually feasible? 

Please let me know your thoughts!

Thank you very much!

[Paul Sandhu]

Originally posted by @Ken Latchers:

I would only consider being in areas that already are well stocked with bed and breakfasts as well as vacation rentals and perhaps hotels.

 McDonald's, being a large corporation, does extensive market research in determining locations for its restaurants.  They can afford it, and they have knowledgeable people. 

Long John Silvers is quite a bit smaller.  They can't afford to do the research.  Their strategy is to put a restaurant near a McDonalds. 

If there is enough customer traffic in front of the hamburger place to support the hamburger business, there is likewise going to be enough customer traffic in front of the Long John Silvers that doesn't like hamburgers but would prefer fried fish/chicken or any other unhealthy food choices.  You are the Long John Silvers equivalent.

You wouldn't catch @Luke Carl dead in a McDonald's or Long John Silvers though.